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  • Tuesday, June 2, 2009

    Christina Courtin, whose self-titled Nonesuch debut is due out on June 23, is featured on this week's episode of NPR's All Songs Considered. The show's host, Bob Boilen, tracks Christina's career, from her earliest days playing violin at the age of three through her time at Juilliard and to the forthcoming release, from which he plays the song "Bundah." "She always knew she could sing," Boilen says, "and that became her desire." You can also hear "Bundah" and watch a video for the song on the new multimedia page nonesuch.com/christinacourtin, which also features the album tracks "Foreign Country" and "February" plus a photo slideshow of Christina.

    Journal Topics: Web, Radio
  • Tuesday, June 2, 2009

    Amadou & Mariam are set to take Chicago's Park West by storm tonight as they begin the first leg of their summer tour. The Chicago Sun-Times says the couple "front a fiery band that provides a kaleidoscope of music filtering rock, blues, reggae and hip-hop through a Malian sensibility. Her vocals are innocent and welcoming; his blues/rock guitar style is commanding and nimble." The Chicago Tribune declares, "If the duo's vocals are a life-affirming sound that transcends language barriers, [Amadou's] guitar is an instrument of mind-altering eloquence." Time Out Chicago says their new album, Welcome to Mali, "sounds as if it was made, variously, in 1970s flare-wearing New York, in a timeless stretch of desert, and at the kind of party you’d most like to be asked to." Catch the duo on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon this Monday.

    Journal Topics: On Tour, Artist News, Video
  • Monday, June 1, 2009

    Floodplain, Kronos Quartet's most recent Nonesuch release features music inspired by the idea that floodplains—which are prone to devastating flooding—will experience new life after a catastrophe, just as cultures that undergo great difficulty will experience creative fertility. The New York Times finds this to be an apt metaphor and in keeping with Kronos's core beliefs, rooted in its earliest performances, which "turned the introverted quartet idiom outward through its extramusical effects and social concerns. Mr. Harrington and company have been extending that path ever since."

    Journal Topics: Reviews
  • Friday, May 29, 2009

    Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin join Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller for Three Girls and Their Buddy ... Bill Frisell unveils new piece at Bang on a Can Marathon, NYC ... Youssou N'Dour closes the Africa Vive festival in the Canary Islands ... Punch Brothers follows Spoleto appearance with Virginia gig ... Joshua Redman Trio plays Tacoma ... Rokia Traoré plays a sold-out show at the Barbican ... Allen Toussaint concludes a week in Japan ... Wilco plays Portugal and Spain ... and more ...

    Journal Topics: On Tour, Weekend Events
  • Friday, May 29, 2009

    Wilco's new album, Wilco (the album), is due out on Nonesuch in another month, and the critical response has already begun, including, this week, from the band's two hometown papers, the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times. The Sun-Times gives the album 3.5 stars, asserting that "the band has cemented a reputation as one of the most creative forces in rock today" and concluding that its new songs "stand beside the best that the band has given us." The Tribune calls the band's current members "the most technically accomplished of Wilco’s many lineups ... and Wilco (the album) is a compendium of its best moves."

    Journal Topics: Album Release, Reviews
  • Wednesday, May 27, 2009

    Allen Toussaint's The Bright Mississippi was released to great critical acclaim, followed by an equally lauded residency at New York's Village Vanguard, and a string of performances in Japan. The Wall Street Journal writes that, with the album, Toussaint keeps alive "the tradition of distinctive New Orleans pianists, within which he clearly belongs; and of jazz, which was never far from the surface of his music ...  He simply possesses each tune fully, courtesy of rolling chords, well-placed tremolos, notable restraint and the defining force of his musical presence." Blurt talks to Toussaint about the project and trusting producer Joe Henry's choice of what he calls "these wonderful songs."

    Journal Topics: On Tour, Reviews
  • Wednesday, May 27, 2009

    Rokia Traoré, whose most recent album, Tchamantché, was released on Nonesuch earlier this year, is the subject of a feature profile in the Sunday Times (UK), in anticipation of her sold-out concert at London’s celebrated Barbican this Friday. The article highlights both her “flourishing reputation” and the launch of her Fondation Passarelle, an organization she founded to help young people develop the skills needed to enter the music business. In August, she performs two free shows in New York that Time Out includes in its preview of the summer's best outdoor concerts. "With her latest disc," says the magazine, "Traoré wraps her beautiful, velvety voice around moody blues and joyous Afrobeats alike. Be prepared to gape at her lovely vocals, and also to get up and shimmy."

    Journal Topics: On Tour, Artist News
  • Wednesday, May 27, 2009

    Fernando Otero will perform songs from his 2008 Nonesuch release, Pagina de Buenos Aires, live on Soundcheck, a program of WNYC, New York Public Radio, 93.9 FM, today at 2 PM ET. He'll talk with the show's host, John Schaefer, and will perform at the piano along with Nick Danielson on violin and Hector del Curto on bandoneon, both of whom performed on the album.

    Journal Topics: Radio
  • Tuesday, May 26, 2009

    Kronos Quartet's Floodplain is out now, and the reviews from the UK prove that Kronos's latest global exploration is as expansive as its repertoire. The Sunday Times gives the album four stars, calling it both "one of their most inspired so far" and "one of the albums of the year." The Guardian gives it four stars, too, calling the music "engaging, challenging, complex and rewarding." The Observer Music Monthly, in its four-star review, sees the Quartet "as intellectually engaging as ever." The Evening Standard gives Floodplain a perfect five stars, calling its repertoire "vivid and powerful ... music that grabs by the throat and doesn't let go." Scotland's Herald also gives it a perfect five stars, dubbing it "an entrancing journey."

    Journal Topics: Reviews
  • Tuesday, May 26, 2009

    Sara Watkins is taking a couple days off from her extensive US tour behind her recently released, self-titled Nonesuch debut. But while you wait to see her back in action in her live show, you can hear her perform songs from the new album on NPR's World Café this afternoon. Listen live online at xpn.org at 2 PM EST or check back in with npr.org later in the day to listen to today's episode streaming.

    Journal Topics: On Tour, Radio
  • Friday, May 22, 2009

    Wilco begins its 10-day tour of Spain and Portugal ... Amadou & Mariam play a benefit "Hidden Gig" with Pink Floyd's David Gilmour in London ... Dan Auerbach plays throughout Benelux ... Christina Courtin, Dawn Upshaw perform at Dublin's National Gallery of Ireland ... Bill Frisell's 858 Quartet plays MA, NY, and FL all in one weekend ... Allen Toussaint's residency at the Village Vanguard with The Bright Mississippi band continues through Sunday ... and more on this Memorial Day weekend ...

    Journal Topics: On Tour, Weekend Events
  • Thursday, May 21, 2009

    Allen Toussaint's residency at the Village Vanguard with The Bright Mississippi band continues through Sunday. The New York Times, in its review of Tuesday's opener, writes: "New Orleans was in every phrase, with hints of swing, of humor, of sly sensuality ... It wasn’t a re-creation of old New Orleans music but a reverie on a New Orleans heritage: a lifetime of memories refined by a genteel sensibility that finds the elegance in the blues." Last night's set is now streaming at npr.org. Bob Boilen, host of NPR's All Songs Considered, previewed the show, saying, "If you listen to one jazz concert this year, tonight is your night." His NPR colleagues called it "an intimate, graceful and eminently enjoyable jazz show." New Orleans' Times-Picayune exclaims: "The Bright Mississippi is a highlight of an already remarkable career."

    Journal Topics: On Tour, Reviews, Web, Radio