Music
“Popular music in America is already so formulated and dumbed-down that the fear of AI making it more trivial is probably beside the point.”
A belated appreciation of one of 2023’s most interesting releases – this Grammy-winning “compendium” may not be a strongly unified work, but its individual parts are eloquent residents of the Place Between classical and jazz.
The band’s potent, percussive sound was years ahead of its time, as proven by today’s red hot London jazz scene, whose biggest stars are audibly influenced by Cymande.
Any survey of new jazz will show the broad range of creation being produced by an extraordinary diversity of musicians. That’s because jazz has spread all around the world, bringing us together in peace (and sometimes even harmony).
Here is music of depth, music to hear and to think about in a Time of Troubles. But who will play it again? Who will listen? And who will buy?
It was a winding, ultimately exhilarating trip that spanned 51 songs, culminating on Sunday in a virtuosic clinic that sealed the quartet’s near-telepathic interplay across prog-leaning classics.
Swanky Kitchen Band is single-handedly carrying on the venerable, but little known, Afro/Celtic/Caribbean tradition of fiddle-led dance bands in the Cayman Islands.
The Kansas City Symphony’s new Brahms album with outgoing music director Michael Stern showcases three of his works with keyboard in arrangements for orchestra; Lahav Shani’s cycle of Bruckner symphonies with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra continues with a sterling account of the Fifth.
Sir Simon Rattle’s latest traversal of Gustav Mahler’s Sixth Symphony is something special; Pianist Aurélien Pontier’s stylish disc is a celebration of the music of fin de siècle Vienna.
Sir Mark Elder’s latest traversal of Edward Elgar’s two symphonies supplies orchestral playing of the highest level; Sir Antonio Pappano provides plenty of electrifying moments in a pairing of orchestral favorites.
Design and Visual Arts: Affordable Housing, By Design