Best of 2021 – Craig Taborn on ECM (CD Review)
Sequenza 21 Best of 2021 Craig Taborn Shadowplay ECM Records I first became aware of pianist Craig Taborn in the early aughts, writing about him for (dearly departed)…
Danny Driver Records Ligeti (CD Review)
György Ligeti The 18 Etudes Danny Driver Hyperion Composed between 1985 and 2001, the 18 Etudes by György Ligeti are an eloquent summary of the techniques he had…
Best of 2020 – Simone Dinnerstein
Best of 2020: Simone Dinnerstein A Character of Quiet Simone Dinnerstein, piano Orange Mountain Music Pianist Simone Dinnerstein has been playing Philip Glass’s music live for the past few years.…
Anna Höstman’s Harbour (CD Review)
Anna Höstman Harbour Cheryl Duvall, piano Redshift Records, 2020 Harbour, a recital recording of Anna Höstman’s piano works played by Cheryl Duvall, reveals an emerging composer who both synthesizes her…
CageConcert: An Interview with Philip Thomas
Interview: Philip Thomas Launches Cageconcert By Christian Carey Pianist Philip Thomas is a prolific artist. A member of Apartment House, he recently participated in their recording of Ryoko Akama’s compositions…
Violinist Midori and Pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City
No matter how old the violinist Midori is, I’ll always think of her as a child prodigy, the young teenager in the 1980s who played with A-list orchestras around the…
Piano Drop at Seattle’s Jack Straw
Destruction and reclamation, gimmick and avant-garde One of the odder fads bequeathed to us by the 1960s is the ritual destruction of musical instruments. It’s a custom most famously associated…
James Romig – Still (CD Review)
James Romig Still Ashlee Mack, piano New World Records 80802 Composer James Romig has spent the past twenty years cultivating a body of work that embodies both rigorous structuring and…
Best Drone Recording 2017: Lee Plays Gibson
Randy Gibson The Four Pillars Appearing from The Equal D under Resonating Apparitions of The Eternal Process in The Midwinter Starfield 16 VIII 10 (Kansas City) Andrew Lee, amplified piano…
Thelonious Monk: a Rediscovered Soundtrack from 1960 (CD Review)
Thelonious Monk Les Liaisons Dangereuses 1960 Saga/Sam Records/Universal 2xCD, LP, and digital formats Thelonious Monk, piano, composer, arranger; Charlie Rouse, tenor saxophone; Barney Wilen, tenor saxophone; Sam Jones, double bass;…