Review

Book Review: “This Is Bop” — A Biography of Jon Hendricks, Master of Vocalese

December 22, 2020
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This biography provides a solid look at Jon Hendricks’s life and career; a well-rounded picture that is neither a hagiography nor a hatchet job.

Classical CD Reviews: Listening During COVID, Part 3 –From Boston with Love (Performances of Haydn, Dello Joio, and Virgil Thomson).

December 22, 2020
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Two new recordings and one much-welcome re-release contain first-rate performances of Haydn’s 1798 “Lord Nelson” Mass, Dello Joio’s opera about Joan of Arc, and Virgil Thomson’s astonishing musical portraits of Alice B. Toklas, Picasso, and others.

Arts Feature: Best Movies (With Some Disappointments) of 2020

December 21, 2020
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Our demanding critics choose the best films (along with some disappointments) of the year.

Book Review: Colum McCann’s “Apeirogon” — Showing a Path Forward

December 21, 2020
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Although some of Apeirogon is painful, this novel can inspire you to think differently and even to act, which is surely welcome after this horrible year in which we have all felt so helpless.

Film Review: Movies to Watch While Sheltering in Place, Waiting-for-the-Vaccine Edition — Stir-Crazy 13

December 20, 2020
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Some great old films to watch while you count the days for your anti-COVID injection!

Blues Album Review: Robert Connely Farr’s “Country Supper” — Feed a Hunger for That Lonesome Delta Sound

December 19, 2020
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Country Supper is a beautifully produced album, a cohesive musical and artistic statement that will appeal to serious fans of the blues, country, and indie rock.

Film Review: “Possessor” — Chilling, Brutal, and Heady Horror

December 19, 2020
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This brilliant film is both an intriguing commentary on the nature of performance and a frightening allegory about how technology, at the service of our worst fantasies and urges, is capable of destroying our humanity.

Album Review: Slauson Malone’s “Vergangenheitsbewältigung” — Struggling to Cope with the Past

December 18, 2020
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Vergangenheitsbewältigung only runs 24 minutes: it is a compact, thought-provoking, and rewarding sensory experience.

Classical CD Reviews: More Beethoven — Michael Gielen Edition, vol. 9 and René Jacobs conducts the “Missa solemnis”

December 18, 2020
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A captivating and thought-provoking version of Missa solemnis from René Jacobs and his forces; the Michael Gielen Edition is one of this Beethoven anniversary-year’s highlights.

Book Review: Anahid Nersessian’s “Keats’s Odes: A Lover’s Discourse” — More like a Quarrel

December 17, 2020
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Anahid Nersessian claims that her book is a kind of love story between her and Keats’ odes. But it turns out we have to take her word for that. Too often this study comes off like an acrimonious couple’s counseling session.

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