The 2017-2018 season in South Florida pop music feels like a changing of the guard, since there aren’t the usual megastar visits from Adele, U2, Madonna or Beyoncé. Sure, there are the occasional predictable senior citizen stars in Ringo Starr, the Zombies, David Crosby, and The Time, all before the close of the year. But for the most part, perhaps as a signal that the … [Read more...]
New American violin concerto satisfies at Lynn Philharmonia opener
By Dennis D. Rooney In its initial concert of the current academic year, the Lynn Philharmonia and its conductor, Guillermo Figueroa, offered a satisfyingly meaty program of standard repertoire and a novelty. The latter was a violin concerto by American composer Richard Sortomme (b. 1948). Elmar Oliveira commissioned the work and premiered it in Savannah last year. In … [Read more...]
New opera salutes Tesla, tragic scientific hero
The Serbian-born American inventor and electrical pioneer Nikola Tesla has become a hot property over the past couple decades, regaining something of the national recognition he enjoyed in his prime in the early 20th century, but this time as a counterculture hero. In addition to physics units, rock bands and electric cars being named for him, Tesla’s alternating-current … [Read more...]
Chris Robinson: The Black Crowe flies with a different flock
Any conversation with Chris Robinson, the former front man for Atlanta-spawned rock sensation the Black Crowes and leader of the Chris Robinson Brotherhood since 2011, can easily turn into entertaining stream-of-consciousness commentary, musical and otherwise. The 50-year-old singer/songwriter, guitarist and harmonica player brings the CRB (rounded out by guitarist/vocalist … [Read more...]
Guitarist stands out at SOTA’s Summerfest concert at FAU
For 26 seasons now, James Brooks-Bruzzese has led members of his Symphony of the Americas and guest musicians from around the globe in a musical Summerfest that always includes performances in his native Panama. On Aug. 5 at the University Theatre on the campus of Florida Atlantic University, he and the group were back for another summer appearance, accompanied as they have … [Read more...]
‘Dead Man Walking’ ends Miami festival in overwrought fashion
By Dennis D. Rooney The composer Jake Heggie was born John Stephen Heggie on March 31, 1961, in West Palm Beach, but didn’t stay there long as his family relocated soon after his birth to Columbus, Ohio. Since the late 1990s he has been identified with the musical scene in San Francisco, where he currently resides. He composed Dead Man Walking through a fellowship from … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival 4: A satisfying roundup to the 26th season
By Dennis D. Rooney How many composers were born in a church tower? I only know of one, Bohuslav Martinů, who arrived on December 1890 in the tower apartment of the St. Jakub Church in Polička, a town in Bohemia, close to the Moravian border. His family was allowed to live there because his father Ferdinand, a shoemaker, also worked as the church sexton and town fire … [Read more...]
Percussionist Thomas and band shine in fusion realm
It’s been 35 years since Miami-based percussionist Bobby Thomas Jr. last performed with iconic jazz/fusion band Weather Report, but the influence was still evident when Thomas appeared Saturday night at the Arts Garage in Delray Beach with his group The 7th Realm. The otherwise ageless 62-year-old percussionist showcased tunes by former Weather Report bandmates Wayne … [Read more...]
Bobby Thomas Jr. steps out from the shadow of Weather Report
Weather Report became the preeminent jazz/fusion band in history for a variety of reasons during its 1970-1986 tenure, chiefly its constant members, keyboardist Joe Zawinul (1932-2007) and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, both alumni of trumpeter Miles Davis’ bands. But the additional band members recruited by those two co-founders may have proven as important. Those included … [Read more...]
Brilliant ‘Walküre’ stands out at MMF’s second Wagner night
Somewhere along the line, as he put together what he wanted to offer in his summer music festival in Miami, Michael Rossi hit upon a very smart idea. That was to set up a special training environment for singers to be coached for the operas of Richard Wagner, which for their length and epic natures, require voices with stamina and color in a way unlike the music of any other … [Read more...]