Music
Jones calls out 'country' stars
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Country Music Hall of Famer George Jones isn't a big fan of where the genre has moved in recent years. (Updated: 11/03/09 6:17 PM )
Viva Vivaldi concert a veritable feast of vim, vigor and verve
Marylouise Nanna and Buffalo’s Ars Nova Musicians launched Viva Vivaldi XXXI with supreme style Sunday night in the new Buffalo Religious Arts Center, formerly St. Francis Xavier Church, in Black Rock. A full house turned out. (Updated: 11/02/09 6:44 AM )
Listening Post /Brief reviews of select releases
Folk (Updated: 11/01/09 6:45 AM )
Pop songstress Christina Courtin displays versatility at Tralf
The imprint that pop songstress Christina Courtin left on her hometown could be measured by the young group of admirers who attended her seated show Friday night in the Tralf. (Updated: 10/31/09 9:05 AM )
From power to grace, Bruns conjures spirituality, grandeur
Felix Mendelssohn gets credit for a fair number of things: He was one of the folks who more or less resurrected the music of Johann Sebastian Bach from the dustbin of history, but he also wrote a goodly number of piano scores and created the incidental music for Shakespeare’s play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” — including the famous “Wedding March,” a standard at countless nuptials. (Updated: 10/31/09 7:50 AM )
Valli, still going strong, looks for new outlets
Frankie Valli’s still got it going on with the Four Seasons. (Updated: 10/30/09 7:00 AM )
U2 tickets gone in a flash
BERLIN — Lucky U2 fans have found what they were looking for. (Updated: 10/29/09 7:11 AM )
Namesake quartet does Amberg proud
There isn’t much available evidence suggesting that the early 20th century Danish composer Johan Amberg wrote many scores. Still, one of the short pieces he did write was delightful enough to provide inspiration for the Amberg Quartet, the local ensemble that discovered this marvelous (albeit lightweight) suite and made it the starting point for their repertoire. (Updated: 10/28/09 7:13 AM )
Two nights in a rock’n’ roll fantasy
NEW YORK—The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony is generally one of the year’s swankiest, most exclusive affairs— marked by once-in-a-lifetime collaborations, stunning arguments and $1,500-a-plate dinners at the Waldorf-Astoria. (Updated: 10/27/09 7:36 AM )
Botti mixes music with showbiz
Chris Botti is a jazz trumpet player but, more importantly, he’s a showman. His sold-out show Saturday night in Kleinhans Music Hall probably ranked up there with the great vaudeville acts. (Updated: 10/25/09 7:32 AM )
Jones jazzes up autumn dreams
The superlative jazz pianist Mike Jones has deep roots in Western New York, but a few years back, he picked up stakes to go work and live in Las Vegas. Nowadays his visits here are infrequent, which makes them just that much more imperative that jazz piano fans in these environs catch him when they can. (Updated: 10/25/09 7:32 AM )
Listening Post : Ella Fitzgerald, Rod Stewart and more
Jazz (Updated: 10/25/09 4:06 PM )
Living inthe ABBA universe
It’s not easy becoming Bjorn Ulvaeus. ¶ When Mark Thomas visits UB’s Center for the Arts on Nov. 9, it will take him a solid hour to step into character as the lead singer of the Swedish band ABBA. Thomas, the force behind the group ABBA Mania, must don his blond wig, which duplicates Ulvaeus’ legendary bowl haircut. He has to apply chest hair, a nod to an era that valued that look. His speech has to change, too. He has to dump his thick Welsh accent and take on a thick Swedish accent. ¶ Finally, he has to get inside Ulvaeus’ mind. ¶ “It’s not just a physical thing,” Thomas says earnestly on the phone from Wales. “It’s getting yourself psyched up for the show as well. Even having spent two years writing the show and knowing just how well these songs are crafted, I almost feel like you’ve got this very precious resource that you don’t want to mess with, that you want to do your best by. You’re this custodian of the music and you have to do right by it.” (Updated: 10/25/09 7:27 AM )
U2 wraps up ‘360’ in a world that’s gone 180
Even while maintaining its status as one of the few musical acts that still can fill stadiums, U2 is struck by how quickly its world is changing— musically and politically. (Updated: 10/24/09 8:24 AM )
Richie Havens recalls Woodstock 40 years later
Like so many other people who grew up in the 1960s, my first glimpse of Richie Havens was in the Woodstock concert movie. (Updated: 10/23/09 9:43 AM )
