This afternoon we went to see the famous viol player Jordi Savall play his 300-year-old, 7-string bass viol at Durham’s Baldwin Auditorium. Savall is the world’s most accomplished viol player of our age. Before him, these instruments and their music had been all but forgotten. Since 1965, when Savall discovered the viola da gamba, he […]

This year, I spent a lot of time listening to Ambrose Akinmusire’s album The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier to Paint. Gorgeous album. In this live performance the quintet plays some songs from that album, and some other songs. Relax. Enjoy.  

This one’s a little bit out there … fun, harmolodic interpretations of some Thelonius Monk classics. Happy Friday! Harmolodic Monk – at Why Not Room, NYC – Oct 5 2014 Matt Lavelle – alto clarinet, trumpet, flugelhorn John Pietaro – vibraphone, frame drum, percussion    

All About that Bass …. Meghan Trainor Cover Kate Davis – vocals and upright bass Dave Tedeschi – drums Scott Bradlee – piano [Update]Check out Kate’s amazing version of Just One Of Those Things

Angélique Kpasseloko Hinto Hounsinou Kandjo Manta Zogbin Kidjo – or Angélique Kidjo – is one Africa’s greatest voices and my favorite singer. Last night we had the great fortune to experience her and her band live at Durham’s Hayti Heritage Center. Plus … a guest appearance of none other than Branford Marsalis. Yes, that Branford Marsalis. […]

Richard Barrett – Darmstadtium – Acoustic Guitar (2012) Hoping to warm up a frigid Friday morning with some virtuoso acoustic jazz guitar. Enjoy, and stay warm.

On this Day Of The Lord 11/12/13, I present to you, dear reader Bohemian Gravity – an a Capella explanation of string theory to the tune of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody by Tim Blais: Notice the Einstein sock puppet at 2:39 And yes, I know that to most of the world it is in fact 12.11.13

I have always loved the classical piano, perhaps because Beethoven’s Piano Concertos and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition were my introduction to classical music. Now that both my kids play strings instruments, chamber music has become more of a focus for our classical music enjoyment. However when I saw a few weeks ago, that Kirill […]

Happy Friday :) CARAVAN PALACE at the Karlstor Bahnhof Heidelberg Would love to see these guys live one day …

Last night, we went out to a strings concert by the Mallarme Chamber Players with the fantastic violinist Jennifer Curtis and … Dex Romweber (lead guitarist of the Flat Duo Jets). A bit like the Ciompi Quartett, this was another concert that broke down musical barriers and tied a variety of musical traditions together. Complex […]

Yesterday, the entire family plus my dad went out to a nice, classical concert with Duke’s Ciompi Quartett at the newly renovated Baldwin Auditorium. The featured guests of the evening were the Krüger Brothers, a folk trio from Switzerland, based in North Carolina, that plays bluegrass and roots music. So the concert started out with […]

Is mayonnaise an instrument?? Oh barnacles …

Here is another fun Jazz tune to enjoy on this Friday (or whenever you like) Dave Holland Quintet – Vicissitudes – recorded in 2007

McCoy Tyner Trio with guests (Frisell, Bartz) – Stuttgart, Germany, 2009-07-24 Enjoy!