I swore off electing to place myself amid crowds in Kansas City after a disheartening experience at the airport as August began. The abhorrent behavior of halfwits and lunatics temporarily eradicated any possibility of enjoying myself at musical performances.

July’s recap and links to previous monthly surveys are here.

William Brownlee

April 30, 2021

April 2021 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

William Brownlee

April 30, 2021

Screenshot of the trailer for King of Jazz by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums (released in April, excluding April 30 titles)

1. Damon Locks and Black Monument Ensemble- Now

Another urgent missive from Chicago.

2. Dopolarians- The Bond

My review.

3. Brockhampton- Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine

The worst album by the world’s best boy band.

4. Max Richter- Voices 2

My review.

5. John Pizzarelli- Better Days Ahead: Solo Guitar Takes on Pat Metheny

My review.

6. Bryce Dessner and the Australian String Quartet- Impermanence/Disintegration

Street hassle.

7. Toumani Diabaté and the London Symphony Orchestra- Kôrôlén

Stunning 2008 concert.

8. Arooj Aftab- Vulture Prince

Secular adhan.

9. Florian Arbenz, Hermon Mehari and Nelson Veras- Conversation #1: Condensed

My review.

10. Field Music- Flat White Moon

My review.

Top Ten Songs (released in April, excluding April 30 titles)

1. Cupcakke- "Mosh Pit"

Watch your step.

2. Georgia Anne Muldrow- "Unforgettable"

That’s what she is.

3. Trineice Robinson and Cyrus Chestnut- "Come Sunday"

Blessed balm.

4. Cello Octet Amsterdam- "8"

Circular strings.

5. Bree Runway- “Hot Hot”

Sizzling.

6. Tierra Whack- "Link"

Connected.

7. Rubén Blades and the Roberto Delgado Orchestra- "Paula C."

Swing-infused salsa.

8. Sons of Kemet with Kojey Radical- “Hustle”

Show you something.

9. Sonder featuring Jorja Smith- “Nobody But You”

Quiet storm.

10. Bill MacKay and Nathan Bowles- "Truth"

Gimme some.

Top Ten Movies (viewed for the first time in April, in lieu of live music)

1. Journal d'un curé de campagne/Diary of a Country Priest (1951)

Tristesse existentielle.

2. Captain Salvation (1927)

Gospel ship.

3. Agnes of God (1985)

Montréal miracle denied.

4. Bianco, rosso e…/Red, White and... (1972)

Sophia Loren plays an emancipated nun.

5. Imitation of Life (1959)

Annie isn’t okay.

6. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

Que sera, sera.

7. Foreign Correspondent (1940)

Let’s go to war!

8. King of Jazz (1930)

My review.

9. Castle in the Air (1952)

Cheerio.

10. Honeysuckle Rose (1980)

Righteous music. Wretched movie.

March’s recap and links to previous monthly surveys are here.

William Brownlee

April 9, 2021

Album Review: Max Richter- Voices 2

William Brownlee

April 9, 2021

Original image of a portion of Jose Vela Zanetti’s mural at the United Nations by There Stands the Glass.

I’m a Prius-driving, The New York Times-subscribing liberation theologist. Even so, I detest getting preached at by sanctimonious do-gooders. That’s why Max Richter’s Voices, an ambitious 2020 album dedicated to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, repels me. Voices 2 rectifies the heavy-handed blunder with predominantly instrumental pieces based on the same theme. As a committed fan of the British composer, I’m swayed by the subtler versions of the purposeful music on selections like "Prelude 2".

William Brownlee

April 7, 2021

Album Review: Signum Saxophone Quartet- Echoes

William Brownlee

April 7, 2021

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

World Saxophone Quartet was a favorite among critics for publications like The Village Voice when I first committed to becoming conversant in improvised music. In the pre-internet era, terrestrial jazz radio was almost as stiflingly conservative as it is today. I was forced to imagine the sounds made by the collective of Hamiet Bluiett, Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake and David Murray.

While my guesswork was entirely illogical, I was surprised at the sparseness of the music when I finally heard a World Saxophone Quartet recording. The lush sound of Echoes, the Signum Saxophone Quartet album released by Deutsche Grammophon in January, is more in keeping with what I’d expected.

Cellist Hila Karni joins the quartet on a breathtaking arrangement of Max Richter’s popular “On the Nature of Daylight” and Paul Hindemith’s melancholy “Trauermusik: IV. Choral.” A serene cover of Joep Beving’s “Ab Ovo” further validates Signum’s overt crossover bid. The voice of Grace Davidson fills out an interpretation of Gabriel Faure’s “Pie Jesu.”

Signum’s repertoire spans centuries. Echoes opens with John Dowland’s luminous “Lachrimae Antiquae” (1604) and closes with Guillermo Lago’s haunting “Ciudades: Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)” (2011), the only piece specifically written for a saxophone quartet.

In spite of their different orientations, Signum and World Saxophone Quartet aren’t terribly dissimilar. A recent performance of selections from Echoes indicates the four Europeans are capable of brief bursts of freewheeling swing.

Having suffered through a time of comparative deprivation, I’m immensely grateful to live in an era in which the universe of recorded music that includes dozens of saxophone quartets is accessible with an internet connection. In 2021, limiting oneself to familiar sounds is a willful act of self-harm.

William Brownlee

October 15, 2020

Jon Gibson, 1940-2020

William Brownlee

October 15, 2020

I had only a passing familiarity with Jon Gibson’s name when he died this week. In its obituary of Gibson, Pitchfork notes he “performed in the premieres of Terry Riley’s In C in 1964 and Steve Reich’s Drumming in the early 1970s... Gibson was also a founding member of the Philip Glass Ensemble.” Are you kidding me! Gibson was the Zelig of American minimalism.

I’m confident I was on the cusp of catching up with Gibson. I traveled to outsider music festivals in 2018 and 2019. And I heard Max Richter and the American Contemporary Music Ensemble in Austin last year. Three Bang on a Can Marathons and viewings of Glass’ “Akhnaten” and "Einstein on the Beach" expanded my ears even further in recent months.

The enlightening experiences primed me for Gibson’s Songs & Melodies, 1973-77. Although it was released in February, I only investigated the compilation upon receiving news of Gibson’s death.

Each of the seven compositions on the 80-minute reissue is more transparently emotional than the works of Reich and Glass. The varying instrumentation and textures are made congruent by Gibson’s minimalism-meets-New Age treatments. The particularly expressive "Melody IV" allows me to properly grieve the loss of the important artist.