Ambrose Akinmusire, GRAMMYs, Yasmin Williams, Wilco, Steve Reich, Rhiannon Giddens News and More
New Ambrose Akinmusire album * Nonesuch at the GRAMMYs * Yasmin Williams x 'The Late Show' * Wilco, Steve Reich x 'Uncut' * Rhiannon Giddens x NPR * and more
New This Week
Ambrose Akinmusire: honey from a winter stone
Composer and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire's album honey from a winter stone, which he calls a "self-portrait," features improvisational vocalist Kokayi, pianist Sam Harris, Chiquitamagic on synthesizer, drummer Justin Brown, and the Mivos Quartet. "For arguably the most technically gifted trumpeter of his generation, a lot of Ambrose Akinmusire’s breakthroughs actually come from letting go of standards and structures," says the New York Times. "Lately Akinmusire has been making some of the most intimate, spellbinding music of his career."
News From the Nonesuch Journal
Tune in to GRAMMY Premiere Ceremony
Nonesuch recordings are nominated for seven GRAMMY Awards on Sunday. The telecast will raise funds to support wildfire relief efforts in LA. Tune in to the Premiere Ceremony on live.grammy.com from 3:30pm ET for The Black Keys, Ambrose Akinmusire, John Adams, Timo Andres, Caroline Shaw, and So Percussion's categories, and to see Rhiannon Giddens present.
Watch: Yasmin Williams Performs for The Late Show
Composer/guitarist Yasmin Williams performed "Nectar," from her new album, Acadia, for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert's Late Show Me Music video series. She begins a US tour in Ann Arbor tonight.
Wilco Covers Uncut
Wilco's Jeff Tweedy covers the latest issue of Uncut magazine, which features the deluxe edition of the band's 2004 album, A Ghost Is Born, out next week. "A Ghost Is Born may be the most pivotal album in Wilco's catalogue," Uncut says in a recent 10/10 review. "This sprawling box set chronicles their experiments as well as their upheavals, playing like a thick novel full of rich details and squirrelly characters ... This precarious version of the band managed to transform their troubles into beautifully harrowing music."
Steve Reich Box Set in Uncut
"Travelling across the entire sweep of this extraordinary box set, you're joyously reminded of Steve Reich's diversity and invention over 60 years, while all the time retaining an audible stamp that is instantly recognisable. It's a lovingly prepared and curated collection," reads Uncut's 10/10 Reissue of the Month review of the 27-disc box set Steve Reich Collected Works, out March 14. "A musical evolutionary leap housed in a discographic treat."
Listen: Rhiannon Giddens on NPR's Code Switch
Rhiannon Giddens was on NPR's Code Switch to talk with co-host B.A. Parker, who is learning to play the banjo and is looking to find community and reclaim an instrument rooted in Black culture.
Punch Brothers' The Phosphorescent Blues at 10
It was 10 years ago this week: Punch Brothers' The Phosphorescent Blues was released. The band joined forces with producer T Bone Burnett on the album, which, as Chris Thile puts it, asks: "How do we cultivate beautiful, three-dimensional experiences with our fellow man in this day and age?" The CBC calls it "triumphant." The Herald Scotland says it's "a quite masterly collection from a quintet of virtuosi [that] deserves to be filed next to the best work of The Beach Boys, Big Star and Richard Thompson. It's that good."
Rhiannon Giddens, Iron & Wine's "Forever Young" at 10
It was 10 years ago this week: Rhiannon Giddens and Iron & Wine's recording of Bob Dylan's "Forever Young," from the series finale of NBC's Parenthood, was released on Nonesuch. They performed the track, produced by Joe Henry, at the show's Luncheonette recording studio during the final episode.
The Magnetic Fields' Realism at 15
It was 15 years ago this week: The Magnetic Fields' Realism was released. With no synths, no drum kits, and every instrument unplugged, the pristine album is the flip-side to the brash noise-pop of the band's 2008 album Distortion. Singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt calls it "folk," but with its wide range of instrumentation and orchestrated arrangements, he says, "Realism is a more kaleidoscopic approach to a genre." The BBC calls it "absolutely prime Merritt."