I have always thought that John Mc Laughlin (the guitarist and composer and not the somewhat “right” political commentator) was of legendary status. I am especially keen on Mc Laughlin’s acoustic guitar work. His early 1980’s albums like Belo Horizonte and Music Spoken Here are great records. But his 2003 record Thieves and Poets contains the three movement title track […]
Thieves and Poets (John Mc Laughlin) Read More »
The concert for the release of the new CD Quintessence will be at 7:00 P.M. on Saturday, March 21 for the Jazz at St. Barney’s concert series. The new CD will be available for only $10.00 at this event only. Admission is $10.00 adults and $5.00 students. St Barnabas Lutheran Church, 15600 Old Rockford Road, Plymouth, MN Come out and
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The stories of unsung heroes in the music world seem endless. I recently ran across one more. Italian pianist Sergio Fiorentino (1927-1998) was a great classical pianist. His career started strong in the early 1950’s until a plane crash in 1954 disabled him for some time. By the late 1950’s he began to re-establish himself and made several recordings for
If I were stranded on a desert island today the music that would top my list currently for permanent listening would be Arthur Rubinstein’s album which includes Chopin’s four Ballades and four Scherzos and Abbey Simon’s “Ravel, Complete Music for Solo Piano.” I could spend months (if not years) content with just this music.
Desert Island Music Read More »
Continuing on the theme of the last post… Heinrich Neuhaus typifies the sort of musician I admire most. He faced adversity and disappointments with great resilience and tenacity. In my opinion, the most important mission is to be productive despite setbacks because, in the end, effort and intention count for everything. I very much like the modest self appraisal Heinrich
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Heinrich Neuhaus (1888-1964) is a legendary pianist and pedagogue in Russia. Living under Stalin in many ways limited his reputation in the West. He even spent time in prison during World War Two for the crime of having a Germanic last name even though he was a born Russian citizen. The documentary called “Master Heinrich” tells his story. His son
Heinrich and Stanislav Neuhaus Read More »