Last of the Summer Wine: Three Chicago Releases Spill Into Fall
This is the time of year when we begin to harvest the last few remnants of summer; these recordings are the sonic equivalent to a few tomatoes still ripe on the vine.
Music Top 5: October 2021
The must-see music events of the month.
Can’t-Miss Fall Music Events (Fall Arts Preview 2021)
Fall highlights
Maestro Metamorphosis: How Lyric Opera Transitioned to Enrique Mazzola, its First New Music Director in Twenty Years (Fall Arts Preview 2021)
The news of Sir Andrew Davis’ departure from Lyric was eclipsed by the announcement of his successor at the same time.
Departing the Comfort Zone: Ear Taxi Festival’s Ambitious Return
In “Up High” two artists confront a shared fear of heights by performing on pedestals on the ninth floor of the penthouse of the Logan Center. One can only imagine what the rehearsals were like.
Music Top 5: September 2021
The must-see music events of the month.
Herbie’s Homecoming: A Jazz Icon Celebrates the Seventieth Anniversary of His Chicago Symphony Debut
“I thought I would be a concert pianist, a classical musician. I wasn’t attracted to jazz at that time. I heard it, but I thought it was for older people.”
Brutal Finesse: A Preview of King Crimson at Ravinia
There have been few new compositions from King Crimson these past two decades, but the live arrangements of songs from its catalog are often strikingly different than the recorded versions.
As A Matter Of Fact, It’s All Dark: The Mountain Goats Return With “Dark In Here”
John Darnielle mines the coal-black vein science-fiction, horror, the occult and heavy metal music, but he does it in the most jaunty, jazzy fashion imaginable.
Dazzling Dualities: A Review of Bryan Away’s “Canyons to Sawdust”
The album is a twistier, more literary creation than its pop antecedents; lyrically it bears more resemblance to the art songs of Samuel Barber and Ned Rorem.
