Basically, the point of this blog is to get the word out about music we love, and you've probably never heard before. Our goal is to cover as many genres as possible, and to discover new stuff ourselves. So if you have any artists you think we should know about, leave a comment!
One of the grad students at USF is playing this in our February concert, and I'm in the small chamber orchestra that will be accompanying her. This is the 3rd movement of the piece, and while at first I was pretty intimidated by it, I've come to love it. It's so crazily frantic, "darkly passionate", and extremely challenging (even the accompaniment part). There are so many fantastic moments in it, my fav being 2:48. This recording feels pretty slow, so just imagine it much faster.
My friends! It's been a while since this blog has been updated and for that, I apologize. The good news is that a friend of mine gave me about 5 GB of new music, so I now have plenty to share with you. Recently, I've been listening to a lot of jazz and I have discovered this fantastic vocal jazz artist named Renee Olstead. She sings in a rather low, sultry voice giving popular songs a unique twist and making them her own. I have her self-titled album and all the songs on there are great. My two favorites are definitely "Summertime" and "Is You or Ain't You My Baby."
With a career that has spanned nearly three decades, Maná has become a much-loved and internationally renowned band from Mexico. I haven't heard all of their albums, but I'm quite fond of "Amar es Combatir" (To Love is to Fight). I like the fact that even though they play rock music, it's pretty calming and it has a cool, distinct Latin flavor. Check out the song Manda una Señal (Send a Signal)on youtube and you can listen to all of the tracks on the album here. I've listened to the song "Relax" like 20 times today; I'm pretty obsessed, haha.
Hailing from Croatia, Maksim Mrvica is a musician that can appeal to a very broad audience. Not only is he a gifted classical pianist, but he also incorporates synthesizers and techno beats to the pieces he plays. Apparently there are strobe lights flashing and video screens to accompany his music during concerts. I want to go to a concert like that!! His music videos are pretty sweet too. Check out the New World Concerto, Nostradamus, and his signature piece Flight of the Bumblebee. I think you can also download a few of his pieces at his website.
Rachel Podger's performance of the Bach Sonatas & Partitas is one of my favorite out there. Her musicality and technique is extremely impressive. Paired with the crisp, clear audio quality, it makes for an exquisitely beautiful recording.