Category Archives: Reviews

Lindal and Dzurinko Present the Romantic/Modern Music of Sofia G.

Eva Lindal and Virg Dzurinko.

In the pamphlet that accompanies the album The Hidden Music of Sofia G., from violinist Eva Lindal and pianist Virg Dzurinko, the account of the unusual provenance of this remarkable music begins like a short story from Thomas Mann: “In 2021, by sheer chance, Eva stumbled across two hand-written music scores for violin and piano hidden in an old violin case. Signed ‘Sofia G. 1935,’ the manuscripts included some unusual graphic symbols interspersed among conventional notation. The violin case also contained a leather identification tag that read ‘Sofia Ganeshian, Locarno, Switzerland.’” So began a multiyear project to fill out the biographical details of this previously unknown avant-garde composer and discover what other music of hers might be in hiding. The result is an album of mesmerizing music as soulful, fluid, and free as any you are likely to encounter.

Continue reading

Philippe Coté Blends the Lyrical with the Abstract

Philippe Coté

Two new releases from saxophonist, composer, and arranger Philippe CotéBell Tolls Variations and Fleur Revisited—offer reimagined compositions that straddle the line between jazz and classical and deliver thoughtful, lyrical commentary on weighty subjects.

Continue reading

Steven Bernstein Grooves

Steven Bernstein. Photo by Jacob Blickenstaff.

Funky, jazzed, and trippy, Tinctures in Time is the first of four albums scheduled for release over a year’s time from trumpeter, composer, arranger, and band leader Steven Bernstein. Featuring his Millennial Territory Orchestra, a nonet comprising some of New York’s finest musicians, the album’s groove-based tinctures blend jazz, funk, rock, minimalism, and African influences to deliver a welcome lift to the spirit.

Continue reading

Fresh, Disarming Music from Sarah Wilson

Sarah Wilson

On Kaleidoscope, trumpeter, vocalist, composer Sarah Wilson offers up an album of gratitude, dedicated to the people who have supported her. We, too, should be grateful for the support that helped shape this artist, whose post-bop jazz chops are shaded with influences from avant pop, Afro-Latin grooves, and indie rock.

Continue reading

New-Found Musical Land from Sorry for Laughing

Gordon H. Whitlow of Sorry for Laughing

Accordionist/organist/composer Gordon H. Whitlow, a member of the avant-garde audiovisual collective Biota, has a distinguished résumé creating what I like to call adventurous music, music that opens previously unknown or unexplored territory. See It Alone, his latest album, introduced to me by Denver guitarist Janet Feder, leverages a group of collaborators he calls Sorry for Laughing. The album vividly occupies a fascinating musical space previously unknown to me.

Continue reading