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Maria Schneider Orchestra: Data Lords
by Jerome Wilson
Composer Maria Schneider has long been writing and speaking about the dangers of the omnipresent digital universe, intellectual property theft, gathering and manipulation of personal data by big tech companies, the unchecked proliferation of false and misleading material, and so on. Those concerns form the basis of her latest musical project, Data Lords, a 2 CD set examining the conflicting realities of the digital and real worlds. The two CDs are labeled “The Digital World" and “Our Natural ...
Continue ReadingMaria Schneider: Data Lords
by Doug Hall
Maria Schneider, jazz pianist, orchestral composer and 2019 NEA Jazz Master, has just released a new double-album, Data Lords (artistShare, 2020), which creates poignant musical imagery about our data-driven world. Schneider, who has been an active advocate for musicians' rights and copyright, has followed-on this impact, citing “big data" companies as manipulators of music, culture and privacy. This collection of uniquely and emotionally rendered original compositions addresses the conflicting relationships between the digital and natural worlds, featuring Schneider's orchestra of ...
Continue ReadingMaria Schneider Orchestra: Data Lords
by Karl Ackermann
The skillfully designed cover art tells part of the story; a leaf--half as nature intended--the remainder, a circuit board doppelganger. The pastoral soundscapes associated with the music of Grammy-winning composer/bandleader Maria Schneider belie her activist alter-ego. An outspoken critic of copyright protections, prejudicial revenue schemes and the abuses of “big data," Schneider has authored op-eds and testified before the US Congress. She ventures onto unfamiliar terrain, coalescing her passions on a masterwork double album, Data Lords. The two ...
Continue ReadingMichelle Lordi: Break Up With the Sound
by C. Michael Bailey
Vocalist Michelle Lordi's house burned down at the end of 2017. That is a bracing life event from which one may find oneself at a brutally curious fork in the road. Lordi's Break Up With the Sound makes it seem that she blazed through Kubler Ross's five stages of loss and got to work on something so new, it smelled of white-hot creation. Lordi's modus operandi has been addressing the Great American Songbook, as evidenced by her densely competent Dream ...
Continue ReadingDonny McCaslin Live at BIMHUIS, Amsterdam
by BIMHUIS
As the bandleader on David Bowie's final album Blackstar, saxophonist Donny McCaslin witnessed first-hand the musician's penchant for reinvention. McCaslin applied that mindset to his new album Blow, which combines his propulsive saxophone playing with vibrant electronica and bombastic alternative rock, and which contains influences of jazz as well as from the likes of Radiohead and Bon Iver. “Before working with Bowie, things like this didn't seem possible to me," McCaslin said about his new songs, were performed ...
Continue ReadingDonny McCaslin: Blow
by Roger Farbey
At first listen, Blow sounds more like a rock album than a jazz one. The catchy “What About The Body" could arguably be mistaken for one of King Crimson's more vituperative numbers featuring Adrian Belew. Ryan Dahle's emotionally-charged vocals are equally at the forefront of the explosive “Club Kidd." But the selection also includes three instrumental tracks too, such as the grungy, anthemic “Break The Bond," the polyrhythmic “Beast," and “Exactlyfourminutesofimprovisedmusic" (which speaks for itself) all underpinned by Tim Lefebvre's ...
Continue ReadingDonny McCaslin Group / Ensemble LPR: Symphonic Bowie at Central Park SummerStage
by Kurt Gottschalk
Donny McCaslin Group / Ensemble LPRCentral Park SummerStage Symphonic Bowie New York, NY June 9, 2018 New York City can't stop saying goodbye to David Bowie. And with good reason. The rock legend lived in Manhattan for more than 20 years and often spoke fondly of his adopted city. On June 9, another tribute was staged, this one at Central Park's SummerStage featuring Donny McCaslin, whose band backed Bowie on his final album, followed ...
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