Music
Two from Dave Brubeck: Time Outtakes, the alternate tracks for the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s classic 1959 album Time Out is very good to have; Lullabies is filled with the intimate sound of the pianist’s old age, tender affection, and distilled musical wisdom.
Producer Ted Olson is on a mission in We Shall Be Reunited to do justice to the past; he imagines a beautiful alternative to the current ballyhooed origin story of country music.
Lots of artists made recordings during their lockdowns that have been released as vinyl, streams, videos and, in the case of the Attractors and Flying Vipers, even cassette tapes.
Some of the best music documentaries of 2020 – and some disappointments
The second recording of William Alwyn’s searing opera confirms the work’s vitality and importance. It is one of the best and most accessible operas to have been written in the past few decades.
Steven Hyden’s ,/em>This Isn’t Happening, a book-length appreciation of Radiohead and Kid A is one of the best books I read all year.
This set proves Monty Alexander a more varied pianist than one might have thought. The Ellis Marsalis album is a final gift from one of America’s treasures.
The pandemic may have largely shut down live musical performances for 2020, but the recording industry remained alive and very active these past twelve months.
This biography provides a solid look at Jon Hendricks’s life and career; a well-rounded picture that is neither a hagiography nor a hatchet job.
Two new recordings and one much-welcome re-release contain first-rate performances of Haydn’s 1798 “Lord Nelson” Mass, Dello Joio’s opera about Joan of Arc, and Virgil Thomson’s astonishing musical portraits of Alice B. Toklas, Picasso, and others.
Design Review: The Look of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games