Jazz/fusion emerged as a musical subgenre from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s by blending traditional acoustic jazz with instruments more associated with rock, namely electric guitar. And some names rose to the fore in the process that are now practically household, including guitarists John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, Allan Holdsworth, Jeff Beck, and Larry Carlton. … [Read more...]
Young sibling violin-piano duo delights Lauderdale chamber music audience
By Robert Croan FORT LAUDERDALE - The South Florida Symphony Orchestra, having completed its regular season, is brightening up this year’s already long, hot summer, with a series of three chamber music concerts, each held in Fort Lauderdale’s Center for Spiritual Living and at Temple Israel of Greater Miami. The second of these, seen June 24 in Fort Lauderdale, featured … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival returns in one-week format
Over the 30 years that the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival has been presenting summer concerts, its musicians have presented more than 500 pieces, the majority of which have been pieces from worthy but infrequently visited corners of the repertoire. It’s a remarkable legacy, and its mix of adventurousness and first-rate playing can be explored on the six recordings its … [Read more...]
Oz Noy offers improvisational variety at Funky Biscuit Show
Prior to June 3, Israel-born, Manhattan-based jazz/fusion guitarist Oz Noy's last appearance at the Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton was barely more than two-and-a-half years ago. Yet those two shows in November of 2019, with bassist Hadrien Feraud and drummer Dave Weckl, appear further back in time because they occurred in a seemingly distant era -- pre-COVID-19. Noy's … [Read more...]
Record review: Bright, vigorous Telemann from violinist Cotik
Tomás Cotik is a violinist, a professor at Portland State University, and perhaps most important, a scholar whose projects for the Centaur Records label have included complete surveys of the Mozart violin sonatas and Schubert violin-and piano works, as well as the Bach sonatas and partitas. Each of these recordings was accompanied by deeply learned program notes by Cotik, who … [Read more...]
FGO’s ‘Agrippina’ has fascinating staging, recitative-heavy editing
By Rosie Rogers Florida Grand Opera closed out its season this month with an ambitious production of Handel’s Agrippina. First performed in 1709, the 313-year-old Agrippina is a tongue-in-cheek tale of political ambition and sexual competition. This production made an admirable musical effort inside of an interesting, if somewhat confusing, framing device. This Agrippina … [Read more...]
Soloists enliven muted ‘Carmina Burana’ at Master Chorale
By Dennis D. Rooney It was a Saturday in the spring of 1957. I was at my high school, doing some sort of extracurricular project, which took place in the auditorium. The Glee Club director had put on a recording of music I didn’t recognize but whose sound and character were captivating. From time to time, someone would tap out one of the catchy rhythms that sprang up as … [Read more...]
Black Pumas close SunFest with a set and sound to remember
For many of the SunFest performers, 2022 turned into RainFest between its first three days of April 28-30. Yet hope was kept alive on day four. Following a country music-heavy opening night, plus additional headliners then attempting to deliver whining pop, forced glam, and frat-boy rock between the raindrops, the Austin, Texas-based soul group Black Pumas … [Read more...]
ProgJect brings titans of prog rock to Boca, all too briefly
Tribute acts are the latest acid for the masses, especially in South Florida. Most of the artists being paid tribute to have either died or are still touring past age 50 --- meaning they're often popular enough to charge exorbitant fees for concert tickets to compensate for their lost recording royalties in the musical streaming era. So consumers who either can't, or … [Read more...]
Poetry in motion: Steady action, score make for captivating ‘Fellow Travelers’ at FGO
By Rosie Rogers Florida Grand Opera’s production of Gregory Spears’s 2016 opera Fellow Travelers told a Lavender Scare love story with a sweetly melancholic score. With direction from Peter Rothstein, the smooth set changes produced a constant motion well-matched to the minimalism of the orchestra. Starring Hadleigh Adams and Andres Acosta as the two romantic leads, … [Read more...]