Music

Opera Album Review: Surprise! Michael Haydn — Joseph’s Brother — Proves to Be a Fine Opera Composer

July 7, 2022
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This “serenata” (or chamber opera) with characters from Graeco-Roman mythology receives an elegant world-premiere recording that may bring a major composer out from the shadows.

Jazz Album Reviews: Trio Discs featuring Tyshawn Sorey and Bill Evans

July 6, 2022
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Percussionist Tryshawn Sorey has released a trio disc of standards that may very well be on my 2022 Best of the Year list and a pair of “new” releases featuring the legendary pianist Bill Evans.

Rock Album Review: Joyce Manor’s “40 oz. to Fresno” — Songs for a Burning Planet

July 6, 2022
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The album isn’t a dull listen because it hammers home the high anxiety that many are feeling, particularly in California, land of the forever drought and endless forest fires.

Jazz Album Review: Steve Davis’s “Bluesthetic” — Swinging Oh-So Comfortably

July 5, 2022
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Trombonist Steve Davis says he never strays very far from the blues, and he proves it with this fine album.

Jazz Album Review: Drummer Tony Williams’s “Play or Die” — Electrifying Eclecticism

July 2, 2022
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Play or Die brilliantly showcases what Miles Davis heard in Tony Williams’ playing: variety of sound within a restricted framework.

Opera Album Review: Finally on CD — a Searing ’60s Opera from Russia about the Nazi Era

July 2, 2022
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Moissey Vainberg’s opera powerfully evokes the brutality of Hitler’s extermination camps and the moral ambiguity of postwar Germany.

Concert Review: Puscifer in Boston — Out of This World

June 30, 2022
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Puscifer pulled off a great show of rock ’n’ roll farce, and that is saying something considering that the daily news feels ever more like scripted buffoonery.

Music Festival Review: Northlands Music & Arts Festival — Chill Vibes

June 28, 2022
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Northlands lacks the infrastructure, diversity, and history of some of New England’s finest music fests, but its two-day debut provided a rustic oasis for jambands.

Album Review: The Tedeschi Trucks Band’s “I Am the Moon” — Part Two, “Ascension”

June 27, 2022
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The high quality of the material presented thus far justifies Tedeschi Trucks Band’s decision to release these songs in small batches over the course of three months.

Album Review: “Hurray for the Riff Raff” — Making Art Out of American Angst

June 27, 2022
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Life on Earth aches with the sadness of the human condition, touching on personal trauma and reaching into the malaise of a week of national bad news.

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