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Amit Kavthekar
Sharon Isbin: Live in Aspen

by Scott Gudell
Ground Zero for guitarist Sharon Isbin has long been anchored in the world of western classical music. Her training was extensive and, beginning in the mid-1970s, she began winning several prestigious awards. Although she began releasing albums in the late 1970s, it took until just before the turn of the century--1999--before she secured her first Grammy nomination. She did not win the top honor that year but it is an amazing accomplishment to be nominated in and of itself. But ...
Continue ReadingAl Di Meola: Twentyfour

by Geannine Reid
Al Di Meola'sTwentyfour is a textured blend of acoustic and electric guitar set against a diverse palette of orchestral colors. Initially conceived as an acoustic project during the pandemic, the album evolved to include contributions from woodwinds, brass, percussion, keyboards, and a chamber orchestra. Di Meola, a New Jersey native and Berklee School of Music graduate, performs on guitar and multiple other instruments. The album's highlights include Ava's Dance in the Moonlight," where lush orchestration complements Di Meola's ...
Continue ReadingClub d'Elf: You Never Know

by Chris M. Slawecki
You Never Know is the Club d'Elf studio album that captures the whirling, overlapping orbits of acoustic, electric and exotic sounds of the floating improvisational collective, which has recorded and performed together for more than two decades, with crisp studio clarity. But more importantly, You Never Know celebrates light born from darkness. Bassist and bandleader Mike Rivard, the sole constant in the collective's 24-year run, suffered a near-death experience from a pulmonary embolism which struck him while he ...
Continue ReadingClub D'Elf: You Never Know

by Chris May
Near-death experiences can reboot the mind, separating the important from the trivial. It seems to have worked like that for bassist and composer Mike Rivard, founder and leader of Boston's world-dub-jazz band Club D'Elf. A few years back, Rivard was nearly felled by a pulmonary embolism while seeking spiritual insight in the Amazonian rain forest. A long, dark period of depression followed, before Rivard emerged recharged into the light, having been sustained in large part by gnawa, the Moroccan trance ...
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