John Shand Posts

November 10, 2015 / Concert Reviews - Archive

Concert Hall, November 5 Despite all the evidence to the contrary the art of singing is not quite dead. Audra McDonald was the very embodiment of it, her work as finely nuanced and sophisticated as that of a great instrumentalist. So much was right: her apparent effortlessness, the absence of…

November 8, 2015 / Concert Reviews - Archive

Foundry 616, November 4 Cuba produces brilliant musicians at almost the same rate it does cigars, and it stands out among those countries – including as Turkey, Brazil, Ethiopia and South Africa – to enrich jazz as well as borrow from it. The Canadian soprano saxophonist/ flautist Jane Bunnett has…

November 7, 2015 / Album Reviews - Archive

Ba Power (Glitterbeat/Planet) Can music get more joyous than this? It seems to swirl from the speakers, wrap itself around you pick you up on the waves of rhythm. Not being a medical man I won’t claim it will cure depression, but it will do a pretty handy job on…