Night After Night

Playlist (Priceless as a brass ring).

A weekly tally of noteworthy things that got stuck in my ears…

George Lewis - Minds in Flux - BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Ilan Volkov (ROIO; 2021)

Alvin Singleton - After Fallen Crumbs; Shadows; A Yellow Rose Petal - Atlanta Symphony Orchestra/Louis Lane, Robert Shaw (Nonesuch/First Edition; 1989/2007)

Philip Glass - Symphony No. 11 - Bruckner Orchester Linz/Dennis Russell Davies (Orange Mountain Music; 2018)

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - Sonatas & Rondos - Marc-André Hamelin (Hyperion; 2022)

Andrew Cyrille, William Parker and Enrico Rava - 2 Blues for Cecil (TUM; 2022)

Cecil Taylor - The Complete Legendary Live Return Concert (Oblivion; 1973/2022)

Richard Wagner - Tristan und Isolde - Martha Mödl, Ramon Vinay, Josef Greindl, Gustav Neidlinger, Ira Malaniuk, Hague Chamber Chorus, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Ferdinand Leitner (Walhall; 1959/2021)

Masumi Rostad - Masumi Rostad - compositions by Max Reger, Stephen Taylor, Igor Stravinsky, Earl Maneein, Henri Vieuxtemps, Johann Sebastian Bach–Zoltán Kodály, Elliott Carter, Caroline Shaw, Stefan Wolpe, and Nico Muhly (self-released; 2021)

Unsuk Chin - Violin Concerto No. 2 ("Scherben der Stille"); Jean Sibelius - Symphony No. 7 in C; Béla Bartók - Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin; Antonín Dvořák - Slavonic Dances, Op. 72, No. 7 - Leonidas Kavakos, London Symphony Orchestra/Simon Rattle (Medici.tv; 2022)

Arch Enemy - Covered in Blood (Century Media; 2019)

Tangerine Dream - Santa Monica 1977 (Tangerine Tree, Vol. 66) (ROIO; 1977)

Geri Allen/Charlie Haden/Paul Motian - Live at the Village Vanguard: Unissued Tracks, December 21 & 22, 1990 (Somethin' Cool/Diskunion; 2022)

Simone Dinnerstein - Undersong - compositions by François Couperin, Robert Schumann, Eric Satie, and Philip Glass (Orange Mountain Music; 2022)

American Music Club - Mercury (Reprise; 1993)

Arch Enemy - As the Stages Burn! (Live at Wacken 2016) (Century Media; 2016)

Julia Perry - A Short Piece for Orchestra; John Adams - Violin Concerto; Charles Ives - Symphony No. 2 - Leila Josefowicz, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Susanna Mälkki (Medici.tv; 2022)

Béla Bartók - The Wooden Prince; Concert Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin - Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/Susanna Mälkki (Bis; 2019)

Béla Bartók - Bluebeard's Castle - Mika Kares, Szilvia Vörös, Géza Szilvay, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/Susanna Mälkki (Bis; 2021)

Béla Bartók - Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta; Concerto for Orchestra - Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/Susanna Mälkki (Bis; 2021)

Dieter Ammann - The Piano Concerto (Gran Toccata); Maurice Ravel - Concerto for the Left Hand; Béla Bartók - Piano Concerto No. 3 in E - Andreas Haefliger, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/Susanna Mälkki (Bis; 2020)

George Walker - Five Piano Sonatas - Steven Beck (Bridge; 2022)

Sam Gendel & Josiah Steinbrick - Mouthfeel/Serene (Fresh Bread; 2021)

Goings On About Town, January 24, 2022.

Writing for Goings On About Town these last several years, I've most frequently emphasized noteworthy performances. But given the uncertainty about live events now, my final New Yorker contribution instead spotlights a favorite 2021 recording I didn't get to write about at the time it was released, by JACK Quartet on the Greyfade label. (Click on the image to enlarge it, or hit the link to read the text on the New Yorker website.)

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You can stream a selection from the album, and purchase it in digital or physical formats, on the Greyfade Bandcamp page.

In closing the book on this enjoyable and fruitful collaboration with The New Yorker, I'd like to thank first and foremost Russell Platt, the longtime classical-music listings editor who brought me in initially. Russell's successors – first Fergus McIntosh, then Briana Younger, and finally Sheldon Pearce – were patient, perceptive editors and talented writers, one and all. Thanks, too, to Goings On About Town editor Shauna Lyon, newyorker.com culture editor Michael Agger, and staff writer Michael Schulman (in his capacity as Goings On About Town theatre editor) for unfailingly generous interactions.

Oussama Zahr was a brilliant co-conspirator and, briefly, an excellent supervising editor himself; that we complemented each other extremely well, in terms of tastes and inclinations, was the special sauce during our entire run together. (I look forward to our meeting for the first time in real life, one day soon.)

Last but not least – and certainly not for the first or last time – my abundant gratitude to Alex Ross, a brilliant, consistently engaging writer, and the most gracious, encouraging colleague I've ever had the privilege of knowing.

Playlist (Crowd the Tropes)

A weekly tally of noteworthy things that got stuck in my ears…

Tangerine Dream - Croydon 1975 (from The Bootleg Box Set, Vol. 1) (Reactive/Esoteric; 2012)

Paul Lewis - Brahms: Late Piano Works, Opp. 116-119 (Harmonia Mundi; due Jan. 21, 2022)

Igor Levit - Life - compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, Ferruccio Busoni, Robert Schumann, Frederic Rzewski, Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt, and Bill Evans (Sony Classical; 2018)

Éliane Radigue - Occam Ocean 3 - Julia Eckhardt, Silvia Tarozzi, Deborah Walker (Shiiin; 2021)

Kory Reeder - Old Songs: Piano Preludes - Richard P. John (Sawyer Editions; 2022)

Alan Hovhaness - Opening a Window to Cosmic Love: Private Acetate Discs ca. 1946-55 - various artists (Canary; 2022)

Gabrielle Cerberville - [reckless invention] - performances by Frank Felice, Kory Reeder, Conner Simmons, and Joseph Reding (Sawyer Editions; 2022)

Anthony Donofrio - Designs and Meditations - performances by Anthony Donofrio, West Fox, David Cavasos, Houston Youngman, and Aaron Michael Butler (Sawyer Editions; 2022)

Tangerine Dream - Newcastle 1981 (from The Bootleg Box Set, Vol. 2) (Sanctuary; 2004)

Jack Langdon - Less Than You Remember (Sawyer Editions; 2022)

Roland Kayn - Impactions (Reiger-records-reeks; 2022)

Simone Dinnerstein - Undersong - compositions by François Couperin, Robert Schumann, Eric Satie, and Philip Glass (Orange Mountain Music; due Jan. 21, 2022)

Darcy Copeland - v e i l - performances by Darcy Copeland, Urban Megušar with .abeceda, and Aaron Michael Butler (Sawyer Editions; 2022)

Attacca Quartet - Of All Joys (Sony Classical; 2021)

Fred Hersch - Breath by Breath (Palmetto; 2022)

E. Jason Gibbs - improvisations for acoustic and electric guitars (Open Systems; 2021)

Dire Wolves - Live Dwlvs: Starline Social Club, Oakland, CA August 22, 2019 (self-released subscriber exclusive; 2021)

Marcel Zaes - Parallel Prints - Yarn/Wire (Editions Verde; 2022)

Dire Wolves - Live Dwlvs: Starline Ballroom, Oakland, CA 10-10-18 (self-released subscriber exclusive; 2021)

Christian Marclay & Elliott Sharp - 97 Is 97 (Zoar; 2022)

John Zorn - Baphomet (Tzadik; 2020)

Blood Incantation - Live Vitrification (self-released; 2018)

VoidCeremony - At the Periphery of Human Realms (20 Buck Spin; 2022)

Napalm Death - "Narcissus" (from Resentment Is Always Seismic – A Final Throw of Throes) (Century Media; due Feb. 11, 2022)

Jean Sibelius - Symphony No. 1 in E minor; Karelia Suite - Berlin Philharamonic/Herbert von Karajan (EMI Classics/Warner Classics; 1981/2014)

Unsuk Chin - Violin Concerto No. 2 ("Scherben der Stille") - Leonidas Kavakos, London Symphony Orchestra/Simon Rattle (ROIO; 2022)

Roy Brooks - Understanding (Cellar Live; 1970/2021)

Artemis - Artemis (Blue Note; 2020)

Miles Davis - Get Up with It (Columbia; 1974) < RIP James Mtume <

Goings On About Town, January 17, 2022.

The Goings On About Town section in The New Yorker has begun a gradual return to its conventional format, with live, in-person events taking greater precedence among the album reviews and online events that replaced them throughout pandemic quarantine months. (Click on the image to enlarge it, or hit the link to read the text on the New Yorker website.)

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Playlist (Something more than flesh and bone)

A weekly tally of noteworthy things that got stuck in my ears…

Marillion - Live in Hammersmith (Racket Lightsavers exclusive; 2021)

Various artists - The Secret Museum of Mankind – Guitars Vol. 1: Prologue to Modern Styles (Jalopy; 2021)

Will Ackerman/Jeff Oster/Tom Eaton - Brothers (Retso; 2021)

Olivia Block - Innocent Passage in the Territorial Sea (Room40; 2021)

Sarah Davachi & Sean McCann - Mother of Pearl (Recital; 2021)

George Lewis - The Recombinant Trilogy - performances by Clare Chase, Seth Parker Woods, and Dana Jessen (New Focus; 2021)

Lambda Sond - Waglands 1921 (Important: 2021)

Lucy Liyou - Practice (Full Spectrum; 2021)

---__--___ - The Heart Pumps Kool-Aid (Orange Milk; 2021)

Wendy Eisenberg - Bent Ring (Dear Life; 2021)

Eventless Plot - Anisixia (Edition Wandelweiser; 2021)

Motion Sickness of Time Travel - "Cursory Glance" (Hooker Vision; 2021)

Motion Sickness of Time Travel - If We Were Landscapes (self-released; 2021)

Marillion - Bowery Ballroom, New York City, NY, USA 12 June 2005 (Marillion Front Row Club; 2007)

Grateful Dead - The Closing of Winterland: December 31, 1978 (Grateful Dead/Rhino; 2006)

Steve Roach - Patron 2021 (Steve Roach Exclusive; 2022)

Daniel Bachman - Lonesome Weary Blues (Three Lobed Recordings; 2022)

Mary Lattimore - Collected Pieces: 2015-2020 (Ghostly International; due Jan. 14, 2022)

Frédéric Chopin - Nocturnes - Stephen Hough (Hyperion; 2021)

John Zorn  - Gnosis: The Inner Light (Tzadik; 2021)

King Crimson - Music Is Our Friend (Live in Washington, D.C. and Albany, 2021) (DGM; 2021)

Pain Killer - Guts of a Virgin/Buried Secrets (Earache; 1991-92/2007)

Pain Killer - Execution Ground (Subharmonic; 1994)

Kate Bush - Before the Dawn (Fish People/Concord; 2016)