Music
Violinist Michael Barenboim is an exceptional young musician with a famous name who stands on his own two feet.
The communication among the group members is at a high level and the playing is flawless.
For poet Philip Levine, music is not only a good thing in life: the good things in life are music.
Musically, everything clicked in Boston Musica Viva’s annual Family Concert.
“You can be certain that when the show begins and you hear “Mack the Knife,” the choreography will suggest scenes of slashing and murdering.”
Throughout the night, CpM music director Jamie Kirsch kept tempos lively and never lost sight of the overarching shape of each of the evening’s big pieces.
Max Bruch’s music is smart, strong, crafty, and, often, quite endearing.
Bob Brookmeyer’s great contribution was to make it seem as though anything is possible — and permissible –in the big band context.
On the occasions that Bob Weir and Phil Lesh performed as a legitimate duo the concert attained some of its more transcendent peaks.
From a compositional standpoint, too, Chamber Dance is an example of Tower at her engaging best.
The Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll at Mid-Year: Warming Up a Riff — How It Happened, and Why It Matters