I have a real appreciation for classical music, but I’m not what you’d call a fan. Generally speaking, music’s either gotta be free or unpredictable like jazz or straightforward and powerful like rock or blues; classical music tends to not have either of those qualities. That can’t really be saidRead More

by Mark Saleski I don’t have the language to properly describe most pieces of classical music, so you will rarely (if ever) see me employ words such as “sonata,” “fortissimo,” and “canon.” Besides, with this week’s passing of Polish composer Henryk Górecki, many megabytes (and ink!) have been spilled withRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Cello virtuoso Erik Friedlander must have found a second wind at 50 years old because yesterday he released his second album of all new material as many months. The album, incidentally, is called Fifty: 50 Miniatures For Improvising Quintet and in Friedlander’s typically atypical fashion, itRead More

by Nick DeRiso Violinist Mark O’Connor continues one of the most fascinating, brilliantly original re-imaginings of classical music in our time with “Nos. 2 and 3.” He works not in the dusty pages of the familiar, but in a refreshing vernacular — and, along the way, imbues this OMAC RecordsRead More

NICK DERISO: There was a time, and not that long ago, when jazz was the music of this country’s youth — a way to rage against the machine, back when the machines were Desotos and Studebakers. So we have here a fairly novel idea: Using the staid conventions of classicalRead More

by Nick DeRiso Imagine a swinging Chopin, or Chick Corea with a case of classical gas. That’s the vision of James L. Mack — and it comes into focus on “Pride of Lions,” featuring a slew of stars from Tony Williams and Roy Hargrove, to Bobby Watson and Philip Bailey.Read More