Music
Jean Dawson’s Pixel Bath is one of the most exciting releases I’ve heard this year.
These tunes are not just good to listen to, but also serve a purpose by sending a message, whether it be to raise a voice in protest or entice reflection.
This small jewel of a show has been a Bronx-based treasure for the last seven years, but now, “thanks” to COVID-19, it is available to anyone, anywhere in the world.
Dohnányi and Schnitzler’s “pantomime” The Veil of Pierrette receives its first, and resplendent, recording.
Jazz Review/Interview: Duncan Heining Revises His Landmark Biography of Jazz Composer George Russell
If you do not know George Russell, this book will bring you closer to one of the geniuses of American music.
Seiji Ozawa’s Symphony no. 7 and Leonore Overture no. 3 offers a memorable blend of color, atmosphere, purpose, and soul; François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles serve up a satisfactory, period-instrument Symphony no. 5; Thomas Adès’ take on Beethoven is concentrated and energetic, if a bit impersonal.
The event is not merely a celebration of the Cabot’s centennial; in 2020, it’s an act of defiance.
Mariss Jansons’ ultimate performance, taped live at Carnegie Hall, shows the maestro at the top of his game; François-Xavier Roth’s new recording of pieces by Ravel and Debussy is a bit of a hit-or-miss affair; Diana Damrau’s Tudor Queens, a survey of heroines from three Donizetti operas, is nothing short of terrific.
For fans of Pink Floyd, the book’s first half, with its treasure trove of early Floyd photos, is the main draw; the remastered release of Delicate Sound of Thunder offers a definitive picture of what Pink Floyd actually performed during the 1987 tour.
Jazz Appreciation/Album Review — Carla Bley, 84 and Counting
Carla Bley’s last three CDs are not a casual sequence, and hearing all of them together, as I did recently, provides a refreshing reminder of her greatness.
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