Music Reviews

Music & Culture

Line Between Good And Bad Taste Blurs On Oscar Peterson's 'Motions & Emotions'

1:34pm January 31, 2019

by Kevin Whitehead

A 50-year old album by pianist Oscar Peterson and a studio orchestra has been reissued by the German label MPS. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead confesses to having mixed feelings about it.

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Jeremy Denk's c.1300-c.2000 comes out Feb. 8 on Nonesuch.

Music & Culture

First Listen: Jeremy Denk, 'c.1300–c.2000'

8:50am January 31, 2019

by Tom Huizenga

Hear the resourceful pianist trace 700 years of Western music, from the delicate medieval counterpoint of Guillaume de Machaut to the minimalism of Philip Glass.

Jessica Pratt's Quiet Signs comes out Feb. 8 via Mexican Summer.

Music & Culture

First Listen: Jessica Pratt, 'Quiet Signs'

5:00am January 31, 2019

by Tom Moon

Pratt's music has an idyllic, tranquil, elusive quality. In her realm, the smallest sighs or vocal gestures can unlock alternate narratives, meanings, implications.

Music & Culture

Sharon Van Etten Presents A Richer, Fuller Sound On 'Remind Me Tomorrow'

2:30pm January 29, 2019

by Ken Tucker

Critic Ken Tucker says you don't have to know anything about Van Etten to find her new album striking and impressive: It's the sound of a woman redefining herself, on terms that are totally her own.

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Music & Culture

Antonio Sanchez's 'Lines In The Sand' Is Inspired By Migrants' Stories

6:29pm January 25, 2019

by Tom Moon

Drummer and composer Antonio Sanchez's album, Lines In The Sand, is a cinematic homage to the journeys of migrants heading to the U.S. border. It's a formidable, epic series of compositions.

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Music & Culture

Eric Dolphy's 'Musical Prophet' Reissue Is Both Adventurous And Catchy

1:33pm January 25, 2019

by Kevin Whitehead

Seven months before his 1964 masterwork Out to Lunch! Dolphy recorded a pair of sessions with producer Alan Douglas. Critic Kevin Whitehead says this reissue is long overdue.

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