The title of the latest from Omar Sosa and Paolo Fresu is Eros, and that god accompanies Catherine Russell through her latest release, Harlem on My Mind. Continue reading
The latest release from drummer Matt Wilson, featuring a large ensemble, and the new solo effort from pianist Kevin Zoernig have one thing in common: they both mine deep seams of emotional content. Continue reading
I can’t hardly believe it’s been a month, dear reader, since we last met. In the interim, I traveled back east to visit my mom and then up to New York to hang with friends old and new. While in the city, I trekked out to Brooklyn on the F train for a concert at iBeam, a musician’s cooperative in Gowanus. The program featured three piano duos—Carol Liebowitz with saxophonist Nick Lyons, Kazzrie Jaxen with guitarist Adam Caine, and Virg Dzurinko with trumpeter Ryan Messina—and it was a night to remember. More than any other medium, music for me has the capacity to open doors deep in the psyche, and at iBeam that night, doors were swinging open left and right.
Which brings me to today’s subjects: Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Bill Evans, and Omar Sosa. Each of them has keys to those doors, and each is the subject of a film worth seeing and supporting. Continue reading
As much and as long as I’ve been praising the accomplishments of New Mexico’s musical community, I am still sometimes caught off-guard by the quality of the work. Here are two releases that did just that. On The Mountain King, Scott and Johanna Hongell-Darsee carry songs that are centuries old, laden with the mythic and supernatural, into the modern world, while on All You Can’t Control, Kevin Herig writes brand-new songs that get between the lines of everyday life, love, and loss. Continue reading
Luis Perdomo, Spike Wilner, and Leslie Pintchik, decidedly different pianists, have at least one thing in common: each has recently released an engaging new album and finds an approach to their instrument to match their artistic vision. Continue reading