Stories for April 25, 2018
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Lao Tizer Band feat. Eric Marienthal will close Bakersfield Jazz Festival / Bakersfield.com
Posted At : April 25, 2018 2:56 PM
For Bakersfield Jazz Festival director Jim Scully, last year's event - the first without festival founder Doug Davis - provided a glimpse into what works, what needs work, and what has to work in regards to this venerable musical institution. "I'm not sure there's enough column inches to get into it all," Scully said. "Primarily, I've learned about the myriad moving parts that it takes to make this work, and really the all-encompassing task the festival has to be for it to be as successful as it should be." Closing out the night will be the Lao Tizer Band featuring saxophonist Eric Marienthal (formerly of Chick Corea's highly influential Elektric Band) playing the kind of jazz fusion that festival audiences might be familiar with a bit of a twist. The band's 2018 CD/DVD combo, "Songs From the Swinghouse," recorded live in a three-day session at Conway Studios in Hollywood, includes three rather inspired covers of classic rock songs - their version of Led's Zeppelin's "Ramble On" is a standout - as well as some solid originals. Expect their set to run the gamut from the fleet-fingered ("16th Heaven) to the pensive (the darkly shimmering "A Prayer for Unity") to the funky ("Pride (In the Name of Love)"), to the lovely ("To Touch the Sky") with your toe tapping throughout. They're the missing link between The Dave Matthews Band and Snarky Puppy we never knew existed. READ THE FULL Bakersfield.com ARTICLETen Tenors combine with titanic effect on 'Wish You Were Here' / STAGEANDCINEMA
Posted At : April 25, 2018 12:00 AM
I've always liked the tenor voice; from Pavorotti to The Three Tenors and everything in between I've been fortunate enough to have a wealth of choices. But then I was exposed to ten young Australian guys at a live concert over ten years ago, something changed. Their voices were beautiful and powerful individually; when combined they produced a titanic effect that was greater than the sum of the individual elements. Often, the music had a driving rhythm and many songs built to powerful crescendos. In their latest release Wish You Were Here - a tribute to deceased artists, many of whom left too soon (Prince, Bowie) - the boys transform the song into a street corner doo-wop. And while there's a huge dose of sentimentality, nothing comes off as maudlin. READ THE FULL STAGE AND CINEMA REVIEW p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060}Unmannered visionary of the keys - Maurizio Pollini, plays annual Orchestra Hall recital / Chicago Tribune
Posted At : April 25, 2018 12:00 AM
Maurizio Pollini's annual recitals at Orchestra Hall have long since become contemplations at twilight of repertory he has trod many times before. So it was on Sunday afternoon when the great Italian pianist presented a program of late Chopin keyboard works and the second book of Debussy's Preludes. At 76, Pollini may no longer command the supreme technical authority that marked the pianist in his prime. Technical feats that once were achieved with effortless sweep now can feel hard-won, even dogged. Risks are fewer now, and pedaling cannot disguise occasional finger slips and smudged runs. But Pollini remains a clear-eyed musical aristocrat, an unmannered visionary of the keys, as the Debussy portion of his concert made apparent. READ THE FULL Chicago Tribune ARTICLEYo-Yo Ma, allows the other musicians, to play, speak, and teach / RNS
Posted At : April 25, 2018 12:00 AM
Yo-Yo Ma has become God. Here is how I came to that (admittedly outrageous) conclusion. Last night, we had the pleasure of experiencing Yo-Yo Ma in concert at the Arsht Center in Miami, with the Silk Road ensemble. The music was captivating - an almost dizzying celebration of musical diversity, incorporating many different musical styles from the cultures of the fabled Silk Road, that stretches from the Middle East into Asia. Here was the amazing thing. Yo-Yo Ma said one paragraph as an introduction to the concert. And then, he sat back, and he played the cello. That was it. He allowed the other musicians to play, speak, and teach. READ THE FULL Religion News Service ARTICLEMartha Argerich, Sergei Babayan - Prokofiev for Two is IPR: Featured New Release
Posted At : April 24, 2018 12:00 AM
A new album from Martha Argerich and Sergei Babayan features familiar music of Sergei Prokofiev. The twist is that the music is heard in Babayan's new arrangements of Prokofiev's orchestral music for two pianos. The centerpiece of the album is a set of movements from Prokofiev's ballet "Romeo and Juliet." Babayan dedicated these transcriptions to Argerich. He says, "This project happened becuase of my love for Prokofiev, my love for Martha and my love for the ballet 'Romeo and Juliet.'" Argerich and Babayan also perform Babayan's new arrangements of a variety of music that Prokofiev composed for films, plays, and opera. SEE THE Interlochen Public Radio PAGEMary Gauthier, in Rochester for lovincup, stops by WXXI:Connections
Posted At : April 24, 2018 12:00 AM
Mary Gauthier is a country musician who recently said that she wasn't sober until she was 27, and couldn't write until she was 30. Twenty-five years later, she's an unlikely voice for veterans. Gauthier's newest album includes songs co-written with veterans. The songs explore a range of subjects, including the service of women in uniform, and the pain of loss. Gauthier performed in Rochester Tuesday night, but first she was a guest on WXXI: Connections. (Photo by Aaron Winters) LISTEN TO THE SEGMENT p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060; min-height: 14.0px}Dianne Reeves set for Oman:ROHM / MENAFN.COM
Posted At : April 24, 2018 12:00 AM
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060; min-height: 14.0px} With International Jazz Day coming up soon, the Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) will present Dianne Reeves, an American top jazz singer on Thursday April 26. Born into a musical family, Dianne is a superior interpreter of lyrics and a skilled scat singer, stated a press release. She has been hailed by The New York Times as 'the most admired jazz diva since the heyday of Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday'. Elegant, stylish and exuberant on stage, Dianne has appeared several times at New York's prestigious Jazz at Lincoln Center. She also appeared in George Clooney's Academy Award nominated film Good Night, and Good Luck, and was appointed as the first Creative Chair for Jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic READ THE FULL MENAFN.COM ARTICLETop 10 for Apr
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Soundtracks :
Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert
Drawing nearly 10 million viewers, NBC's highly anticipated special event "Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert" received rave reviews for its production, calling it "genuinely thrilling" (The New York Times), "truly transcendent" (Hollywood Reporter) and "the best live TV musical yet" (The Daily Beast). -
Johann Johannsson :
Englaboorn & Variations
Fresh perspectives unveiled on poignant reissue of the late Jóhann Jóhannsson's debut album, set for release by Deutsche Grammophon in remastered form with additional album of ‘reworkings' During the weeks before his untimely passing on February 9, award-winning Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson was closely involved in preparations for the reissue of his debut album, Englabörn. -
Various :
Hopes and Dreams - The Lullaby Project
History was written in 2000 BC, and 2018 marks the 150th anniversary of Brahms' Lullaby, so this precious musical tradition has deep cultural and emotional roots. -
Bill Frisell :
Music IS
Almost every day, Bill Frisell gets up in the morning, has some coffee, and writes music. -
Sons of Kemet :
Your Queen Is A Reptile
Shabaka Hutchings, saxophonist, band leader and composer, has signed to impulse! records under the umbrella of Verve Label Group. -
The Lao Tizer Band :
Songs From The Swinghouse
With more than five years since their last release, The Lao Tizer Band has taken the time to grow in every aspect. -
Kurt Elling :
The Questions
The Questions, Kurt Elling's newest studio recording, is his musical response to this moment in history and the widespread anxiety of our times. -
Solomon Grey :
Human Music
Human Music is a collection of intricately crafted songs showcasing the band's cinematic-style emotive soundscapes. -
Tony Banks :
5 w/Czech National Symphony Orchestra
Tony Banks today releases "Prelude to a Million Years", the first track to be taken from his forthcoming orchestral album entitled Five, out February 23 via BMG. -
Francois Moutin - Kavita Shah duo :
Interplay
Francois Moutin & Kavita Shah - Interplay is an improvisational journey across lyric-driven and wordless pieces alike.
James Ehnes joins VSO for - Music from Great Britain / Vancouver Sun
Posted: April 20, 2017 12:00 AM | By: AdminOver the course of its almost 100-year existence, the VSO has had only two actual Brits as music directors: Meredith Davies in the 1960s and the incumbent Bramwell Tovey. No one who has given the latter's programming a close, critical look would ever accuse him of unduly pushing British music. But as we celebrate the windup of his tenure as music director, it's high time to hear Tovey's take on particular masterworks and some of the lesser-known repertoire of composers from the U.K.
Tovey doesn't kick off the five-night event - that honour goes to violinist/violist and real VSO favourite James Ehnes on Saturday. "Songs and Serenades" is a program of shorter works for strings, which are often hard to tuck into regular symphony concerts. But what a selection of wonderful music, including Benjamin Britten's exquisite Lachrymae: Reflections on a Song of John Dowland, Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis and The Lark Ascending, and Elgar's Serenade.
On Monday, Ehnes joins Tovey and the full orchestra in a performance of William Walton's Viola Concerto prefaced by a new(ish) work, Velocity, by young(ish) Gavin Higgins, a hit at the 2014 Proms. The concert ends with Gustav Holst's The Planets, complete with space images courtesy of NASA. Listeners who were just wild about John Williams' Harry Potter scores should be gobsmacked by Gustav Holst's proper blockbuster, an orchestral tour de force (with all the trimmings including the Orpheum's mighty Wurlitzer and wordless women's chorus) and the progenitor of countless movie and television scores.
READ THE FULL Vancouver Sun ARTICLE
Crossover Media Projects with James Ehnes
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James Ehnes
Bach: Sonatas et Partitas for solo violin
The works of Bach solo violin are very dear to me and hold a place in my concert repertoire. The registration of these monumental works early career was a rare privilege. I will always be grateful to Analekta for giving me this amazing opportunity. Although my interpretations have evolved over time and continue to change throughout my life, it is a great pleasure to listen to these pieces and remember, with pride, the incredible experience when recording these masterpieces. - James Ehnes
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