Journal
- Wednesday,February 5,2025
Rhiannon Giddens reunites with her former Carolina Chocolate Drops bandmate Justin Robinson on What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, due April 18. Produced by Giddens and Joseph "joebass" DeJarnette, the album features Giddens on banjo and Robinson on fiddle, playing eighteen of their favorite North Carolina tunes. Many were learned from their late mentor, legendary North Carolina Piedmont musician Joe Thompson; one is from another musical hero, the late Etta Baker. Giddens and Robinson recorded outdoors at Thompson’s and Baker’s North Carolina homes, as well as the former plantation Mill Prong House, accompanied by the sounds of nature, including two different broods of cicadas, which had not emerged simultaneously since 1803, creating a true once-in-a-lifetime soundscape. A video of “Hook and Line,” a traditional tune from Joe Thompson’s repertoire and filmed at his home in Mebane, NC, may be seen here. The duo, along with four other string musicians, embarks on Rhiannon Giddens & The Old-Time Revue Tour April 25.
Journal Topics: Album ReleaseArtist NewsVideoTuesday,February 4,2025"Multiple Grammy Award winner and MacArthur Fellow Cécile McLorin Salvant is a fearless singer, composer, and visual artist who is one of the most highly regarded jazz vocalists of her generation," David Krauss, MET Opera Principal Trumpet and host of the Speaking Soundly podcast, says of his guest. You can hear their conversation about Salvant's life and music, including her Carnegie Hall Perspectives series this concert season, here.
Journal Topics: Artist NewsPodcastTuesday,February 4,2025Punch Brothers begin a spring tour of the US on May 13 in Virginia Beach, culminating at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, June 19-22. Additionally, they complete the second season of their musical variety show, The Energy Curfew Music Hour, in NYC in February. The band also returns for the third year of the four-day Acousticamp June 27-July 1 in Pacific Grove, CA.
Journal Topics: Artist NewsOn TourSunday,February 2,2025Congratulations to Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion—Eric Cha-Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, and Jason Treuting—who won the GRAMMY Award for Best Chamber Music / Small Ensemble Performance, for their album Rectangles and Circumstance, at the 67th GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony in Los Angeles.
Journal Topics: Artist NewsFriday,January 31,2025Composer and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire’s album honey from a winter stone, which he calls a “self-portrait,” is out now. It features improvisational vocalist Kokayi, pianist Sam Harris, Chiquitamagic on synthesizer, drummer Justin Brown, and the Mivos Quartet. “For arguably the most technically gifted trumpeter of his generation, a lot of Ambrose Akinmusire’s breakthroughs actually come from letting go of standards and structures," says the New York Times. "Lately Akinmusire has been making some of the most intimate, spellbinding music of his career.”
Journal Topics: Album ReleaseArtist NewsWednesday,January 29,2025Rhiannon Giddens was on NPR's Code Switch podcast to talk with co-host B.A. Parker, who is learning to play the banjo and is looking to find community and reclaim an instrument rooted in Black culture. You can hear their conversation here.
Journal Topics: Artist NewsPodcastMonday,January 27,2025Watch: Yasmin Williams Performs for 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' 'Late Show Me Music' SeriesComposer/guitarist Yasmin Williams performed "Nectar," from her new album, Acadia, for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert's Late Show Me Music online performance video series. You can watch it here. Williams kicks off a US tour in Ann Arbor this Friday.
Journal Topics: Artist NewsVideoWebFriday,January 24,2025Hurray for the Riff Raff, aka Alynda Segarra, was on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! to perform "Snake Plant (The Past Is Still Alive)," from their 2024 album, The Past Is Still Alive. You can watch it here.
Journal Topics: Artist NewsTelevisionVideoThursday,January 23,2025Portuguese fado singer Carminho stopped by the NPR offices in Washington, DC, to perform a Tiny Desk Concert of songs from her albums Portuguesa and Maria and her EP Carmimho at Electrical Audio. "The world of Portuguese fado is full of emotion that is on display within seconds of this performance by vocalist Carminho," says NPR's Felix Contreras.
Journal Topics: Artist NewsVideoThursday,January 23,2025Congratulations to John Adams and Davóne Tines, who have been nominated for BBC Music Magazine Awards—"celebrating the best new classical music recordings"—Adams for the Opera Award for his Girls of the Golden West (on which Tines performs) and Tines for the Vocal Award for his solo recording debut, ROBESON. Winners will be chosen by public vote and announced at an awards ceremony at Kings Place in London on April 23.
Journal Topics: Artist NewsWednesday,January 22,2025Composer/trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, whose new album, honey from a winter stone, is out next week, stopped by for the Nonesuch Selects video series, in which artists visit the Nonesuch office, pick some of their favorite albums from the music library, and share a few words on their choices. He chose recordings by Joni Mitchell, Paul Jacobs (performing Schoenberg), Jonny Greenwood, Mary Halvorson, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Steve Reich, and Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride, and Brian Blade.
Journal Topics: Artist NewsNonesuch SelectsVideoTuesday,January 21,2025Yasmin Williams stopped by Acoustic Guitar to perform songs from her new album, Acadia, and more and to discuss the album. You can watch the session here. "Yasmin Williams is known for extending the boundaries of solo fingerstyle guitar, with progressive techniques and original compositions that blossom out of traditional folk and roots touchstones," writes Acoustic Guitar's Joey Lusterman. "On her latest record, Acadia, she expands her distinctive sound world even further." Williams kicks off a US tour later this month.
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