New Releases
November 15, 2024Donnacha Dennehy’s Land of Winter, performed by the composer's longtime collaborators Alarm Will Sound and conductor Alan Pierson, explores the subtleties of Ireland’s seasons via twelve connected sections representing the months of the year. "It is the varying quality of light that truly demarcates the seasons," Dennehy says, "from the shorter days of grey or piercing light in the winter to the warmer but mercurial light of summer days that at solstice stretch almost to midnight. I like this play between light and time, and it is the major inspiration behind the piece."
The Way Out of Easy is the first album from guitarist Jeff Parker and his long-running ETA IVtet—saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss, drummer Jay Bellerose—since their 2022 debut Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy, which Pitchfork named one of the Best Albums of the 2020s So Far. Like that album, The Way Out of Easy comprises recordings from LA venue ETA, where Parker and the ensemble held a weekly residency for seven years. During that time, the ETA IVtet evolved from a band that played mostly standards into a group known for its transcendent, long-form journeys into innovative, groove-oriented improvised music. All four tracks on The Way Out of Easy come from a single night in 2023, providing an unfiltered view of the ensemble, fully in their element.
The Black Keys' eighteen-track Ohio Players (Trophy Edition)—the two-LP deluxe edition of the band’s twelfth studio album—features four previously unreleased tracks in a gatefold jacket, with an alternate cover and new album sequencing. Special guests include DannyLux, Alice Cooper, and Beck, in addition to the many collaborations on the original Ohio Players songs.
American Railroad, from the Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens, is the culmination of four years of research, collaboration, and music-making, having brought Silkroad artists all across the US to uncover and uplift stories of those who built the transcontinental railroad and connecting railways across North America. "The result is a tapestry of stories, traditions, and music that have shaped our multifaceted cultural identity, and that must be heard and recognized," Giddens says.
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Donnacha Dennehy’s Land of Winter, performed by the composer's longtime collaborators Alarm Will Sound and conductor Alan Pierson, explores the subtleties of Ireland’s seasons via twelve connected sections representing the months of the year. "It is the varying quality of light that truly demarcates the seasons," Dennehy says, "from the shorter days of grey or piercing light in the winter to the warmer but mercurial light of summer days that at solstice stretch almost to midnight. I like this play between light and time, and it is the major inspiration behind the piece."
The original score for Ken Burns’s two-part documentary LEONARDO da VINCI, with new compositions by Caroline Shaw, features performances by the composer’s longtime collaborators Attacca Quartet, Sō Percussion, and Roomful of Teeth as well as John Patitucci. Shaw wrote and recorded new music for LEONARDO da VINCI, marking the first time a Ken Burns film has featured an entirely original score. The film is directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon, who says: “Caroline’s existing body of music—joyful, daring, at times transcendent, and wholly unique—seemed to speak directly to Leonardo, a seeking soul who, 500 years after his death, can come across as strikingly modern ... The music Caroline created is dynamic, enthralling and filled with wonder."
Jeremy Denk's album Ives Denk, released in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Ives' birth, features the composer's four violin sonatas, performed with violinist Stefan Jackiw, as well as remastered versions of his Sonatas No. 1 and 2 for piano, from Denk's 2010 debut recording, Jeremy Denk Plays Ives. "Mr. Denk's playing exuded affinity for Ives and vivid imagination," the New York Times says of a performance. "Mr. Jackiw, deftly balancing fervor and elegance, beautiful tone and earthy colorings, proved a comparably inspired Ivesian."
Portuguese fado singer Carminho's EP Carminho at Electrical Audio was recorded in collaboration with the late Steve Albini at his iconic Electrical Audio studio in Chicago in October 2023. “Anyone who worked with Steve Albini knows of his humble authenticity and dedication towards perfecting raw sound," Carminho says. "He made the recordings sound as if we were performing in a fado house in Lisbon."
Composer/guitarist Yasmin Williams' Nonesuch debut album, Acadia, her most sonically expansive work to date, is nine original, mostly instrumental tracks written and produced by Williams, and features her on various guitars, banjo, calabash drum, tap shoes, and kora. She is joined by an eclectic cast of collaborators—including Immanuel Wilkins, Dom Flemons, Aoife O’Donovan, William Tyler, Darlingside, and others—creating a folk music that reflects the wide range of musical influences that have inspired her throughout her life. "Yasmin Williams treats her guitar like a playground," says NPR Music, naming her its Breakthrough Artist of 2021, noting the “joy and possibility she brings to the guitar.” Songlines calls her “an original, a genuine trailblazer, one of those rare musicians who challenges your preconceptions about the possible.”