Home » Stories » Watch Peter Gabriel re-record 'Biko' with artists from around the world / RollingStone

Stories for April 18, 2021

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    Mark Helias on pandemic collaborations / Contrabass Conversations
     
    Posted At : April 18, 2021 9:30 AM

    Contrabass Conversations writes......Mark Helias is a renowned bassist, composer and producer who has performed throughout the world for more than four decades with some of the most important and innovative musicians in Jazz and Improvised Music including Don Cherry, Edward Blackwell, Anthony Davis, Dewey Redman, Anthony Braxton, Abbey Lincoln, Cecil Taylor, and Uri Caine.  Mark recently released Some Kind of Tomorrow with saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom. We talk about what life has been like during the pandemic, this latest remote album collaboration with Jane and about remote collaboration in general, and many lessons learned from Mark's years working as a jazz bassist.  LISTEN

  • Joe Lovano chats with JazzFM's 'Full Circle'
     
    Posted At : April 17, 2021 12:00 AM

    The debut album of Joe Lovano's Trio Tapestry was one of 2019's most talked-about releases. This musical concept is taken to the next level on its second album, Garden of Expression, a recording distinguished by its intense focus. Lovano, a saxophonist whose reach extends across the history of modern jazz and beyond, plays with exceptional sensitivity in Trio Tapestry. The music he writes for this group-tenderly melodic or declamatory, harmonically open, rhythmically free, and spiritually involving-encourages subtle and differentiated responses from his creative partners, creating interactions in which Lovano describes as "magical." Carmen Castaldi's space-conscious approach to drumming further refines an improvisational understanding that he and Lovano have shared since the early 1970s. The trio is also an inspired context for Marilyn Crispell's solos, counter melodies, and improvisational embellishments. Her feeling for sound-color helps the chamber music character of the group bloom.  Joe Lovano sat down with Ruth Fisher of JazzFM's Full Circle. Ruth commented that she was "Really thrilled to be in conversation with the incredible sax man. SEE THE POST

  • Montana Public Radio discusses 'Paris' with Hilary Hahn
     
    Posted At : April 14, 2021 12:00 AM

    Hilary Hahn's new recording pays homage to the rich cultural heritage of a city that has been close to her heart throughout her career. Released by Deutsche Grammophon on 5 March 2021, Paris sees the American violinist resume her productive partnership with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and its Music Director, Mikko Franck. The three-time Grammy Award-winner's album presents the world premiere of Einojuhani Rautavaara's Deux Sérénades, commissioned by Mikko Franck. It also includes Ernest Chausson's Poème and Sergei Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No.1, which received its first performance in the French capital in 1923. Montana Public Radio's John Floridis interviewed HH about the new recording. LISTEN TO THE SEGMENT

  • Albrecht Mayer's new 'Mozart' album is a personal tribute to the great composer / udiscovermusic.
     
    Posted At : April 14, 2021 12:00 AM

    udiscovermusic.'s Sharon Kelly writes.....Oboist Albrecht Mayer has released his new album Mozart, a personal and affectionate tribute to one of the greatest composers who ever lived. Albrecht Mayer has lived with Mozart's music for almost half a century. He first discovered the composer while he was a boy soprano in the Bamberg Cathedral Choir, an early experience which is perhaps partly responsible for the warm, singing quality of his oboe playing. Albrecht Mayer's new album Mozart is inspired by his lifelong love for the composer's music and is his first all-Mozart album. Photo: Christoph Köstlin READ THE FULL udiscovermusic. ARTICLE

  • Joy Harjo discusses 'I Pray for My Enemies' with Spokane Public Radio
     
    Posted At : April 14, 2021 12:00 AM

    In her first new recording in a decade, Joy Harjo – the first Native American named Poet Laureate of the United States – digs deep into the indigenous red earth and the shared languages of music to sing, speak and play a stunningly original musical meditation that seeks healing for a troubled world – I Pray for My Enemies, was released from Sunyata Records/Sony Orchard Distribution on March 5, 2021. Collaborating with producer/engineer Barrett Martin on this unique new album, Harjo brings a fresh identity to the poetry and songs that have made her a renowned poet of the Muscogee Creek Nation and one of the most authentic and compelling voices of these times.  "The concept for I Pray for My Enemies began" says Harjo, "with an urgent need to deal with discord, opposition. It could have been on a tribal, national or a personal level. I no longer remember. The urgency had a heartbeat and in any gathering of two or more, perhaps the whole planet, our hearts lean to entrainment – that is, to beat together."  Join Spokane Public Radio's 'Soundspace' as Zan hosts a phone interview with the multi-instrumentalist musician, poet, performer, activist and 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate, as she speaks about what inspired her recent album.  LISTEN

  • Oscar-nominated composer Emile Mosseri discusses scoring 'Minari' before he was hired / KDFC - KUSC
     
    Posted At : April 13, 2021 12:00 AM

    KDFC - KUSC's Brian Lauritzen and Jeffrey Freymann write.....Minari tells the story of a Korean family that moves to Arkansas in the 1980s, hoping to find their American dream by working a farm. For almost every film, the score is the last element to be added – after all the other editing has been done, and the actors have moved on to their next projects. But composer Emile Mosseri approached his score to Minari another way, writing many of the original themes when there was only a script, and the film hadn't yet been shot. He says he sent director Lee Isaac Chung sketches for the score even before he was officially hired as the film's composer, and thinks that the music would have had a less important role if it had been written later. Mosseri has only scored a handful of films, including the critically acclaimed The Last Black Man in San Francisco and Miranda July's Kajillionaire, yet won this nomination (one of six for the film) with a score about the intersection of two cultures that doesn't try to sound like either of them. Listen to Brian Lauritzen and Emile Mosseri chat on KDFC: San Francisco & KUSC: Los Angeles

  • Charles Richard-Hamelin: Chopin Preludes is the WFMT: Featured New Release
     
    Posted At : April 13, 2021 12:00 AM

    WFMT's Lisa Flynn writes.....The new album by Charles Richard-Hamelin presents two important works by Frédéric Chopin and consolidates the musician's place in the highest ranks of the pianistic world. Describing the 24 Preludes, Richard-Hamelin says: "One can hear the entire scope of Chopin's output inside the microcosm that are the Preludes. Across all the different major and minor keys, we get hints of his Études, Nocturnes, Impromptus, Mazurkas, and even fragments of larger works such as the Ballades. Yet, there is also a sense of an overarching story being told in 24 chapters of various lengths and weights. It is Chopin at his most beautiful, heart-wrenching, experimental, dissonant, sometimes even violent. It is a fascinating journey through the human psyche and my interpretation aims to show precisely that." For April 13, 2021, Charles Richard-Hamelin: Chopin Preludes is the WFMT: Chicago 'Featured New Release'

Top 10 for Apr

  • Vijay Iyer :

    Uneasy

     Uneasy, with Tyshawn Sorey and Linda May Han Oh, is Vijay Iyer's second trio album on ECM and his seventh appearance as a leader on the label.
  • Sons of Kemet :

    'Hustle' from Black To The Future

     Saxophonist, composer, philosopher and writer Shabaka Hutchings returns with a brand-new album from his Mercury Prize nominated outfit Sons of Kemet.
  • Dustin O'Halloran :

    Silfur

     Dustin O'Halloran's debut Deutsche Grammophon album, Silfur, explores the shifting perspective of music through time and place in new pieces and reimagined earlier works.
  • Eydís Evensen :

    Bylur

     Icelandic pianist and post-classical composer Eydís Evensen has confirmed details of her debut album, BYLUR, which will be released on 23rd April, 2021 by XXIM Records, Sony's new imprint for innovative, post-genre instrumental music.
  • Moby :

    'Porcelain' from Reprise feat. Jim James

     Musical pioneer Moby announces his new album Reprise, out May 28th on Deutsche Grammophon.
  • Jacob Muhlrad :

    Time w/Swedish Radio Choir

     Those who peep through the window of Jacob Mühlrad's studio in Stockholm will see the composer busy behind his computer screen, perhaps blasting some Drake or FKA Twigs as he works on his own music.
  • Anoushka Shankar :

    'Sister Susannah' from Love Letters P.S.

     Seven-time Grammy® Award-nominated sitarist, composer and producer Anoushka Shankar announces a stunning new digital release Love Letters P.
  • Jon Batiste :

    We Are

     WE ARE represents a completely new sonic chapter for Jon Batiste.
  • Clark :

    Playground in a Lake

     On 26 March 2021 the ambitiously multifaceted musician/composer Clark presents his chillingly affecting ninth studio album Playground In A Lake, on which he broadens horizons and tries new things, with profound results.
  • Joey Alexander :

    SALT

     Three-time GRAMMY Award-nominated pianist Joey Alexander follows his major-label debut album, WARNA (Verve Records), with three new singles "SALT" (March 19: LINK), "Under the Sun" (April 23), and "Summer Rising" (May 28) set for global release on Verve.

Watch Peter Gabriel re-record 'Biko' with artists from around the world / RollingStone

Posted: February 12, 2021 12:00 AM | By: Admin
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RollingStone's ANDY GREENE writes......Peter Gabriel has re-recorded his 1980 protest classic "Biko" with help from 25 musicians from around the globe, including Beninese vocalist and activist Angélique Kidjo, Yo-Yo Ma, the Cape Town Ensemble, Sebastian Robertson, and bassist Meshell Ndegeocello.

The video was produced by Sebastian Robertson and Mark Johnson as part of Playing for Change's Song Around the World initiative.

The original song was written as a tribute to South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, who was murdered in police custody in 1977, but Gabriel tells Rolling Stone that it still holds incredible meaning today. "Although the white minority government has gone in South Africa, the racism around the world that apartheid represented has not ," he says. "Racism and nationalism are sadly on the rise. In India, Myanmar and Turkey, Israel and China, racism is being deliberately exploited for political gain."

"On the black/white front the Black Lives Matter movement has made it very clear how far we still have to go before we can hope to say we have escaped the dark shadow of racism," he adds.

READ THE FULL RollingStone ARTICLE & WATCH THE VIDEO

Crossover Media Projects with Yo-Yo Ma

  • Yo-Yo Ma

    Salonen Cello Concerto w/Los Angeles Philharmonic

    On March 8, Sony Classical will release a recording of Esa-Pekka Salonen's cello concerto featuring Yo-Yo Ma and the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Salonen's baton. Co-commissioned for Ma by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Barbican Centre, and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Salonen's cello concerto premiered on March 9, 2017 with Salonen himself conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Ma and the concerto then came to the New York Philharmonic on March 17, 2017, with then-Music Director Alan Gilbert conducting; Ma and Gilbert continued the premiere season with performances at London's Barbican Centre and Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie. This recording captures the live performance in Los Angeles on February 8, 2018.

  • Yo-Yo Ma

    Six Evolutions - Bach Cello Suites

    YO-YO MA releases Six Evolutions – Bach: Cello Suites today.  The new album from Sony Classical marks Ma's third and final recording of the works and celebrates his nearly six-decade-long relationship with the music.  Six Evolutions – Bach: Cello Suites is available to stream and download now on all digital service providers and for purchase as a 3-LP 180-gram vinyl set.

    As Ma's "constant musical companions" for almost 60 years, Bach's Cello Suites first entered the cellist's life at the age of four, when he learned the first measure of the Prélude to Suite No. 1 under his father's instruction.  His Grammy Award-winning first complete recording of the suites was made in his late twenties. His second, Inspired by Bach, was released in his early forties and recorded alongside a multi-genre, collaborative exploration of the works. Both previous recordings of the Cello Suites, also on Sony Classical, became landmarks in classical discography, as well as milestones in Ma's musical life.  Since then these works have been a through line in his life, guiding him through times of happiness as well as hardship, prompting Ma to ask, "What power does this music possess that even today, after three hundred years, it continues to help us navigate through troubled times?"

  • Yo-Yo Ma

    Yo-Yo Ma plays Bach

    CBS/Sony Classical has been accompanying superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma for decades on his journey through the unsurpassed works written for his instrument by Johann Sebastian Bach. The label is now pleased to announce the release of important landmarks from that journey, Yo-Yo Ma Plays Bach, on a single CD. Ma's first recording of Bach's six Solo Suites, which went on to win the Grammy? for "Best Classical Instrumental Performance" and is represented here by the Sarabande from the Sixth Suite, took place in 1982. In the same year, Yo-Yo Ma recorded Bach's complete sonatas for viola da gamba with harpsichordist Kenneth Cooper which was hailed by Gramophone as "intelligent and expressive."

    24 NEW  53 TOTAL
    SYND:     Classical 24, CBC
    Direct: SiriusXM, MOOD, AccuRadio 
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Wash DC, Seattle, Cleveland, Dallas, Houston, Minneapolis, Portland, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Austin, Denver, Memphis, AL(Statewide), NE(Statewide), MN(Statewide), MI(Statewide)
    INTER: Canada, UK
    Online: Bradenton Herald, BroadwayWorld

  • Yo-Yo Ma

    Songs Of Joy & Peace

    Imagine a party, a musical party inspired by the holiday season. A party that celebrates the universal hopes, dreams and joy animating seasonal festivals the world over Christmas, Hanukkah, Eid al-Adha, Kwanzaa, Yule and New Year's Day. That is what brought Yo-Yo Ma together with a remarkable group of friends to create Yo-Yo Ma & Friends Songs of Joy & Peace, a new album of songs from Sony Masterworks.

    3 New 'ON' this week: 291
    SYND:     NPR/Hearts of Space, APM/Prairie Home Companion & Performance Today, PRI/Jazz After Hours & Classical 24, WFMT Network/Jazz with Bob Parlocha, UnderCurrents, Folkscene, Music Of Your Life, Acoustic Cafe, Radio DeLuxe
    Direct: XM/Fine Tuning, Music Choice/Jazz & Soundscapes
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Wash DC, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Dallas, Seattle, Cleveland, Houston, Miami, Atlanta, St. Louis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, San Diego, Denver, Portland, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, Berkeley CA, Nashville, Memphis, Albuquerque, Honolulu, Austin, Louisville, San Antonio, Columbus OH, Madison WI, Puerto Rico, Canada

  • Yo-Yo Ma

    The Essential Yo-Yo Ma

    An Essential Collection From Yo-Yo Ma. One Of The Most Popular Musicians Of Our Time! 34 Incredible tracks spanning Yo-Yo Ma's entire career - From his Academy Award winning performance on: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and his Grammy Winning Soul Of The Tango: to his latest Silk Road Ensemble recording: Beyond the Horizon.

    8 ADD's this week: 68 Stations now "ON"
    Markets include:     New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Cleveland, St. Louis, Cincinatti, Pittsburgh, Houston, New Orleans, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Albuquerque, Buffalo

  • Yo-Yo Ma

    30 Years Outside the Box

    Comprising ninety discs, Yo-Yo Ma: 30 Years Outside the Box is a salute to Yo-Yo Ma's monumental musical achievements and to his 30-year legacy with Sony Masterworks. The exciting story of his life and work is eloquently told in a quality hard bound book of over 312 pages, lavishly illustrated with more than 150 color and black-and-white archival photos, original album artwork, liner notes and credits. Further enriching the story of this musical giant is a warm and insightful foreword by his longtime friend and esteemed fellow artist, pianist Emanuel Ax, as well as a lengthy, insightful essay by noted critic Richard Dyer.

    40 New ON this week   53 Total
    Synd: Virtuoso Voices
    Direct: SiriusXM, Music Choice
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Portland, Baltimore, New Orleans, Berkeley CA
    Online: Taintradio, Dr. Music

  • Yo-Yo Ma

    Appassionato

    Yo-Yo Ma's latest recording for Sony Classical, Appassionato, is a journey through some of the world's most romantic music-from Mendelssohn to Gershwin to John Williams. An exclusive Sony Classical artist, and with a CD catalogue of astonishing breadth and depth, Yo-Yo Ma has consistently been one of the top-selling classical artists in the world. His recordings have earned him a total of fifteen Grammy Awards.

    7 New 'ON' this week: 63 Total "Stations/Shows"
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Seattle, Minneapolis, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, St. Louis, Cleveland, Cincinatti, Baltimore, Salt Lake, New Orleans