JUPITER — Even if you don’t recognize the name Roger Nichols (rogernichols.com), you’ve almost certainly heard his work. That’s because his most heralded efforts, and six of his eight Grammy Awards, stem directly from the entire recorded output of Steely Dan, the omnipresent California-based band that’s fused pop and rock; jazz and R&B for 50-plus years. Nichols … [Read more...]
Beethoven, Schubert quartets dazzle at SoFla Symphony chamber concert
By Robert Croan Among the entire chamber music repertoire, the Andante movement from Franz Schubert’s String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, known as the “Death and the Maiden” Quartet, is one of the most sublime moments. A highlight of Western classical music in its emotional impact and veracity, this series of variations on an earlier Schubert song that gives the work its … [Read more...]
Jupiter’s Sierra Lane brings songwriting savvy to rising pop career
It's a rarity when a musical artist comes along with the right youthfulness, look, and artistry to go to the industry's upper echelon — especially both commercially and critically. Jupiter-based singer, guitarist and songwriter Sierra Lane (www.sierralanemusic.com) checks all the boxes. She performs at the free Bag A Donuts Festival on July 22 with six other artists and … [Read more...]
SFSO quintet offers knockout readings of Dvořák, Schumann
By Robert Croan FORT LAUDERDALE — The South Florida Symphony is providing a real service to the local community with its summer chamber music series, showcasing this orchestra’s excellent first-desk players in three monthly concerts in Miami and Fort Lauderdale. The second of this year’s programs [seen June 16 in Fort Lauderdale’s Center for Spiritual Living] offered two … [Read more...]
Songwriter Tori Amos makes stop at Kravis on Saturday
A funny thing happened to popular music through the 1990s. In the early to middle portion of the decade, the heavy, male-centric Seattle grunge movement with Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, and Alice in Chains dominated. From the middle to end of the decade, though, practically disparate female pop artists took over. And not just female singers, but singer/songwriters who … [Read more...]
Northwood’s Café Centro becomes a haven for live jazz
Jazz is dead: Take it from a popular touring jam band launched in 1998, or a popular recording label founded in 2017. It's the name of both. The same doomsday outlook has recently been assumed — with some validity depending on the geographic market and especially locally — regarding the chances of finding either affordable or quality live music in general. And especially … [Read more...]
SFSO presents fulfilling concert of piano trios
By Robert Croan Summer With the Symphony, South Florida Symphony Orchestra’s three monthly chamber music concerts — one program per month in Miami with a repeat in Fort Lauderdale — is virtually the only classical music to be heard here in the off-season. Showcasing the orchestra’s accomplished first-desk players, each event comprises two or three works for a total of … [Read more...]
Pires makes stellar showing at PB Symphony’s finale
By Márcio Bezerra After a disappointing cancelation last year, the audiences of the Palm Beaches finally were able to hear the esteemed Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires perform with the Palm Beach Symphony. The ensemble — completely reinvented since the arrival of Music Director Gerard Schwarz — presented its last performance of the season Monday night to an unusually … [Read more...]
311’s long fade from creativity mirrors SunFest’s slowdown
SunFest turned 40 years old this year, and the West Palm Beach institution slowed down accordingly within its new middle-aged bracket. What had previously been “Florida's largest waterfront music and art festival” was a five-day event for most of its existence, but downshifted to four days in 2018. On May 5-7, SunFest presented the first three-day format in its history — on … [Read more...]
Music of the Dead brings jazz group back alive
In 1998, a studio album called Blue Light Rain by the Grateful Dead tribute quartet Jazz Is Dead (www.facebook.com/JazzIsDead.Tour) turned both the jazz/fusion and Dead worlds on their collective ears. For that album’s 25th anniversary, and the 50th anniversary of the release of the 1973 Grateful Dead LP Wake of the Flood, a revamped Jazz Is Dead has returned from the … [Read more...]