Anat Cohen/Fred Hersch
Live in Healdsburg (Anzic Records)
A review
Anat Hersch and Fred Cohen— Oh, wait. That’s not quite right. But then, given how musically symbiotic their relationship is on Live in Healdsburg, this renaming of clarinetist Anat Cohen and pianist Fred Hersch is apt. Continue reading
Two recent releases from Dutch trumpeter Eric Vloeimans—Levanter, featuring the trio of Vloeimans, Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, and Dutch pianist Jeroen van Vliet; and Carrousel, Vloeimans’ second collaboration with Holland Baroque, following their Old, New & Blue release—offer soul-satisfying music that’s hard to classify. The compositions and performances on these two distinctly different albums combine, in different ratios, elements of rock, jazz, world, baroque, and even a touch of musette into singular Vloeimansesque amalgams. Continue reading
Leslie Pintchik. Photo by Jimmy Katz.
Pianist/composer Leslie Pintchik has done it again, turning out yet another elevating musical experience on her latest album, You Eat My Food, You Drink My Wine, You Steal My Girl! (available 2/23). The album’s title comes from a snatch of overheard conversation on a Manhattan street, and its humor, underlaid with angst, perfectly suits the funky title track, a new Pintchik composition, which opens the album. Continue reading
Cuban pianist/composer/shaman Omar Sosa has once again teamed up with arranger Jaques Morelenbaum and the formidable NDR Bigband to project his compositions on a wide orchestral screen, and Kit Downes plumbs the orchestral capabilities of three pipe organs on a spacey collection of improvisational performances. Continue reading
The latest releases from Tom McDermott and Chloe Feoranzo, and from Don Messina deserve consideration for the stockings of friends and family with eclectic musical tastes. Continue reading