As the year and the decade are winding down, it is hard to avoid thinking about the time that has passed. In this day and age, when events swirl around and unpleasantries […]
2019 in Review: Classical Music
Review: A Cinematic Pressure Cooker Boils Over in Uncut Gems
Every once in a while—and it isn’t very often, I assure you—I ask a very simple favor of anyone who takes the time to read what I have to write on a […]
Christmas Was a Blooming Rose at Two Classical Brass Concerts
The holiday concerts presented by Music of the Baroque and Chicago Philharmonic had a few things in common. Both performances were a pleasure to attend. They both featured brass instruments. Both […]
Review: Sub Urban Impresses at Schubas
Dealing with viral fame at just 19 years old is no easy task. For Sub Urban, however, it seems like a breeze. The singer-songwriter and producer, known for his hit single “Cradles,” […]
Review: Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Rendered the Brandenburgs Well
In the latest installment of what’s become an annual Yuletide tradition, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center gave a wonderful performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s six Brandenburg Concertos before a smaller […]
Preview: White Reaper Will Bring Massive Riffs and Lotsa Love to the Metro
In 2017, White Reaper released an album proclaiming them as “The World’s Best American Band,” which was hilariously tongue in cheek coming from a band that is actually incredibly modest in interviews […]
Review: Mount Eerie and Julie Doiron Return to Lost Wisdom and Share it with Thalia Hall
There was an eleven year gap between Julie Doiron and Phil Elverum (Mount Eerie) Lost Wisdom albums. A whole mess of love, loss, births, and revivals have happened in the time span, […]
Preview: Live the Wyldlife at Liar’s Club This Saturday
The New York city scene regained dash of its danger in the early aughts during that era’s resurgence of rawk, but as the spotlight of fame softened those rough edges, the sound […]
Review: Clint Eastwood’s Style (and Politics) Put the Story of Richard Jewell Into Perspective
Like many of the films Clint Eastwood has directed in the last 10 years or so—since about Gran Torino on—his latest, Richard Jewell, is an expertly made movie with a subtext that […]
Review: Chicago Philharmonic and Marcus Roberts Gift-Wrap Gershwin
My wife is off the hook this holiday season. The Chicago Philharmonic’s presentation of George Gershwin’s Concerto in F, featuring great jazz pianist Marcus Roberts and his trio, is all the gift I […]
Review: Mercury Theater’s Nat King Cole Christmas Concert a Smooth Ride Down Memory Lane
An Unforgettable Nat King Cole Christmas is the charming tribute concert playing through Sunday, December 15, at the Mercury’s Venus Cabaret Theater in Lakeview. It stars Evan Tyrone Martin as the crossover […]
Review: Grossman Ensemble Were Wonderful Friday Night
The Grossman Ensemble opened its second season on Friday night with a delightful program of world premiers conducted by Michael Lewanski at the Logan Center of Performing Arts in Hyde Park. This […]
