Steve Smith
-
A weekly tally of memorable things Steve Smith has stuck in his ears. Published on National Sawdust Log. Georg Friedrich Haas – Konzert für Klangwerk und Orchester – Christoph Sietzen, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg/Ilan Volkov (Live New Music Channel/YouTube; 2019) 9 Compositions (Iridium) 2006 by Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton – Composition No. 358, from 9…
-
Going back to the Yeats poem… I would like the audience to think about Project 19 in that way: that they're going to hear 19 new pieces by people who sometimes don't feel like they can have a voice, who are being given an opportunity to have a voice—and for audiences, once again, to tread…
-
My contributions to the Goings On About Town section in the February 3, 2020 issue of The New Yorker, covering the dates January 29-February 4. (Links lead to detailed listings on the New Yorker website.) New York PhilharmonicDavid Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center; Jan. 30 at 7:30, Jan. 31 at 11am Distinguished Australian conductor Simone Young…
-
A weekly tally of memorable things Steve Smith has stuck in his ears. Published on National Sawdust Log. Georges Lentz – Caeli inerrant… – Mysterium – VIII. Jerusalem (After Blake) – Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg/Duncan Ward (YouTube; 2015) Georges Lentz – Caeli inerrant… – Mysterium – II. Ngangkar; IV. Guyuhmgan – Sydney Symphony Orchestra/Edo de…
-
The extraordinary French composer Éliane Radigue was born on this day in 1932, and celebrated her 88th birthday today as an artist whose star very much appears to be in the ascendant. Her recordings are widely available now, in lovingly prepared editions with beautifully restored sound. Occam Ocean – the body of acoustic work Radigue…
-
My contributions to the Goings On About Town section in the January 27, 2020 issue of The New Yorker, covering the dates January 22-28. (Links lead to detailed listings on the New Yorker website.) Scott Johnson with ContemporaneousRoulette, Brooklyn; Jan. 23 at 8 Guitarist and composer Johnson, innovator of a signature speech-based style, presents a…
-
Congratulations to Sean Meehan, an improvising percussionist and sound artist with a shaman's knack for conjuring entire worlds out of meager base elements—the video above is a perfect example. As announced in an Artforum article published late this afternoon (and shared by Sarah Hennies on Twitter this evening), Meehan has been named one of five…
-
A weekly tally of memorable things Steve Smith has stuck in his ears. Published on National Sawdust Log. Johann Sebastian Bach – Goldberg Variations – Simone Dinnerstein (Telarc; 2007) ascua by Anáhuac Anáhuac – ascua (Astral Spirits; 2020) Robert Fripp – The Kitchen, New York, NY, Feb. 5, 1978 (DGMLive; 2020. Audio samples here.) 9…
-
Max Roach – "The Dream/It's Time," from Chattahoochie RedMax Roach, drums, composer; Odean Pope, tenor saxophone; Cecil Bridgewater, trumpet; Calvin Hill, bassColumbia; 1981 Joseph Schwantner – New Morning for the World ("Daybreak of Freedom")Willie Stargell, narrator; Eastman Philharmonia/David EffronMercury; 1983
-
Jan. 20 update: As confirmed by a Juilliard representative, this concert is happening in the Juilliard School's Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, not at Alice Tully Hall. The Sharp Theatre is a smaller space, which means better proximity but less capacity. So if you're interested in tickets, don't delay… and you'll find them only at the…
-
My contributions to the Goings On About Town section in the January 20, 2020 issue of The New Yorker, covering the dates January 15-21. (Links lead to detailed listings on the New Yorker website.) Chamber Music Society of Lincoln CenterKaplan Penthouse, Lincoln Center; Jan. 16 at 7:30 Karlheinz Stockhausen's visionary Kontakte anchors a fine program…
-
Get your flu shot. Don’t delay.
-
Missy Mazzoli (Photograph: Marylene Mey) A little more than a decade ago, when I was at the Metropolitan Opera to see Leoš Janáček's From the House of the Dead, I spotted the composer Missy Mazzoli passing by in the outer lobby. We'd known each other for a few years by then, and waved to one…
-
A weekly tally of memorable things Steve Smith has stuck in his ears.Published on National Sawdust Log. Reality Rounds by Alex Dowling Alex Dowling – Reality Rounds – Chris Douthitt, Alex Dowling, Emma O'Halloran, Annika Socolofsky, Pascal Le Boeuf (Carrier; due Jan. 31, 2020) Chris Dingman – Embrace (Inner Arts; due March 6, 2020. Details…
-
Various authoritative sources are reporting the death of Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart, who died on January 7 in Santa Monica after a closely guarded three-and-a half year battle with glioblastoma. Being an American drummer of a certain age, I can't overstate the impact Peart's spectacular virtuosity and precision had on me and my…
-
Say hello to my first obsession of 2020: "King of Thumbs," a selection from Reality Rounds, a new album by the composer and vocalist Alex Dowling. I find this realization of a cybernetic vocal consort – created by four singers individually equipped with AutoTune and other effects, and synthesizer accompaniment – completely mesmerizing. In this…
-
Tiger Trio Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY January 4, 2020General admission Personnel: Joëlle Léandre, bass, vocalsMyra Melford, pianoNicole Mitchell, flute, alto flute, piccolo Back in the heyday of live jazz on New York City's 52nd Street, from the end of Prohibition in 1933 until the early '50s, the Three Deuces occupied a…
-
My contributions to the Goings On About Town section in the January 13, 2020 issue of The New Yorker, covering the dates January 8-14. (Links lead to detailed listings on the New Yorker website.) New York PhilharmonicDavid Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center; Jan. 9 at 7:30, Jan. 10 at 2, Jan. 11 at 8 Conductor…
Night After Night 