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 ARTICLE

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}

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 ARTICLE

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 ARTICLE

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 PAGE

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}

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 ARTICLE