These days, each and every year I get to thinking that the state of the world can’t get any worse, then something comes along to prove me wrong. I needn’t give examples here; suffice to say that, for me at least, the arts have become ever more important as a solace and distraction, above and … Continue reading My best movies, music, books, etc of 2025
December again. For some years, I've posted recommendations for recent BluRay/DVD releases, CDs and books that might be of use for anyone wondering what Christmas gifts to buy. (I find choosing presents very difficult, so am myself always open to ideas from friends.) So here we go once more. I hope some of the suggestions … Continue reading Movies, music and books for Christmas – and beyond…
Many years ago – in the late 1980s or early 90s – my friend Tony Benn (no, not the politician, but a painter with good taste in music) marked my birthday by giving me a then recently released album entitled Arbos. It was my first encounter with the music of the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, … Continue reading Winds from the East: five fine new musical delights
The recent release of Percolation, a solo album by the Norwegian pianist and composer Christian Wallumrød, was another reminder from this highly imaginative and highly idiosyncratic artist that musical eccentricity – when it’s not some whimsical or contrived mannerism – can be wonderfully refreshing. In Wallumrød’s case, what I mean by eccentricity is an innate … Continue reading But Is It Jazz? The Ever-Surprising Christian Wallumrød
Frequent readers will probably have registered my admiration for the various musical offerings of saxophonist Trygve Seim and trumpeter Arve Henriksen, so are unlikely to be surprised by my enthusiasm for Arcanum, a newly released quartet album they made with bassist Anders Jormin and percussionist Markku Ounaskari. The four have played together in various configurations … Continue reading But Is It Jazz? Three New Albums
I can’t recall precisely when I first heard the music of the Tunisian oud maestro Anouar Brahem; it was probably when I bought Madar, an album of duets with Jan Garbarek, released in early 1994, which was some months before I saw Moufida Tlatli’s film The Silences of the Palace, for which he wrote and … Continue reading But Is It Jazz? Cool Music in a World on Fire…
As regular readers may be aware, I’ve been a great admirer of the composer, bandleader and pianist Mike Westbrook for many years. If memory serves, the first music I ever heard by him (thanks to John Peel, I suspect) was the 1972 jazz-rock album Solid Gold Cadillac; certainly the first time I saw Westbrook perform … Continue reading Piano Magic: Mike Westbrook’s Intimate Epic
There was, quite simply, no way I would willingly miss catching Festen, the new opera – based on Thomas Vinterberg’s 1998 Dogma film of the same name – by Mark-Anthony Turnage. Besides the movie connection, it offers an extraordinary cast, a dependably excellent conductor (Ed Gardner) and an acclaimed director (Richard Jones). And even though … Continue reading From screen to opera stage: the new Festen
A few weeks ago, enthused by the release of an impressive album of duets by Thomas Strønen, I followed my review with a list of some of my favourite duet CDs released by ECM over the years. Perhaps one of the least known of the albums I included was Poros, a 1998 release by the … Continue reading But Is It Jazz? Another Fine Album of Duets…
If by any chance you read my recent ‘best of 2024’ post, you may have noticed, among the new musical releases, the inclusion of an album entitled Relations, attributed to Thomas Strønen, Craig Taborn, Chris Potter, Sinikka Langeland and Jorge Rossy. That would be a rather eccentric line-up for a group – a Norwegian percussionist, … Continue reading It Takes Two to Tango… or the Magic of Musical Duets
notes and observations by Geoff Andrew 