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Classical Album Review: Escher String Quartet — Barber & Ives String Quartets

September 19, 2021
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Here is an outstanding recording from the Escher String Quartet of music by two stylistically divergent 20th-century American composers, Samuel Barber and Charles Ives.

Rock Concert Review: The Black Crowes — Flying High

September 17, 2021
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You would never suspect from this big ol’ rock ’n’ roll show that The Black Crowes was essentially toast just a few years ago.

Jazz Appreciation: Remembering George Wein (1925-2021)

September 17, 2021
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The sum total of George Wein’s career was a successful wedding of art and commerce.

Film Review: “Blue Bayou” — “I’m Going Back Someday…”

September 17, 2021
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Blue Bayou’s story deserves to be told and heard. But rather than focus slowly and intently on its central crisis, the script kneads in a dizzying array of additional threads and sidelines.

Television Review: “Chicago Party Aunt” — Livin’ the Vida Loca, Windy City Style

September 16, 2021
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The bizarre half hour animated comedy is a hilarious love letter to The Windy City.

Book Review: “Blue Swan Black Swan” — Madness Made Beautiful

September 16, 2021
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Whether we call this slim volume poetic prose or prose poetry, a novella or a collection of verse, seems beside the point. It is haunting, hypnotic, and moving.

Rock Album Review: The Plastic Ono Band Celebrates 50 — A Nice Warm Cup of Instant Karma

September 16, 2021
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After having diagnosed the ails of modernity, screamed out his most deeply held traumas, and shrugged off his role in the biggest band ever, John Lennon is content to have a riverside cuddle under a tree in the sun with the woman he loves. Amen.

Jazz Album Review: “Chick Corea Akoustic Band Live” — A High-Spirited Reunion

September 15, 2021
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A judicious mix of jazz classics, standards, and Corea compositions, Live is a blast.

Television Review: “Sex Education,” Season 3 — Growing Up Grand

September 14, 2021
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Amid the political point-scoring, Netflix’s Sex Education remains effervescently charming.

Classical Album Review: An Opera by the “Croatian Verdi” — Sung Right

September 14, 2021
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The performance shows generally high competence and comfort, no surprise given that the work is a longtime staple in Croatia: indeed, it is the single most-performed opera in the entire repertory of the Croatian National Theater.

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