Malcolm Holcombe's gritty rootsiness and warm-blooded sincerity shine through gloomy subject matter, frosted with pearly harmony vocals from Iris Dement.
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Concert Review (NYC): Peter and Will Anderson’s ‘Songbook Summit’ Tribute to Irving Berlin
Saxophonists Peter and Will Anderson launch their 'Songbook Summit' on great American songwriters with a tribute to Irving Berlin featuring singer Molly Ryan.
Read More »Mostly Mozart Festival Review: International Contemporary Ensemble – ‘Grand Pianola Music’
Works by John Adams, George Lewis, and Courtney Bryan explored the interaction between man and machine, in three very different ways. And there wasn't a pianola (player piano) in sight.
Read More »Concert Review: Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Soprano Sherezade Panthaki – Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’ and More
The 'Four Seasons' benefitted especially from the outdoor setting. A real bird sang during the twittering of the violins in the first movement of 'Spring.' A dog barked. During 'Summer' real crickets formed a chorale as, in the music, a goatherd wept and a storm threatened.
Read More »Cabaret Review: Barb Jungr and John McDaniel – ‘1968: Let the Sun Shine In’ (NYC, 22 July 2018)
Cabaret singer Barb Jungr and pianist-singer John McDaniel gave us a sparkling set of songs from 1968, reminding us of the greatness of that era's popular music.
Read More »Music Review: Jocelyn Swigger – ‘The Complete Chopin Études’
The pianist delivers all of Chopin's challenging Etudes on an instrument of the composer's time: an 1841 Paris Érard piano tuned to a historical temperament.
Read More »Theater Review (NYC Off-Broadway): ‘The Originalist’ by John Strand
This sturdy, compelling production rivets our attention, explicating both the character and the philosophy of that most polarizing of jurists, the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Read More »Music Review: New Music Detroit – ‘Smoke: Music of Marc Mellits’
Who says serious music can't also be fun? Case in point: Marc Mellits's works on New Music Detroit's debut album 'Smoke.'
Read More »Theater Review (NYC): ‘Tevye Served Raw’ – Stories by Sholem Aleichem
Uproarious and deeply touching, 'Tevye Served Raw' gives us a broad sampling of Sholem Aleichem's whole opus, its humor and its pathos resonating beyond cultural and religious boundaries.
Read More »Concert Review: Carolina Eyck, Theremin, and Theo Bleckmann, Vocalist (NYC, 2 July 2018)
Theremin virtuosa Carolina Eyck and avant-garde vocalist Theo Bleckmann were at their inventive best in separate sets at (le) poisson rouge in NYC.
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