Category: Contemporary
Foday Musa Suso & Philip Glass: Spring waterfall
Born in The Gambia in 1950, Foday Musa Suso is a traditional West African Griot or Jali (an oral historian, storyteller and musician) and a master of the kora, the 21-string traditional African harp. In 1977, the musician relocated to Chicago and has since collaborated…
Dinah Washington & Max Richter: This bitter earth/ On the nature of daylight
“This bitter earth/On the nature of daylight” is the song that concludes Martin Scorsese’s 2010 psychological thriller Shutter Island. None of the music for the film’s soundtrack was actually composed for the film but it was (expertly) curated by musician and long-time collaborator Robbie Robertson, whom…
Danger Mouse: Encore
The Grey Album I had forgotten about The Grey Album but was reminded of it while watching the excellent TED talk on combinatorial creativity by Kirby Ferguson (of Everything is a Remix fame). The Grey Album (2004) is a very clever mash up of The…
Marcin Wasilewski Trio: Night train to you
Marcin Wasilewski is a Polish jazz pianist and composer who formed his trio in the early 1990s with Slawomir Kurkiewicz (double bass) and Michal Miskiewicz (drums). With each member still under the age of 40, the trio already boasts an impressive CV, having worked and recorded with…
Neil Cowley Trio: Slims
London-born pianist and composer Neil Cowley formed his eponymous trio in 2006. The traditional trio formation of piano, drums (Evan Jenkins) and double bass (Rex Horan) hints of course at jazz music, but strong pop, rock and dance music influences are also very much in evidence.…
Erik Truffaz & Murcof: Al Mediodia
Erik Truffaz Ever since his appearance on the contemporary jazz scene in the early 1990s, and all the more since Dawn (1998), his breakthrough recording for the Blue Note label, Swiss born Erik Truffaz has never ceased to explore new sounds with various formations, experimenting…
Lubomyr Melnyk: The six day moment
Lubomyr Melnyk is a Ukranian pianist and composer who pioneered the concept of “continuous music” in the 1970s. “Continuous music” can be described as a never-ending and unbroken stream of notes played very quickly with both hands while holding down the sustain pedal. From a…