Amadou and Mariam and Bombino at Celebrate Brooklyn
by Zoë Gorman Before extremists began taking over the north of the African nation of Mali and proclaimed a jihadist state, Mali granted more record-label contracts than any country in
JACK Quartet and Joshua Roman at (le) Poisson Rouge
Ancient and innovative can easily coexist. In music especially, composers and peroformers throughout history have looked back for guidence and inspirtaion as they move forward. Steve Reich has openly written about the debt his music owes to the 13th century French composer Pérotin and one of Felix Mendelssohn’s greatest achievements was his rediscovery of J.S Bach’s music with his mounting of the St. Matthews Passion.
On Sunday night, the JACK Quartet and guest cellist Joshua Roman continued this tradition of finding inspiration in history and programmed their findings next to the rule breakers of today. They presented three madrigals by the intensely expressive renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo, arranged for sting quintet by JACK violinist Ari Streisfeld, as well as works by Joshua Roman, Brian Ferneyhough and a new piece, premiered by the quintet just three weeks ago in Seattle, by Jefferson Friedman.
MATTE Presents Full Moon at Governors Beach Club
by Laura Wasson As I boarded the crowded ferry heading to Governors Island late Saturday afternoon for MATTE's second-annual Full Moon party, I began to wonder what was I getting into.
Vision Festival Experiments with Jazz
by Zoë Gorman Photo credit: Zoë Gorman Experiments are, by nature, hit or miss, and last week's Vision Festival at Roulette was no exception. A lineup of experimental and avant-garde jazz artists paid tribute to
Song Preservation Society at Union Pool
by Laura Wasson It isn’t often I have much reason to ruminate on the finer points of poetry and the lost art of songwriting, but Song Preservation Society’s Tuesday night show
New York Philharmonic Plays Dukas, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky
by Caroline Sanchez Having only ever seen the New York Philharmonic in outdoor venues as part of their Concerts in the Parks series, I can technically call Saturday night’s concert
Stonewall Chorale Brings Fiery “Carmina Burana” to Church of the Holy Apostles
by Michael Cirigliano II Marking the end of their 36th season, the Stonewall Chorale—the nation’s first LGBTQ chorus—presented an intense reading of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, using its alternate orchestration
Bonnaroo 2013: Sunday
One more panel in the press tent, with (l-r) Bob Saget, Matt Berninger (The National), Britt Daniel (Spoon, Divine Fits), Chris Stapleton, and Alex Sharpe (Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic
Bonnaroo 2013: Saturday
Saturday at Bonnaroo couldn't possibly live up to the standard set by Paul McCartney's marathon set Friday night, but organizers were thrown a particularly gnarly curve ball when Saturday headliners