Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a recording of the score for the ballet "The Lady With the Lap Dog" by the Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin. The ballet was performed at the recent Soviet-American Music Festival in Boston. Shchedrin was one of the Soviet organizers of the event.
Self-professed Ellington fanatic Kevin Whitehead reviews Recollections of the Big Band Era and Piano Duets, both of which, he says, reveal why the composer and pianist was so admired by later jazz innovators like Cecil Taylor.
Pianist Ran Blake. He heads the Third Stream Music Department at the New England Conservatory of Music. Third Stream music, a term coined by composer Gunther Schuller, integrates classical and jazz traditions. Blake has extended the definition to include other kinds of music. A CD of Blake's 1961 recording with singer Jeanne Lee has just been reissued by RCA.
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reports on cellist Yo-Yo Ma's performance at Tanglewood last week. He played the world premiere of electronic music composer Tod Machover's "Begin Again Again," which was written for the cellist.
Hal David, the Oscar- and Grammy-winning lyricist, died Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 91. David is best known for his many collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach between the late '50s and the mid-'70s.
From jazz concerts and cabaret acts to multimedia art installations, Theo Bleckmann has made a name for himself in new York. Now, the vocalist and composer looks back to his native Germany.
Lucian Ban, John Surman and Mat Maneri bring a fresh treatment — and musical chemistry — to the bare-bones folk transcriptions of the 20th-century Hungarian composer Béla Bartók.
Rock historian Ed Ward discusses the musician's role in recent popular music. Before rising to prominence in the Velvet Underground, Cale studied with avant-garde composers like LaMonte Young.
Robin D.G. Kelley's new book, Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original, focuses on the career of the eccentric jazz pianist and composer. It reveals new details about Monk's life, music and mental health problems, and provides a glimpse into the New York jazz scene of the mid-twentieth century.
Jazz Critic Francis Davis will review "Birth of a Notion," the first album by Shadow Vignettes, a 25-member ensemble, led by Chicago-based saxophonist and composer Edward Wilkerson.
A concert and interview with singer/songwriter and musician Dave Alvin. He's best known for his guitar "firepower" with the Blasters (for which he was also primary composer and songwriter). He also had a short stint with the band X. Alvin went solo a few years ago, and began honing his voice. He's just released his third solo album -- his first acoustic one -- "King of California" (HighTone Records).
Despite the current popularity of minimalist music, classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz believes that Ellott Carter, whose work never shies away from complexity, is the greatest living composer.
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews the new album from drummer Aldo Romano. It's called "To Be Ornette To Be," and it's a musical tribute to free jazz composer Ornette Coleman. (It's on the French Owl label).
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead concludes his look at some current jazz saxophone quartets, this time focusing on the ROVA Saxophone Quartet, which often collaborates with new music composers.
As nominations for the 2023 Academy Awards are announced, The White Lotus actor F. Murray Abraham, who won the Best Actor Oscar in 1985 for his role as composer Antonio Salieri in Amadeus, reflects on how the award changed his life — and nearly cost him his career.
You might think that Sánchez's Spanish-French-Cuban-Canadian-Israeli quintet would go haywire with so many rhythmic accents in play, but critic Kevin Whitehead says the composer pulls it all together.
Haden was part of saxophonist Ornette Coleman's legendary free jazz ensemble. Haden has also worked with John Coltrane and Keith Jarrett. Later, he formed the Liberation Music Orchestra with composer Carla Bley, and then the group Old And New Dreams. His latest ensemble is Quartet West. They have a new album "Haunted Heart," which is inspired by movies and music from the 1940s.
Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews "Easily Slip Into Another World," the latest album by saxophonist Henry Threadgill and his sextet. Whitehead says that more than any other current jazz composer, Threadgill mixes strains from all phases of jazz history.
Soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy. He is midway through a rare U.S. tour. He now lives in Paris. His spans traditional jazz, including compositions by Thelonius Monk and more contemporary composers.
Ken Emerson talks about the subject of his new biography, Stephen Foster. Foster was a nineteenth century songwriter who had a strong impact on American music. He was the composer of many familiar songs including, "Oh! Susanna," "Camptown Races," and "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair." Emerson says Foster was heavily influenced by black music. And even though the music was often performed in the offensive black-face style, his songs sometimes betray a sympathy for African-Americans.
