Music
Moppa Elliott is an important jazz composer and a dynamic leader. When he brings a group to our area (which happens only rarely), do not miss the gig. When he issues a new recording, pay attention.
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The Sinfonia of London and Susanna Mälkki with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra release recordings filled with color and beauty.
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This is an album that I recommend heartily to anyone who enjoys exquisite music making, stunning booklet artwork, and serious scholarship.
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The shamefully belated release of the first recording (1992!) of “L’olimpiade,” a major work by Hasse (a renowned contemporary of Handel and Vivaldi), featuring some of the best singers of the day, including male soprano Randall K. Wong.
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Moppa Elliott makes eminently approachable music at a very high standard, with great ingenuity and sophistication. He has proven himself to be one of the most inventive and creative composers for small jazz ensemble since Charles Mingus.
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Saturday night’s advertised performers paid robust homage to the late Gary Smith — the Fort Apache Studios owner, producer, and band manager — across three and a half hours at the Somerville Theatre.
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The Disco Biscuits are playing champion-level shows following a period of rebuilding and recalibrating that brought the band out of semi-retirement.
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Guitarist Julian Lage wants his music to have a certain paradoxical lightness: to be “reckless and durable” at the same time.
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Much-loved short works by Pergolesi and Mozart storm the stage, thanks to spiffy French dialogue between the musical numbers.
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Book Review: “3 Shades of Blue” — Transcendent Art, Despite Personal Demons
“3 Shades of Blue” is at its most compelling seen as an extended essay about drugs, creativity, the jazz life, and the mysterious nature of musical genius.
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