Neave Trio — Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: 5 Negro Melodies for Piano Trio: 1. Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
Kathy Wittman
I had the distinct pleasure of producing the Neave Trio's "American Mosaics" program here in GBH's Fraser Performance Studio on June 17th, and to prepare, I made myself a playlist that started with this recording of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's "5 Negro Melodies for Piano Trio." And then I kept starting it over. It became an anchor for everything I did this month. This recording is excellent, but also, make sure you stay tuned for the videos from our studio! It was a brilliant show.
Taylor Swift — Death by a Thousand Cuts
Julia Marcus
Have you ever heard of an artist named Taylor Swift? No worries if not, she's pretty underground. I recently did a deep dive through her discography in chronological order just to learn what she's about. It turns out she's got A LOT of music, and a lot of music I had never heard before! This song in particular is not new, but it is new to me, and I love it.
Center City Brass Quintet, Jack Sutte — Oskar Böhme: Sextet for Brass: I. Adagio ma non tanto
Brian McCreath
I've known this piece for decades, but after recommending it to a friend recently, I started re-listening to it, and... I can't stop. I've been surveying all the recordings I already knew and found more I hadn't known before. Something about this piece makes it absolutely addictive to me (and that goes for the other three movements, too...) Oskar Böhme is, it must be said, an obscure composer, historically speaking. He was a German trumpeter who moved to Imperial Russia in the late 1800s and, like countless others, was eventually swept up into the darker history of the Soviet Union. But his Sextet is a reminder that even obscure composers are fully capable of creating imaginative, beautiful, and even thrilling music that deserves to be heard as much as that of music by their more iconic colleagues.
Uppity — Catch 22
Ailin Thomas
The first single from G'Ra Asim's Uppity is a bop. The bass, drums, vocals, and wordplay are all so fun. It gives early 2000s boy band in the best way. I catch myself humming the chorus around the house, so it may very well get stuck in your head.
Sara Evans — A Real Fine Place to Start
Jamie Kmak
My mom went to see a Sara Evans concert a month or two ago, which put this song back on my radar. Country music always reminds me of my childhood home and middle school days since my mom and sister listened to it all the time while I was growing up, and this is exactly the kind of summer-y, driving-with-the-windows-down vibe I’ve been looking for this month.
James Taylor — Carolina in my Mind
Kendall Todd
I don’t think I have to tell you how great this song is. Instead, I’ll just say that I’ve been revisiting some of the albums I own on vinyl, and man, this song is great. The whole album is an “instant replay” for me: as soon as it’s over, I’ll flip the record and start it from the top again.
Bang On a Can All-Stars — Brian Eno: 2/2
William Peacock
Lately, I can't stop listening to Brian Eno. The man has had a hell of a career, ranging from an androgynous pop-star persona in the 70s, to an ambient pioneer in the 80s, generative music pioneer and composer for Microsoft's Windows 95 sound in the 90s, and that's before we even reach this century.
What most people know Brian Eno for is Music for Airports, and that's what's in my ears these days, too. But not the Music for Airports you know; this is Bang On a Can's faithful live rendition of it, transcribed for ensemble by four members of the group (one for each movement).
My favorite movement of the work is the last — it feels serenely meditative, as if you are suspended infinitely in time by celestial forces that seemingly always were and will continue to be afterwards. It wouldn't be Brian Eno if there wasn't some electronic element, which you can hear in amplified instruments and the occasional synth, but in this live rendition, there is also a deeply grounding acoustic presence, via strings, brass, woodwinds, and glassy vibraphone that seem to cover the gap between divine sublimation and human transcendence. It is out of this world and I couldn't recommend it enough.
Melissa Carper — Ain't A Day Goes By
Katie Ladrigan
Summer evenings are all about long winding walks, whether in solitude or in the company of friends, enjoying the evening cool-down and hazy sunsets. A recent occurrence had great musical conversation, and thus I was introduced to Melissa Carper. This was the recommended piece of music to get into her work, and it hits perfectly with this time of year. Have an evening stroll on me, preferably close to some water, with Melissa crooning in your ear.
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Listen to this month's picks below, or enjoy the full Instant Replay playlist here.