Category: Reviews & Commentary

The Only Love Song You’ll Need for Valentine’s Day

Every year on Echoes of the Heart, our Valentine’s Day soundscape, and I mean EVERY year, we’ve played Heidi Berry’s “Cradle.”  Even though it is the ultimate love song, this year, we gave it a rest.  But if you only hear one love song today, maybe this should be it.  An exercise in romantic minimalism,…

Hauschka’s Mystery Prepared Piano

Here’s a bit of fantasy and prepared piano from Haushka, the German pianist who was recently on Echoes with violinist Hilary Hahn.  This is from the press release: While on a recent US tour with Grammy-winning American violinist Hilary Hahn, celebrated Düsseldorf-born piano composer Hauschka took a time-out to create this very special 3-part performance…

The Troggs’ Last Wild Thing – Reg Presley R.I.P.

Reg Presley, lead singer and composer for The Troggs, dies at 71. I just played both sides of Wild Thing, the American debut album by The Troggs, named for their #1 hit song.  I bought it in 1966  at Woolworth’s in Tewksbury, Massachussetts. Not even thirty-minutes in total length, it has only one bad song…

Ravi Shankar’s Last Raga Ride

or I Dropped My Microphone on Ravi Shankar’s Sitar. The word “icon” is tossed around pretty freely these days, and I probably fling it out there more than most.  But put the name Ravi Shankar next to “icon” and you reset that bar to stratospheric heights. There are only a few musicians who stand out…

55th Grammy Awards-Return of Pure New Age.

New Age Music reasserts its hold on the Grammy’s New Age Category. I won’t be able to get my chakras in an uproar about the absurdity of the New Age Grammy category this year.  (See previous rants & reflections Grammys Goof Again in the New Age)  There aren’t any  hack New Agers that no one…

Cage: Beyond Silence

Pianist Margaret Leng Tan and Producer Dustin Hurt on the Legacy of John Cage. Hear the Echoes Podcast about John Cage. There are icons of modern music and then there are gods.  John Cage was a god.  Few composers have turned music on its head the way Cage did with compositions like “4’33”, his silent…

A New Age Shaman’s Last Dance.

Gabrielle Roth passes at age 71. Gabrielle Roth wouldn’t have won any musician polls.  She didn’t really play anything beyond some percussion.  Yet she was responsible for nearly two dozen albums over the last 20 years or so. She referred to herself as an urban shaman and with the floating personnel of her ensemble, Gabrielle…