Is Progressive rock progressing? Another year, another NEARFEST and the 2009 edition was as good as any, and much better than 2008, which, as I wrote then, was overlong and overwrought. In ’09 I rarely looked at my watch, there were several acts that excited and you heard nothing but brilliant musicianship. Van Der…
Month: June 2009
Reviews & Commentary
NEARfest 09 Part 4-The Rest
NEARFEST 09-The Rest: Oblivion Sun, DFA, Trettioåriga Kriget, Beardfish Echoes‘ John Diliberto wraps up his Nearfest 09 Reviews In what turned out to be a very good Nearfest, I’ve already covered my favorite acts. You can read about Gong and PFM, Steve Hillage and Van Der Graaf Generator, and my faves of the festival, Cabeza…
Reviews & Commentary
Nearfest ’09 Pt.3-The New Wave: Cabezas de Cera & Quantum Fantay
Quantum Fantay & Cabezas de Cera welcome Prog to the 21st Century at Nearfest 2009 For some reason, the opening acts on Saturday & Sunday’s Nearfest always provide the most exciting, unexpected moments – think Morglbl, Indukti, KBB and Guapo from recent years – and that was certainly the case with Quantum Fantay and Cabezas…
Reviews & Commentary
NEARFEST 09 Pt.2: Gong and PFM
Someone is dancing in pajama robes and a wizards hat. It must be Daevid Allen and Gong. In this second part of the Echoes Nearfest 2009 review it’s the Old Guard Part Two. Gong is the rock mirror image of the Sun Ra Arkestra. Like Sun Ra, Gong is a free-wheeling eclectic band that wraps…
Reviews & Commentary
NEARFEST ’09 Pt.1: Van Der Graaf Generator & Steve Hillage
NEARFEST 2009 Part One: Progressing into Yesterday, Steve Hillage and Van Der Graaf Generator NEARFEST, the North East Art Rock Festival, took place this past weekend and as is the custom of this 11-year-old institution, it was a mix of progressive rockers old and new. Today, Pt 1 of The Old Guard There is a…
Reviews & Commentary
Echo Location: Matthew Schoening’s Looped Cellos
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http://media.blubrry.com/echoespodcast/www.xpn.org/podcasts/echoes/echoes20090624.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSEchoes finds a lapsed classical cellist who is looped. You can hear an audio version of this blog with Matthew Schoening‘s music here. Just like Nathaniel Ayres, the homeless cellist at the center of the film, The Soloist, Matthew Schoening was a cellist, in Los Angeles, without a…
Reviews & Commentary
Ali Akbar Khan Plucks His Last String
Echoes remembers Ali Akbar Khan (April 14,1922-June 19, 2009) Ali Akbar Khan is one of the only Indian musicians whose name is spoken in the same breathe as Ravi Shankar. He plays the Indian stringed instrument called the sarod and since his American debut in 1955 playing duets with classical violinist Yehudi Menuhin, he’s been…
Reviews & Commentary
Charlie Mariano-From Bop to Fusion to India to Gone
Saxophonist Charlie Mariano passed at 86 on June 16, 2009 Charlie Mariano was a second tier bop saxophonist with a biting, post-Charlie Parker sound who later showed the influence of John Coltrane and became enthralled with eastern music. In addition to his saxophones, he started playing an obscure, oboe-like instrument from India called the nagaswarum. …
Reviews & Commentary
Echo Location: John Luther Adams
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http://media.blubrry.com/echoespodcast/www.xpn.org/podcasts/echoes/echoes20090617.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS Echoes from the Alaskan Tundra: John Luther Adams You can hear an audio version of this blog with music here Imagine a place where music changes according to time of day, geomagnetic activity, aurora shimmers, the path of the sun and moon through the sky and seismic…
Reviews & Commentary
Bill Frisell, Odean Pope and Sunny Murray: Opposites Distract
Bill Frisell, Odean Pope & Sunny Murray Live There was a study in opposites that should have been studies in confluence this weekend. Two shows of jazz adventurers tried to grace Philadelphia. One of them succeeded. On Sunday Night, June 14, 2009, Bill Frisell’s long time, road-tested trio of bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny…