If you've heard "Battlefield," the dismal first single from Jordin Sparks's new album, you probably thought, "Didn't Dr. Benatar diagnose love as a battlefield 30 years ago?" Somebody forgot to tell hack songwriter of the moment Ryan Tedder. No doubt the disc had to be better, right? |
While veteran acts from Van Morrison to the Pixies are increasingly taking up the novelty of playing a classic album from front to back in concert, only Steely Dan is going for the trifecta this summer. As part of its “Rent Party ’09’’ outing, the tasteful jazz-rockers with the irreverent lyrics are... |
With the concert season well behind us, and with most live classical music having fled to the hills for the summer, you may finally have time to catch up on a few of the recordings made this year by Boston musicians and ensembles. What follows is a roundup of notable local discs from the last few months. |
LENOX - The use of snippets of Shakespeare to dress up a program of 17th- or 18th-century music is always somehow frustrating. The intent is perfectly good - to liven up the experience. But, even if it’s delivered well, the verse doesn’t add to the music, which must have its own dramatic curve and climax. And the snipping,... |
Bassist Kathryn Schulmeister didn’t know it when she joined, but one of the benefits of being a member of the Youth Orchestra of the Americas is the chance to learn some hot Latin dance moves. The orchestra brings together musicians from North and South America, creating a musical dialogue that crosses cultures - and opening the... |
LENOX - When the Boston Symphony Orchestra is in the zone, it is serious fun. On paper, Sunday’s Tanglewood program seemed meat-and-potatoes classical: Beethoven, Bruch, Dvorák. But in practice, it also called to mind the BSO’s earliest seasons, their late-19th-century salad days as a new-music group specializing in... |
The new-music organization known as Bang on a Can came into existence in 1987. Its founders - New York-based composers David Lang, Michael Gordon, and Julia Wolfe - weren’t part of any established musical subculture. Too traditionally classical for downtown, too edgy for uptown, its composers and affiliated ensembles brought together... |
a ringer for Billie Holiday - says goodbye to standards on her new album, “Bare Bones,’’ a stripped-down, all-originals collection co-written with pedigreed collaborators like producer Larry Klein, Steely Dan’s Walter Becker, and Julian Coryell. Jazz-blues singer-songwriter Kelly Joe Phelps opens. 7:30... |
Agganis Arena 925 Commonwealth Ave., Boston. 617-358-7000, www.AgganisArena.com June 16: Earth, Wind & Fire, Chicago. Tickets: $33-$95. |