jazz
CD: Courtney Pine – EuropaFriday, 04 March 2011
A jazz concept album exploring the historical origins of Europe. No, not the synopsis of a new Christopher Guest film – although how I'd love to see Fred Willard in that - but an ambitious, far-reaching new recording from sax maestro Courtney Pine.... Read more... |
CD: Vijay Iyer - TirthaSaturday, 26 February 2011
A recent Grammy nominee for his 2009 album Historicity, composer-pianist Vijay Iyer is one of an increasing number of young jazz artists who refuses to be corralled by genre. Iyer's work traverses a continuum that embraces everything from hip hop to... Read more... |
Penguin Cafe/Portico Quartet, Usher Hall, EdinburghMonday, 21 February 2011
It’s the convention to review concerts on the first night of a tour rather than the last, but in this case it transpired it was rather wise to make an exception. These two groups may make very different kinds of music, but in their questing desire... Read more... |
Treme, Sky AtlanticFriday, 18 February 2011
When Treme debuted on HBO in the States, some excitable critics watched the pilot episode and instantly proclaimed it a masterpiece superior even to The Wire. David Simon, who created both shows, may have been delighted. Or on the other hand, he... Read more... |
CD: JÆ - Balls and Kittens, Draught and Strangling RainWednesday, 16 February 2011
There is a certain kind of Northern European songcraft that's difficult for we genre-crazed music journo sorts to categorise. The active components are a musical stew of late-night cabaret blues, oddball jazz-classical instrumentation, a smidgeon... Read more... |
theartsdesk in New York: A Dirty Weekend with the New York Dolls and a Jazz PrincessSunday, 13 February 2011
I didn't realise how much I liked dirt. Especially New York dirt. I was going to do a rant about boutique designer hotels, which seem ubiquitous in Manhattan. Major case in point: the Gramercy Park Hotel, where I used to stay in the Nineties and... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Producer/DJ Carl CraigSaturday, 05 February 2011
Carl Craig is extraordinarily easygoing. Most dance producers of his seniority and level of achievement would come with at least a publicist in tow, but when we meet him in his London hotel, his only entourage is his nine-year-old son, playing... Read more... |
Gwilym Simcock, The Forge, CamdenWednesday, 02 February 2011
As star pianist Gwilym Simcock amusingly recalled during his solo set last night, German efficiency almost scuppered the making of his latest and universally acclaimed release, Good Days at Schloss Elmau. Recorded at the deluxe Alpine spa in just a... Read more... |
Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards 2011, KokoMonday, 24 January 2011
Club music has always been hard to keep track of, and never more so than in the current climate of constant genre meltdown and cross-fertilisation. Which is why the DJ's art is more important than ever, particularly in the case of scene... Read more... |
Vinicius Cantuária and Bill Frisell, Ronnie Scott'sThursday, 13 January 2011
McCartney and Wonder. Jagger and Bowie. Mullard and Baker. Music history teaches us that the star collaboration doesn't always transmute into artistic gold. The Chairman of the Board himself, with a little help from Vandross, Streisand, Bono et al,... Read more... |
Year Out/Year In: New Music To Look ForTuesday, 28 December 2010
In the next instalment of our Year Out/Year In series, theartsdesk's New Music writers cast a critical eye over 2010, and offer some recommendations for 2011, incorporating some very funky videos. Our selection of recommended albums from the past... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Colombo: Where Music Matters as East Meets WestSunday, 21 November 2010
For hundreds of years now the island currently known as Sri Lanka has had a thriving musical culture (or cultures, not to politicise the issue). There’s been folk music for as long as there’ve been folks. The various strata of society have refined... Read more... |
