Word: solos
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...tragedy of the solo pianist: all alone with no one to play with. No orchestras, no choruses. When they are given the chance to perform with others, they can be trampled—as “accompanists,” they are roped into playing second-rate orchestral reductions with diva violinists and sopranos. Fortunately, the Harvard Piano Society (HPS), founded in 2000, addresses this dilemma. One of Harvard’s most inclusive music groups, it was originally created as a kind of meeting place for piano-types. Of course, the HPS is more than a musical dating...
...enthusiasm for vigorous activity isn't rare among Japanese, who have the longest life spans in the world. Seniors there regularly break records. In 2002, Tamae Watanabe became the oldest woman to scale Everest, at 63, and 71-year-old Minoru Saito recently became the oldest person to sail solo around the world without stopping. "I thought my life after 70 was finished," says Saito, as weathered as a tugboat and as trim as a battleship. "But I could still keep doing things my way, with complete freedom." During his 244-day voyage, the modern-day Ulysses scared...
...melody is one five-note phrase that gives the piece its own personal flavor. The piece is kept together, not by the excellent rhythm section of Ahmed Abdul-Malik on bass and Shadow Wilson on drums, but the interplay between Monk and Coltrane, particularly during the first solo section...
Monk’s closest musical relative is not an obvious candidate like Bud Powell, Charlie Parker, or even Louis Armstrong, but rather J.S. Bach. Listen to the audience’s applause after Monk’s solo on “Nutty.” Simultaneously spellbound, confused, and awed by Monk’s avant-baroque jam, they hardly know what to do with themselves. The brilliant complexity of opener “Monk’s Mood,” displaying the great pianist at his best, truly is bewildering. It is enigmatic yet familiar, warm...
...this talk about Monk’s brilliance shining through during his performances overshadows one fact: that John Coltrane’s performance with Monk rivals that of his first classic solo album, “Blue Train,” released the same year. This is not the cathartic, redemptive Coltrane of “A Love Supreme;” Coltrane, who obviously is inspired by the beauty of Monk’s music, acts as an extension of Monk. He, unlike many bebop players of that time, “gets” Monk, and his solos...