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The Charles Ives Songs Series 2: Theo Bleckmann and Kneebody / Naxos, Vol. 1
by C. Michael Bailey
Fortunate for the recently completed cycle of songs by Charles Ives on Naxos' Charles Ives: Songs, Vol. 1 are Theo Bleckmann's re-imaginings of 12 of Ives' better known vocal compositions, Twelve Songs by Charles Ives. These two releases provide stark contrast between traditional and progressive performances of not only Ives, but of “art songs" in general. They also illuminate the contrast between the art and the artist, that creative conflict beginning with Paganini and Liszt and continuing through to today. ...
Continue ReadingTheo Bleckmann - Fumio Yasuda: Berlin - Songs of Love and War, Peace and Exile
by AAJ Italy Staff
Theo Bleckmann e Fumio Yasuda sono artisti interessanti e poliedrici che si muovono in aree di confine difficilmente etichettabili, a cavallo tra diversi generi musicali. Più cameristica e contemporanea la provenienza del giapponese e downtown della scena jazz di New York quella di Bleckmann. In passato i due avevano già collaborato, in occasione di Las Vegas Rhapsody (uscito sempre per la Winter & Winter), lavoro assai diverso, arrangiato per orchestra da camera con buon riscontro da parte della critica. Questo ...
Continue ReadingTheo Bleckmann & Ben Monder: At Night
by Jerry D'Souza
Theo Bleckmann (voice and live electronic processing) and Ben Monder (guitar) have played together in several settings. This time they return as a duo, with Satoshi Takeishi (drums, percussion and laptop) making a presence on five tracks.
There is a fine sense of balance on the recording. Both Monder and Bleckmann have a quirky sense of humor which is transmitted to their music. This is seen in the way they set up the instrumentation and bring in a ...
Continue ReadingTheo Bleckmann and Ben Monder: At Night
by Phil DiPietro
The cover imagery depicts mesas viewed heavenward towards a threatening yet beckoning night sky. In the foreground, an empty highway envelops two empty stools for any brave two travelers on life's journey to perform an offering to the stars, to the universe, to all, to the night. If ever two musicians were up to the task, it's the flat-out astonishing virtuosi, vocalist Theo Bleckmann and guitarist Ben Monder.
Bleckmann possesses technique so colossal, yet so meticulous, he can seem otherworldly, ...
Continue ReadingTheo Bleckmann/Ben Monder: At Night
by Mark Corroto
Experiencing the music of vocalist Theo Bleckmann and guitarist Ben Monder isn't so much listening as it is swimming.
Take, for instance, their cover of John Lennon and Paul McCartney's “Norwegian Wood." The Beatles' guiltless romp through sexuality opens with a tidal wave of fuzzy, over-amped guitar and vocal feedback. Bleckman begins, “I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me..." singing the lyrics from the bowels of a submarine, and this one isn't ...
Continue ReadingJohn Hollenbeck: Joys & Desires
by AAJ Italy Staff
Il batterista John Hollenbeck sa certamente come svelare la magia della big band, come evocarne la fascinazione, come sussurrarne la storia senza assolutamente ripercorrerne i clichè. Il suo Joys & Desires si staglia sin dal primo brano come un lucido monolito che riflette la luce circostante e brilla per l’intelligenza compositiva, per l’eleganza degli arrangiamenti e soprattutto per i lussureggianti impasti strumentali, spesso anomali e originali rispetto ai percorsi che le formazioni allargate sono solite percorrere. In questo album, inciso ...
Continue ReadingFumio Yasuda and Theo Bleckmann: Fumio Yasuda and Theo Bleckmann: Las Vegas Rhapsody: The Night They Invented Champagne
by C. Michael Bailey
This whimsical sound trip to the heyday of Las Vegas celebrates the city's one hundredth anniversary. German-born and New York-based singer Theo Bleckmann and Japanese pianist/arranger/composer Fumio Yasuda unite with Bernd Ruf and the Kammerorchester Basel to transform carefully chosen selections from the American Songbook into a soundtrack for celebrating the rich decadence and unbridled hedonism of the “new Gomorrah" in all her splendor. These three musical forces come together at an aural tipple point that almost defies description as ...
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