Best of 2021: New/Experimental Recordings
Best New/Experimental Recordings Trio IX and Exercises Christian Wolff Trio Accanto Nicholas Hodges, piano; Marcus Weiss, saxophone; Christian Dierstein, percussion Wergo CD Three String Quartets Christian Wolff Quatuor Bozzini New…
Best of 2021: Recording of the Year
Number Pieces John Cage Apartment House Another Timbre 4XCD boxed set John Cage’s Number Pieces, late compositions (from 1987-1992) are given two designations, a number indicating the size of…
Best of 2021: Holiday Music
Hodie Christus Natus Est Boston Camerata, Anne Azéma Harmonia Mundi CD A trio of female singers accompanied by hurdy gurdy, harp, rebec, and bells present a diverse program of…
Best of 2021: Electronic
Supermundane John Thayer Self-released Far In Helado Negro 4AD Weightless (10 hour version) Signals Marconi Union Just Music Changing Landscapes (Isle of Eigg) Arthur King AKP…
Best of 2021: Three Recordings Featuring Matthew Shipp (CD Review)
Codebreaker Matthew Shipp TAO Forms CD Village Mothership Whit Dickey, drums; William Parker, bass Matthew Shipp, piano; TAO Forms CD Procedural Language CD Live at SESC Blu-ray DVD Ivo Perelman,…
Best of 2021: John and Alice Coltrane reissues
Best of 2021: A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle and Alice Coltrane’s Kirtan: Turiya Sings Fifty-six years after its release, John Coltrane’s recording of his suite A Love Supreme has been certified platinum by…
Best of 2021 – Burned into the Orange by Peter Gilbert (CD Review)
Burned into the Orange Music of Peter Gilbert Arditti String Quartet; Iridium Quartet, Emmanuele Arciuli, piano; et al. New Focus Records CD/DL This is composer Peter Gilbert’s second recording…
Iron Orchid (CD Review)
Iron Orchid Ning Yu and David Bird New Focus Recordings Composer and electronic musician David Bird’s work Iron Orchid enlists pianist Ning Yu as a collaborator. Bird’s electronics often…
Best of 2021: Messiaen on Kairos (CD Review)
Sequenza 21 – Best of 2021 Olivier Messiaen Vingt regards sur l’enfant-Jésus Alfonso Gómez, piano Kairos CD In 1944, Olivier Messiaen wrote a recital length work (about 2…