Steve Smith
-
Jonsi and Alex, Kjartan Sveinsson, the Hilliard Ensemble, the Latvian National Choir and the Wordless Music Orchestra at the Church of St. Paul the ApostleThe New York Times, November 17, 2010
-
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra "Too Hot to Handel" at Carnegie HallThe New York Times, November 16, 2010
-
CD REVIEW: 'Music of Tribute, Vol. 6: Berg'Ieva Jokubaviciute, Vladimir Valjarević, pianists; Marjorie Elinor Dix, mezzo-sopranoLabor Records LAB 7086; CDThe New York Times, November 14, 2010 Amazon / Amazon MP3 / ArkivMusic / Barnes & Noble / Classics Online I've been an admirer of Ms. Jokubaviciute's playing for some time now, based on hearing her…
-
The Eroica Trio with Richard Stoltzman at the Rubin Museum of ArtThe New York Times, November 9, 2010 I've said it before, I've tried it before and I'm trying it again: one way or another, I'm getting this blog back on track.
-
Porcupine Tree; photograph by Diana Nitschke Interview: Steven Wilson of Porcupine TreeThe Volume blogTime Out New YorkSept. 20, 2010 Founded in England at the onset of the 1990s, Porcupine Tree was originally passed off as a "forgotten" old-school prog-rock band. But yarn-spinning ceded to singer, guitarist and bandleader Steven Wilson's knack for reconciling vintage influences…
-
"Remaking a Dark Tale, With Real-Life Notes"The New York Times, September 19, 2010 An article about Hannah Lash, a strikingly gifted young composer who overcame a huge emotional and professional setback this summer as she completed Blood Rose, a 40-minute chamber opera based on the tale of "Beauty and the Beast." The opera will have…
-
A week and a bit after I went to hear Paul Motian and Bill Frisell play at the Village Vanguard with saxophonists Tony Malaby and Mark Turner (reported here), I returned for the last night of the next week's run (Sunday, Sept. 5), during which saxophonist Joe Lovano returned to his place at the center…
-
Ryoji Ikeda datamatics [ver. 2.0] at Florence Gould HallThe New York Times, September 13, 2010
-
Argento Chamber Ensemble at the Austrian Cultural ForumThe New York Times, September 4, 2010 In which the consistently impressive Argento players once again do right by the music of Austrian composer Georg Friedrich Haas, one of the most striking and original voices in contemporary music. I've more to say and no time to say it…
-
(Published this afternoon on The Volume. Photograph by Naomi Ellenson.) Introducing his anthemic "Never Say Never" during a New York City concert on Tuesday night, teenage pop sensation Justin Bieber barked through a litany of stock affirmations, extolling the value of self-confidence and determination to the assembled thousands of shrieking preteen girls who—we were to…
-
The beauty of working in music full time is that it's impossible to run out of things to discover, even late in the day. Today's belated discovery, prompted by a pitch from author and freelance writer Kate Crane, was Samantha Crain, a singer-songwriter from Shawnee, Oklahoma. Just 24 years old, Crain spins agreeably dusty, lived-in…
-
Paul Motian has been playing at the Village Vanguard for half a century now, his earliest engagements of note in a legendary trio with pianist Bill Evans and bassist Scott LaFaro. Quietly revolutionary, that group broke with the age-old model of the piano trio as a vehicle for a leader with support, proposing instead a…
-
Eric Whitacre's Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings at Carnegie HallThe New York Times, June 17, 2010 Back from a brilliant but brief trek into the Rocky Mountains, I'm confronted with a colossus (or, as a Times headline writer put it, a juggernaut) of another kind. I confess that I'm bracing myself for the displeasure of…
-
The New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher HallThe New York Times, June 5, 2010
-
Missy Mazzoli and Friends! at Roulette and Korean Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie HallThe New York Times, June 3, 2010 I'm not positive, but the Missy Mazzoli review might have been a web-only exclusive.
-
Hutchins East at the TankThe New York Times, June 1, 2010
Night After Night 