Berklee Performance Center

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A jazz-piano master clears his own path

Iyer calling
When I got the pianist and composer Vijay Iyer on the phone to talk about his upcoming Celebrity Series double-bill with the Miguel Zenón Quartet, I meant to talk to him about his serene and absorbing new album Tirtha (ACT), with the tabla player Nitin Mitta and guitarist Prasanna.
By JON GARELICK | December 07, 2011

Interview: John Waters shows you how to survive the holidays

Have yourself a fairy little Christmas
John Waters earned his lifetime 99-percenter cred the moment he had Divine eat dog shit in Pink Flamingos .
By ROB TURBOVSKY | December 08, 2011

By | January 01, 0001

They Might Be Giants | Join Us

Idlewild/Rounder (2011)
I don't formally speak for all TMBG fans, but I think I speak for most TMBG fans when I say that every post-John Henry studio release has been greeted with crossed fingers and a mantra: "Pre-John Henry caliber."
By ZETH LUNDY | August 03, 2011

Live Review: Wayne Shorter Quartet at Berklee

Wayne Shorter Quartet performed at Berklee Performance Center on February 8
Sometimes the Wayne Shorter Quartet's willingness to be open to process doesn't leave much of an impression in terms of final product. That was the case Tuesday night at the Berklee Performance Center, where the band were playing their first Boston gig since an October 2009 New England Conservatory concert. The 90-minute set seemed to have been organized around new material. Everyone was working from music stands.
By JON GARELICK | February 10, 2011

By | January 01, 0001

Basic flamenco

A no-frills, thrilling evening
Gitanería , the flamenco show headed by Angelita Vargas and Jairo Barrull, doesn’t feature smoky duets, theatrical staging, or gorgeous gowns with 10-foot ruffly trains.
By MARCIA SIEGEL | November 29, 2010

Live: Chucho Valdés and the Afro Cuban Jazz Messengers

Berklee Performance Center, October 28
Chucho Valdés’s first performance in Boston in seven years was the grand tour of Afro-Cuban Jazz that his fans in the sold-out Berklee Performance Center could have hoped for — especially based on the retrospective quality of his latest CD, Chucho’s Steps.
By JON GARELICK | November 03, 2010

Cuban and Brazilian imports, plus homeboy Ran Blake

Groove again
Groove isn't everything, but it'll do.
By JON GARELICK | October 26, 2010

Chucho, Mike, and Lina

Havana, Chicago, and a dash of Toronto
Anyone who has doubts about the musical supremacy of Chucho Valdés — or wants an introduction to it — need only listen to "Danzón," the second track from the new Chucho's Steps.
By JON GARELICK | October 12, 2010

Fall Dance Preview: Kick up your heels!

Dance around town
Fall dance starts at the very beginning, which is a very good place to start, with Doug Elkins and Friends’ hilarious send-up of The Sound of Music , and continues straight through to the brink of the holiday season with an authentic Gypsy “Ole!” from a pair of flamenco cousins.
By DEBRA CASH | September 16, 2010

By | January 01, 0001

Mary Chapin Carpenter | The Age of Miracles

Zoë/Rounder (2010)
Mary Chapin Carpenter made her best albums when she was breaking from Nashville and testing what country radio would let her get away with.
By BRETT MILANO | June 16, 2010

By | January 01, 0001

Continental drift

Flying the friendly skies of Air
It's fitting that when I finally get Jean-Benoît Dunckel on the phone, he's just stepped off a plane.
By DANIEL BROCKMAN | March 16, 2010

By | January 01, 0001

Jew note

First Annual Boston Jewish Music Festival, plus the Klezmatics
Defining "Jewish" music is pretty much a fool's task — not much easier than defining jazz.
By JON GARELICK | February 25, 2010

By | January 01, 0001

52 ways to leave 2009

Get your New Year's Eve down to an Auld Lang science.
Your usual lackadaisical approach to New Year's Eve — just see what happens and go with the flow — is not going to cut it this year. Sure, the end of this decade may not have the same kind of new-millennium pressure riding on it as the last one, but the plunge into 2010 is a milestone nonetheless.
By SHAULA CLARK | December 30, 2009

Best in their field

An early 2010 harvest
The jazz scene continues to struggle — along with everyone else — through hard times.
By JON GARELICK | December 30, 2009

By | January 01, 0001

Rickie Lee Jones | Balm in Gilead

Fantasy (2009)
It’s astonishing to think that Rickie Lee Jones would turn out an album this organic and free of cynicism 30 years after her debut with the star-making, retro-hipster hit “Chuck E.’s in Love.” Particularly since her songwriting has always been so acutely self-aware.
By TED DROZDOWSKI | December 02, 2009

By | January 01, 0001