John Shand Posts

June 7, 2018 / Album Reviews - Archive

PORTALIS  (Orenda) 7.5/10 As Orenda Records’ catalogue expands, so does both the scope of its music and the significance of the Los Angeles-based label. This, the debut album by bassist/composer Zack Teran, interweaves jazzy threads with streams of electronica, bursts of rock and more. Groove and drama are often uneasy bedfellows,…

June 5, 2018 / Theatre Reviews - Archive

107 Projects, May 23, until May 27 7/10 That each of us is wearing headphones as we enter the performance space makes a usually shared experience now oddly solitary. Synthesizer music swirls into our ears as we gaze at hanging light bulbs swathed in lacy tablecloths, fiery abstract images on…

June 3, 2018 / Theatre Reviews - Archive

 Hayes Theatre, May 22, until June 30 9/10 It was hatched at night, about three weeks into rehearsals. Although Stephen Sondheim, to his frustration, had been employed to write only the lyrics, not the music, this night he sat at the piano and mashed up fragments of composer Jule Styne’s…