Category Archives: Music

Morelenbaum2 / Sakamoto’s A Day in New York

Mike Stiles wrote this review. Every once in a while I get a CD to review like this one. It doesn’t really fall into my category of taste but it carries the distinction of high technical merit, sort of like … Continue reading

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Franz Joseph Haydn’s Piano Sonatas Numbers 29, 31, 34, 35 and 49, Emanuel Ax, piano

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) is one of the two giants of the Classical Period, the other being Mozart; like Mozart, Haydn’s music has been viewed in recent years, unjustly, as rococo, “snuff-box” music — charming, pleasant and good-natured. The name … Continue reading

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Various composers’ Horowitz Live and Unedited: The Historic 1965 Carnegie Hall Return Concert, Vladimir Horowitz, piano

Much has been written recently about the doom awaiting the classical music recording industry as labels slash budgets, terminate artist contracts and reduce the numbers of releases. Orchestras with long associations with record labels now find themselves with no recording … Continue reading

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Trio Mediaeval’s Messe de Tournai, Words of the Angel

The manuscript for the Messe de Tournai was discovered in the nineteenth century in the library of Tournai Cathedral. Its existence, as is so often the case with manuscripts of this period, owes as much to chance as anything else, … Continue reading

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Al-Qasar’s Who Are We?

What do you get when you combine a French-American electric guitar whiz-kid, a Moroccan singer and percussionist, a versatile rhythm section, and guest singers and players from the top ranks of World music and punk rock? Probably something like Al-Qasar, … Continue reading

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An interview with Nick Burbridge of McDermott’s Two Hours and other endeavors

Nick Burbridge, vocalist and tunesmith with McDermott’s Two Hours, joins me in the Green Man Pub for a conversation about him, his music, and his views on a number of political subjects. I first encountered his band when reading George … Continue reading

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Craig and Kara Markley’s Once Upon a Winter Moon

Cleveland-area musician Craig Markley showcases the emerging vocal talent of his daughter Kara in this self-produced offering for the holiday season. In the title track, a plaintive flute melody over brooding synthesizer chords leads into a setting of the medieval … Continue reading

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A Jackie Washington omnibus review

Jackie Washington’s Blues & Sentimental (Knight II Records, 1970) out of print Ken Whiteley, Jackie Washington, Mose Scarlett’s Where Old Friends Meet (Borealis Records, 1991) Jackie Washington’s Keeping Out of Mischief (Borealis Records, 1995) Jackie Washington’s Midnight Choo Choo (Borealis … Continue reading

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Alex Sturbaum’s Slash

In an email conversation I had with Alex Sturbaum (they/them) after they contacted me about reviewing this album, one of my comments was something on the order of “this is an incredibly generous album.” And I didn’t just mean the … Continue reading

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Various artists’ Traditional Fiddle Music of the Ozarks, Volume One: Along the Eastern Crescent

Fiddle music was once endemic to nearly every region of North America, including Mexico and certainly Canada. Most regions developed their own peculiar styles – the best known include southern Louisiana (Cajun), Texas, Appalachia, New England, and Cape Breton Island … Continue reading

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