Michael Ullman
Marian McPartland, who died on August 20 at the age of 95, was many things: a charming, gracious, and also tough-minded woman, an educator and mentor to many, an author, a business woman, and, lest we forget, a powerhouse musician.
According to Chick Corea, this recording contains first impressions of the compositions that he’ll be playing with his band on upcoming tours. It’ll be interesting to hear how these tunes and this group develops.
The late Cedar Walton was part of some of the most potent bands in the history of jazz, most famously Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers.
This attractive, inexpensive box set dedicated to Claudio Abbado contains a rich gathering of lucid, colorful recordings, among the most accomplished modern performances of symphonies that are absolutely central to the repertoire.
When I saw him, he was rarely still on stage: a Billy Bang performance was something like a dance.
Over five extended compositions, composer and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith leads a new large ensemble, TUMO, creating a challenging but engaging world of sound that combines composed elements with strong soloists and group improvisation.
The best parts of this book of interviews come when Charles Mingus or his collaborators talk about the music.
Ten Freedom Summers is a masterful, supple series of compositions that has the gravitas of a major work that also, from time to time, it swings dramatically.
Pianist Donal Fox is a classical musician by training, and in style, with a yen for improvisation and, one might add, an unwillingness to let things be.
It turns out that it was more than just a rumor that saxophonist Charles Lloyd spent some of the ’70s playing with The Beach Boys.
Classical Music Commentary: Boston’s Lost Opportunity — How the BSO Board Chose Charles Munch over Leonard Bernstein