Music Favorites 2023

Music Favorites 2023 

 

BEST SELLERS 

 

Eva Cassidy, I CAN ONLY BE ME – Eva’s gorgeous vocals are paired w/ the London Symphony Orchestra. DC still loves Eva. 

 

Paul Simon, SEVEN PSALMS – A beautiful, seven-movement work on “mortality and belief”  

 

Rhiannon Giddens, YOU’RE THE ONE – Rhiannon Giddens in peak creative flow 

 

TRIBUTES  

 

I AM A PILGRIM: DOC WATSON AT 100 – A fantastic tribute compilation, my favorite of the year 

 

James Brandon Lewis & Red Lily Quintet, FOR MAHALIA, WITH LOVE – Tenor sax/cornet/cello/bass/drums honor Mahalia 

 

MORE THAN A WHISPER: Celebrating the Music of Nanci Griffith – Artists pay tribute to the singer/songwriter 

 

Cat Power, SINGS DYLAN: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert – A song-by-song tribute to that iconic acoustic/electric night  

 

Taj Mahal, SAVOY – Taj Mahal looks back at the swing-jazz era (and its most famous ballroom) 

 

Dolly Parton, ROCKSTAR – Ms. Parton collaborates on 21 rock classics with a crew of classic rock and pop icons 

 

ONCE MORE: Jenni Muldaur & Teddy Thompson Sing the Great Country Duets – Honor three iconic duets of the 60s/70s 

 

FOLKIES  

 

Lonnie Holley, OH ME OH MY – Stories & and pensive philosophizing, backed by his meditative electric keyboards  

 

Rufus Wainwright, FOLKOCRACY – A return to his family’s folk roots w/ many guest vocalists  

 

Iris DeMent, WORKIN’ ON A WORLD – Her first album since The Trackless Woods 

 

Celtic Thunder, LIVE IN CONCERT 1978–2018 – A long-time fixture in the DC-Baltimore Celtic music scene 

 

POP 

 

Boygenius, THE RECORD – The collective of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers & Lucy Dacus  

 

Allison Russell, THE RETURNER – New songs, cathartic and upbeat w/ an all-women band 

 

Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, WEATHERVANES – A rocking hour of new songs 

 

Sunny War, ANARCHIST GOSPEL – Singer/songwriter with traces Tracy Chapman and Valerie June 

 

Jenny Lewis, JOY’ALL – New infectious pop 

 

Natalie Merchant, KEEP YOUR COURAGE – New tunes w/ orchestrations & horn arrangements  

 

Mitski, THE LAND IS INHOSPITABLE AND SO ARE WE – A “cinematic” album w/ choir & orchestra 

 

Lana Del Rey, DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE’S A TUNNEL UNDER OCEAN BLVD – A true songwriting original 

 

Ruichi Sakamoto, 12 – His last piano meditations 

 

Taylor Swift, SPEAK NOW (TAYLOR’S VERSION) and 1989 (TAYLOR’S VERSION) – Reclaiming her copyrights! 

 

Rolling Stones, HACKNEY DIAMONDS – Mick and Keith reconvene after the death of Charlie Watts… 

 

Van Morrison, MOVING ON SKIFFLE – Skiffle: the British acoustic version of blues, rockabilly, R & B 

 

HISTORIC BOX SETS 

 

PLAYING FOR THE MAN AT THE DOOR: Field Recordings from the Collection of Mack McCormick 1958 – 1971 – A treasure trove, curated and annotated by Smithsonian Folkways  

 

WRITTEN IN THEIR SOULS: THE STAX SONGWRITER DEMOS – 140 previously unreleased recordings 

 

Joni Mitchell, ARCHIVES VOL 3: The Asylum Years (1972 – 1975) – A creative and transformational period  

 

JAZZ  

 

Historical Jazz 

 

EVENING AT THE VILLAGE GATE: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy – Pivotal, never-before-released, from August, 1961 

 

Sonny Stitt, BOPPIN’ IN BALTIMORE: Live at the Left Bank – November 11, 1973, from the Left Bank Jazz Society 

 

Geri Allen & Kurt Rosenwinkel, A LOVESOME THING: Live at the Philharmonie Paris 2012 – Piano & guitar duets 

 

Shirley Scott, QUEEN TALK: LIVE AT THE LEFT BANK – “Queen” of the Hammond B3 w/ tenor sax & drums 

 

Ahmad Jamal, EMERALD CITY NIGHTS: Live at the Penthouse 1966 – 1968 – The third installment of a historic series 

 

Wes Montgomery & Wynton Kelly Trio, MAXIMUM SWING: The Unissued 1965 Half Note Recordings – Guitar pioneer 

 

Nina Simone, YOU’VE GOT TO LEARN: Newport 1966 – A never-before-released set from Newport. 

 

Instrumentals 

 

Kenny Baron, THE SOURCE – Solo piano  

 

John Scofield / Vicente Archer / Bill Stewart, UNCLE JOHN’S BAND – Guitar trio 

 

Kris Davis, DIATOM RIBBON LIVE AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD – Piano, guitar, turntable, bass and drums.  

 

Ambrose Akinmusire, OWL SONG – Trumpeter’s spare trio with guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Herlin Riley (12/15) 

 

Allison Miller, RIVERS IN OUR VEINS – Drummer ensemble w/ piano, clarinet, violin, trumpet, bass and tap dancers 

 

Aaron Diehl & the Knights, ZODIAC SUITE – Mary Lou Williams’s Zodiac Suite trio expanded with string ensemble 

 

Tyshawn Sorey Trio, CONTINUING & MESMERISM – W/ Aaron Diehl, piano; Mat Brewer,bass; Mr. Sorey, drums 

 

LONDON BREW – A group improvisatory project w/ the U.K.’s leading jazz players, inspired by Miles’s Bitches Brew 

 

Lakecia Benjamin, PHOENIX – Alto saxophonist and composer Lakecia Benjamin’s second album. 

 

Shakti, THIS MOMENT – John McLaughlin & Zakir Hussain reunite  

 

Vocals 

 

Cécile McLorin Salvant, MÉLUSINE – Singing in French, Occitan, English, Kreyòle on a French folk myth 

 

Gretchen Parlato & Lionel Loueke, LEAN IN – Vocalist & guitarist  

 

Fred Hersch and Esperanza Spalding, ALIVE AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD – Piano & vocal duets 

 

Jo Lawry, ACROBATS – Vocalist w/ bassist Linda May Hahn Oh and drummer Allison Miller 

 

Rickie Lee Jones, PIECES OF TREASURES – Takes on the Great American Songbook  

 

Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily, LOVE IN EXILE – Vocalist, pianist & bassist in contemplative moods 

 

CLASSICAL 

 

Orchestral / Strings 

 

GEORGE WALKER: FIVE SINFONIAS – Gianandrea Noseda and the National Symphony Orchestra  

 

Emerson String Quartet/Barbara Hannigan/Bernard Chamayou, INFINITE VOYAGE – The quartet’s final project  

 

CARL NIELSEN: SYMPHONIES – The Danish National Symph Orch & Fabio Luisi; Gramophone’s Record of the Year 

 

SCHUBERT: PIANO TRIOS – The late pianist Lars Vogt, violinist Christian Tetzlaff & cellist Tanya Tetzlaff, 

& 

BRAHMS VIOTTI DVOŘÁK: In Memoriam Lars Vogt – The Tetzlaffs with conductor Paavo Järvi & the DSO Berlin 

 

MOZART: STRING QUINTETS K 516 & 516 – Quatuor Ébène & Antoine Tamestit on viola—a Gramophone Winner 

 

STRAVINSKY: Violin Concerto & Chamber Works – Isabelle Faust w/ François-Xavier Roth’s ensemble, Les Siècles 

 

RACHMANINOV: SYMPHONIES NOS 2 & 3 – Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra  

 

BRUCH & PRICE – Violinist Randall Goosby w/ Yannick Nezet-Seguin & Philadelphia Orchestra, 

& 

FLORENCE PRICE – Chineke! Orchestra w/ pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason 

 

Danish String Quartet, PRISM V: Beethoven Webern Bach – The Quartet concludes its 5-volume series  

 

YSAŸE: SIX SONATAS FOR VIOLIN SOLO – Hilary Hahn brings insight and strength to these works. 

 

MOZART: VIOLIN SONATAS – Violinist Renaud Capuçon and pianist Kit Armstrong 

 

BEETHOVEN: STRING QUARTETS OPP. 74 & 130 – The Chiaroscuro Quartet w/ a middle and late period quartet 

 

Takács Quartet, DVOŘÁK & COLERIDGE-TAYLOR – AD’s String Quartet Op 106 & SC-T’s Fantasiestücke.  

 

LOCATELLI: IL VIRTUSO IL POETICA: Violin Concertos / Concerti Grossi – Isabelle Faust & Il Giardino Armonico 

 

Jean-Guihen Queyras & Alexandre Tharaud, MARIN MARAIS – Cello & piano renditions of viola da gamba works 

 

Keyboards 

 

Igor Levit, FANTASIA – Pianist’s double album of Bach, Liszt, Busoni, Berg  

 

Yunchan Lim, LIVE FROM THE CLIBURN: Liszt: Transcendental Etudes – An audacious take on Liszt’s epic 

 

J.S. BACH: NOTEBOOKS FOR ANNA MAGDALENA – Mahan Esfahani (clavich/harpsich) & Carolyn Sampson 

 

J.S. BACH: CLAVICHORD – András Schiff on a new interest: the clavichord 

 

Bruce Liu, WAVES: Music by Rameau, Ravel, Alkan – A program of French piano music spanning 200 years. 

 

Bertrand Chamayou, LETTER(S) TO ERIK SATIE – The connections b/w Satie, John Cage & James Tenney (12/1) 

 

Vocals 

 

MONTEVERDI: VESPRO DELLA BEATA VERGINE – Raphäel Pichon & Pygmalion, period-instrument ensemble & choir 

 

WILLIAM BYRD: MASS FOR FIVE VOICES – The Gesualdo Six, directed by Owain Park, honor the 400^th anniversary  

 

PUCCINI: TURANDOT  – W/ Sondra Radvanovsky (Turandot), Jonas Kauffman (Calaf); Antonio Pappano conducts 

 

Kronos Quartet & Ghost Train Orchestra, SONGS AND SYMPHONIQUES: The Music of Moondog – W/ guest vocalists 

 

SOUNDS AND SWEET AIRS: A Shakespeare Songbook – Soprano Carolyn Sampson, baritone Roderick Williams, and pianist Joseph Middleton 

 

DAVID LANG: THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL PASSION – A new recording of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner. 

 

KAIJA SAARIAHO: RECONNAISSANCE: Choral Music – A leading composer, who died this past June.  

 

INTERNATIONAL 

 

Ali Farka Touré, VOYAGEUR – The guitar pioneer of West Africa, synthesizing a range of regional influences 

 

Carminho, PORTUGUESA – Great fado 

 

Aga Khan Master Musicians, NOWRUZ – Virtuosi from China, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia & Uzbekistan. 

 

Bebel Gilberto, JOÃO – Bebel pays tribute to her father, the iconic singer and guitarist, João Gilberto 

 

MUSIC BOOKS (& RECORDINGS) 

 

Barbra Streisand, MY NAME IS BARBRA – The creative titan of concerts, albums, Broadway & movies 

& EVERGREENS: Celebrating Six Decades on Columbia - Ms. Streisand chooses a favorite from each of her albums 

 

Henry Threadgill, EASILY SLIP INTO ANOTHER WORLD – A jazz master as student, Vietnam vet & many collaborations 

& THE OTHER ONE – Saxophonist/composer’s 12-piece ensemble plays two new suites 

 

Lucinda Williams, DON’T TELL ANYBODY THE SECRETS I TOLD YOU – The long struggle to let her songs & voice shine  

& STORIES FROM A ROCK n ROLL HEART – All new songs 

 

Stephen Hough, ENOUGH: Scenes from Childhood – The pianist’s road from northern England to Julliard 

& MOMPOU: MÚSICA CALLADA – Hough plays the mysterious miniatures of Mompou 

& HOUGH / DUTILLEUX / RAVEL STRING QUARTETS – Hough wrote a new work for Takács Quartet  

 

BECOMING ELLA FITZGERALD by Judith Tick (12/5) 

& Ella Fitzgerald, LIVE AT MONTREUX 1969 – At the iconic Swiss jazz festival w/ the Tommy Flanagan Trio. 

 

BOB DYLAN: MIXING UP THE MEDICINE – Treasures from the Dylan Archives w/ expert essays  

& SHADOW KINGDOM – In July, 2021, Dylan (in a filmed special) radically re-imagined some of his songs (yet again). 

 

Jeff Tweedy, WORLD WITHIN A SONG – A sweet take on Tweedy’s favorite songs w/with hilarious family anecdotes. 

& Wilco, COUSIN – Tweedy and his gang are back 

 

BROADWAY 

 

INTO THE WOODS: 2022 Broadway Cast 

 

KIMBERLY AKIMBO: Original Broadway Cast - Tony for Best Musical & Best Actress, Victoria Clark 

 

 

András, Music Buyer / agoldinger@politics-prose.com