Music
This doesn’t sound like any other quartet I know.
Mary Bevan, silvery soprano beloved in Boston, enchants anew in one of Handel’s most frequently performed and recorded operas.
Major record labels were once notorious for trying to entice jazz musicians into selling out; they now find it more expedient to ignore them, leaving them to sell themselves.
The special categories tend to get overlooked, or sampled erratically, in the new releases lists, so Francis Davis thought a nudge might help.
In this performance, Blue Heron conveyed enough merriment for Christmastime and beyond.
The album’s explicit mix of modern jazz and klezmer set a template that is still being used by many of today’s most prominent Jewish music experimentalists.
Some of these films are easier to see than others, but they’re all worth seeking out.
Jeremy Eichler calls on hearers to engage in “deep listening,” by which he means engaging the mind and heart not just with the music, but also with the historical, cultural, and artistic contexts that gave rise to it.
Our music critics pick some of the standout albums and performances of 2023.
Jazz Reviews and Appreciations: Sheila Jordan at 95 and Ran Blake at 88
It is something of a miracle that we can still hear Sheila Jordan and Ran Blake in live performance, and those experiences should be treasured by their audiences because those opportunities are so precious.
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