A few days ago I learned of the death of the great Georgian filmmaker Otar Iosseliani, at the age of 89. I was sad to hear of his demise – I'd met him a few times, and liked him – but also a little surprised, given his apparently prodigious intake of alcohol, that he'd lasted that … Continue reading RIP Otar Iosseliani, auteur extraordinaire
It's already December again. For some years I've posted recommendations for recent BluRay/DVD releases and CDs that might prove useful for anyone wondering what to buy as gifts for Christmas. Since they seem to have been fairly popular posts, I'm doing so again – and I’ve added a couple of books, too. (Please note that … Continue reading Movies and Music for Christmas… and Beyond
Thanks to the recent London Jazz Festival, my customary diet of classical concerts has been pleasingly enriched by a few other gigs, one of which – by the Tyshawn Sorey Trio at King’s Place last Friday – was quite simply superb, and probably my best non-classical concert of the year so far. Sorey is probably … Continue reading Mesmerisingly fine music: the Tyshawn Sorey Trio
Back in the 1990s, when I was film editor at Time Out, the magazine’s classical music critic suggested, at one of our weekly editorial meetings, that he interview an eminent British composer. I can no longer recall whether the proposal was to mark a new composition or a significant anniversary, but I vividly remember the … Continue reading Two Thomases and Tabakova: three new musical delights
Today I learned of the death of Carla Bley, on 17th October from brain cancer, at the age of 87. One of the greatest composers, arrangers, pianists and all-round musicians of the last sixty or seventy years – and I don't just mean in terms of 'jazz' – she was a major figure in my … Continue reading Carla Bley: some memories
Less than a week ago, I learned that the filmmaker Terence Davies was seriously ill. This came as a shock; only a week previously had I led a discussion about Distant Voices, Still Lives with students at the London Film School. Seeing the film again had been a very pleasurable reminder of his particular cinematic … Continue reading Terence Davies: A Remembrance
Not so long ago, I wrote in appreciation of the lovely new album by Nils Økland and Sigbjørn Apeland. It wasn’t the first time I’ve enthused about Nordic music and, as I’m about to prove, it wasn’t the last. There’s something special about the way many musicians from the Nordic countries blend folk, jazz, formally … Continue reading Beyond Folk, Beyond Jazz: two terrific albums from Norway
These days I don’t watch as many new films as I used to, partly because I no longer work full-time as a critic/programmer and have other things I enjoy doing, partly because I get a lot out of revisiting the films I admire most, and partly because so many new movies clearly aren’t made for … Continue reading Command Z: Steven Soderbergh on the state of things…
It’s fair to say that Nils Økland is not a name that will be familiar to many people. But I’ve written about him here before, and judging by the number of people who read that post he evidently has a substantial band of followers – and quite rightly so. The Norwegian composer, bandleader and violinist … Continue reading More Norwegian Good: Nils Økland and Sigbjørn Apeland
Back in the late 1990s, at the London Film Festival, I dimly recall having seen – and been both befuddled and beguiled by – a long, slow, monochrome film of The Postman Always Rings Twice. György Fehér’s Passion (Szenvedély) was considerably artier and more enigmatic than any of the earlier versions of James M Cain’s … Continue reading Into the Unknown: A different film called Twilight
notes and observations by Geoff Andrew 