Sofia Gubaidulina is in California for a five-program retrospective of her life’s work, spanning across multiple days at multiple venues and encompassing music from the late 60s through 2009. Even if you are here at CalArts as I am, there is simply too much music happening to feel as though you’ve experienced everything that is … Continue reading
I’m just going to come right out and say it: This is the most exciting pianist you’ve probably never heard of. I say “exciting” rather than “virtuosic,” or “brilliant” (although he is both) because his commitment to new projects was what struck me before the show and what stayed with me after. From his bio: … Continue reading
John Hollenbeck is a man who never drops the ball. Since his career began he’s played drums with a huge array of the great creative musicians in New York, his list of commissions, grants, and awards as a composer fills half a piece of paper, and up until now he’s also taken care of every … Continue reading
Technically this festival goes on all week, but the night I was most interested in seeing was last night. Five bands over almost six hours in as intimate a space as you could hope for at a jazz festival all made for a pretty epic event. Kneebody was the first band on the program, and … Continue reading
The Black Keys and The Claudia Quintet both have new records that are streaming in their entirety at NPR. Both of these records are slightly different for the bands. John Hollenbeck added Gary Versace to this record, and his piano playing, while it doesn’t alter the distinctively odd yet compellingly groovy aesthetic of the group, … Continue reading
Because I was slated to have a lesson with John Hollenbeck at the SIM workshop, and because I had only been familiar with a few of his tunes with the Claudia Quintet, I downloaded Rainbow Jimmies onto my iPod in the airport while waiting for my flight. I did so with little knowledge of what … Continue reading
