Steve Elman
What the few of us in Jordan Hall heard that night was a richly conceived and beautifully performed song cycle, mostly serious, but with some great wit in exactly the right places. It made for a fascinating and enlightening contrast to the CD version of “Vespers,” which Steve Lacy recorded in 1993.
Read MoreBoston Conservatory’s New Music Festival is inspiring a series of commentaries from Fuse Jazz Critic Steve Elman. Here is his third installment, which focuses on Gunther Schuller, who has inspired at least four generations of artists and revitalized a venerable institution of higher musical learning.
Read MoreBoston Conservatory’s New Music Festival is inspiring a series of critical and speculative commentaries from Fuse Jazz Critic Steve Elman. Here is the second, which focuses on The Fringe and some of the qualities that make the trio special in the world of jazz.
Read MoreBoston Conservatory’s New Music Festival is inspiring a series of critical and speculative commentaries from Fuse Jazz Critic Steve Elman. Here is the first.
Read MoreThe Steve Kuhn – Sheila Jordan partnership has been one of the luckiest things ever to happen to either of them, or for us as listeners.
Read MoreWhat is a Judicial Review? It is a fresh approach to creating a conversational, critical space about the arts and culture. This is our sixth session, this time a discussion about the concert “Divine Sparks,” a provocative attempt to explore how Jewish cantorial music and other kinds of religious song can spark musical improvisation and…
Read MoreIn the best of all possible worlds, Duncan Heining’s biography will be the cornerstone of the edifice that time will erect to the memory of George Russell and his gift to music. Whether that will happen or not remains to be seen. In some ways, because of the vagaries of the book business, it’s up…
Read MoreI cite the repertoire only to give you a sense of the breadth of the material Jason Moran and Fred Hersch built on. The glory of the evening was the complete integration of the two pianists’ musical thought.
Read MoreThere’s something special going on among the four musicians in BANN that is very promising—something that makes me want to see the band live. I hope one of our local bookers picks up on them soon, so I don’t have to go to New York City to do so. As You Like by BANN [Seamus…
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Visual Arts Commentary: John Singer Sargent — A Particular Sort of Loner