I was recently on an arts panel judging musical acts that ranged from one of the best-known orchestras in the world to a protest folksinger and all points in between. I can’t mention the names because the process is still in progress. On the panel were classical musicians, scholars and academics, one world music expert,…
Category: Reviews & Commentary
Reviews & Commentary
WEATHER SUCKS, BUT THE SUN IS OUT AND ALL IS GOOD!
I know it’s not a Katrina hurricane or San Francisco earthquake, but the weather we’ve been getting in the Philadelphia area this summer simply blows. We got flooded out two weeks ago with torrential downpours that caused us to lose power twice. The aforementioned hurricane-force storm that whipped through caused us to lose power again…
Reviews & Commentary
Echoes is Turned Off
Don’t panic! Echoes is still here, but for the third time in two weeks our power has gone out. A vicious storm with hurricane strength winds whipped through our area Tuesday night (July 18) and took out power lines across several counties, putting 500,000 homes in the dark, including Echoes. Jeff Towne was mixing out…
Reviews & Commentary
Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett Leaves the Planet
Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett leaves the planet although some would say he was never quite on it. He died this past weekend on July 7, of that most earthly disease, cancer. Syd Barrett was a founding member of Pink Floyd and the principal architect of it’s early sound on the album, Piper at the Gates…
Reviews & Commentary
Micheáll Ó Domhnaill of Nightnoise and The Bothy Band Passes
I just received the sad news from Jeff Johnson that Micheáll Ó Domhnaill, the guitarist and composer with The Bothy Band and Nightnoise passed this weekend after suffering from a heart attack. He was only 54. I first heard Micheáll in the 1970s when The Bothy Band was among a host of groups kick-starting a…
Reviews & Commentary
A Different Kind of July 4th Celebration: Ambient Americana
What do Ry Cooder, Steve Roach, Kaki King, Gustavo Santaolalla and Mark O’Connor have in common? A distinctly American sound, no matter how far afield they fly or what country they fly in from. Some of you may have already heard our American Landscapes show, and the rest should enjoy it on July 4th. I…
Reviews & Commentary
Nearfest-Night One Hatfield & the North and Tony Levin Band
Technically, this isn’t the first night of NEARfest, but the Progressive Legends Concert. Tony Levin opened. The brilliant bass & Chapman Stick player is well known for his work with Peter Gabriel and King Crimson and he makes the most of that, covering tunes from both. Levin’s latest album is Resonator and he takes a…
Reviews & Commentary
NEARfest arrives with Hatfield and the North and Ozric Tentacles
This weekend is the 8th running of NEARfest, the North East Art Rock Festival in Bethlehem, PA. It sold out instantly again this year. I attended my first festival last year and had to admit some trepidation about it. Progressive Rock or Art Rock was the music of my youth. I spent the 70s and…
Reviews & Commentary
Michael Brook Returns
Well, he never left. Although it’s been 14 years since he’s put out a proper album, Cobalt Blue, he’s been recording up a storm, producing and performing with people like the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Djivan Gasparyan, Hans Zimmmer and a host of others. But finally Brook has a new album of his own,…
Reviews & Commentary
Guitarists Keep Coming: Don Peris, California Guitar Trio and Tommy Emmanuel
Following on the previous Blog entry, I forgot to note two other fine guitarists on the show, Don Peris and The California Guitar Trio. Many of you heard Don Peris playing live last night on Echoes. Philadelphia will get him tonight and others on weekend Echoes broadcasts, (including XM). Don played the perfect parlor music…