Review
Solid Sound is like a family picnic for stylistically open-minded musicians and fans alike within the brick-mill infrastructure of MASS MoCA.
So what if the American empire is doing more and more poorly? All that matters is hopping in alongside Tom Cruise for a super-duper roller-coaster ride inside an F-18.
Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, television, film, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.
Hellbender is not just a fabulous indie film about witches, it’s also an original coming-of-age horror movie.
Legendary percussionist Bill Bruford’s recorded output reveals him to be a restless innovator who went from one band to another so he could learn more about his instrument and about himself as a musician.
Crescent gives us the first five songs of the I Am The Moon suite and runs about 35 minutes. Let me rephrase that: it runs about 35 perfect minutes of music.
It was particularly delicious to see George Washington get his comeuppance.
We’d returned to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. We’d ridden a paddle-wheeler on the Mississippi River. It was good to be back, and why we’ll go back every chance we get: to life.
If the filmmakers are going to delve into the Jazz Fest vaults, how is it possible to show only a few seconds of Professor Longhair and nothing of James Booker, the Meters, the Neville Brothers? Not good.
This is the definitive recording of William Bolcom’s rags, complete or excerpted: a triumph for the pianist and the composer – as well as a grandly spirited, accessible, inventive journey for any who care to join them on it.
Arts Commentary: What Historical Fiction Can Teach Us About America