John Shand | Music & Other Spheres Posts

August 13, 2014 / Album Reviews - Archive

9 Dead Alive (Rubyworks)  Rodrigo and Gabriela are back to just using two acoustic guitars. They have sought to extend their palette by compositional ideas, instead, the nine pieces being homages to assorted pioneers, geniuses and philanthropists. The Soundmaker is for Antonio de Torres Jurado, the nineteenth-century Spaniard who reinvented…

August 6, 2014 / Album Reviews - Archive

The Phoenix And The Turtle (Les Cousins/Planet) Beverly Martyn’s first album in 14 years is often so achingly raw it is like being given a tool for excavating her soul. The recording quality makes it seem that she is seated right beside you, wishing, lamenting and confessing in your ear.…

August 1, 2014 / Concert Reviews - Archive

Concert Hall, June 10 Chick Corea and Gary Burton have been playing together for 43 years. Other jazz musicians may have clocked up similar feats of collaborative longevity in group contexts, but no one holds a candle to them in a duo, the most intimate of improvising relationships. This rapport…