A review of Myriam Alter’s ‘Where Is There’ (2007) Myriam Alter is one of those musicians about whom the Internet seems to know very little. What Google manages to dig up more or less tells the same story: Alter hails … [read more]
I was doing some reading about the inimitable Jon Hassell the other day (an appreciation of his mysterious and powerful music should be another post here one of these days) and came across mention of Mati Klarwein, an artist whose … [read more]
A review of Food’s Quiet Inlet (2010). In its web review, the BBC calls this “a magical hybrid of technology and improvisation, Europe and America, ambience and dance.” It’s definitely all those things. I find myself especially excited about this … [read more]
For the past 6 months, I’ve been listening to classical music almost exclusively. (There’s a much longer post – or maybe a series – about that in the works.) Toronto, like most major cities, is definitely under-supplied with bricks & … [read more]
I had forgotten about how much I love Bobby McFerrin. A singer with an incongruously elastic voice and perfect pitch who’s not afraid of anything. Two perfect McFerrin videos: the first one has him singing the Bach part while the … [read more]
A review of Brad Mehldau Trio’s Day is Done (2005) This is a surprisingly remarkable record. I’m not sure why it’s surprising, exactly: Brad Mehldau is one of the foremost young jazz pianists working today, and I enjoy most of … [read more]
A review of Manu Katché’s Neighbourhood (2005) and Playground (2007) Manu Katché is a French drummer (born 1958), originally famous for being an in-demand session and live drummer on the 80s/90s ‘world fusion’ circuit (Peter Gabriel, Sting, etc.). Now, his … [read more]
For someone who thinks of himself as both musical and deeply interested in listening to all kinds of music, I had, previously, studiously avoided listening to jazz. While I had been taught about jazz in high school (Improvisation! Dissonances! Drugs! … [read more]