New York
Turangalîla-Tristan
Quite a play of classical contrasts… Sunday brought the Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale to Carnegie Hall for a reading of Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphonie, with Reinbert de Leeuw conducting. A gifted older maestro, young and hungry players — the mix couldn’t have been more combustible. The sprawling 10-movement work of the mid-’40s involves spine-tingling sustained crescendos and hints of Romanticism, and
On Pete Robbins
My preview of Pete Robbins’s sILENT Z, at Cornelia Street Cafe Dec. 17, in this week’s Time Out New York.
Efforts deserving support
~ Cuban dissident blogger Yoani Sánchez and her brave comrades have managed, despite open intimidation by the regime, to institute a clandestine bloggers’ “knowledge workshop.” Says Sánchez: “We ended up finding the cracks between the fingers of the censors, between which the fine sand of information and knowledge has managed to slip through.” Sean Penn, writing prominently for The Nation,
On Revive Da Live
My take on the intriguing jazz-multigenre concert initiative Revive Da Live, online at Jazz Times (and forthcoming in the next print edition).
On McCoy Tyner
I’m happy to announce my debut as a preview and feature writer for Time Out New York. First up: McCoy Tyner, starting Tuesday, Dec. 9 at the Blue Note.
Last Knit
Of all the worthy sounds heard Tuesday night, the final night of jazz at the Knit, what stood out most was the slashing, furious freak-jazz of the DaHa Orchestra, short for Andrew D’Angelo and Curtis Hasselbring, both in fantastic form at the helm of a big band. With the unstoppable frenzied pinpoint assault of Jim Black on drums. If it
The end?
The Knit is closing but the musicians carry on. And so will Adam Schatz’s Search & Restore series, in other venues. Meanwhile, go to this multistage blowout and it’s doubtful you’ll regret it.
Shows and more shows
Only good things to report about trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and his quintet at the Jazz Standard on Wednesday night, with Walter Smith III on tenor, Fabian Almazan on piano, Harish Raghavan on bass and Justin Brown on drums. Mostly one long, continuous set with unaccompanied trumpet segues. The harmonic model and band interaction recalled the second Miles quintet, but the