Aisle Be Seeing You

Not "just playing, but making things..." Vijay Iyer gets a MacArthur Grant

Pianist Vijay Iyer is on this year's list of MacArthur Fellows; rarified air, indeed. Howard Reich talked to Iyer regarding his award for the Chicago Tribune:

"'I'm really inspired by the composer-pianists of the last century, particularly (Duke) Ellington and (Thelonious) Monk and people in that lineage who aren't just playing, but they're making things,' says Iyer, speaking by phone from his home in New York and adding such names as piano innovators Cecil Taylor, McCoy Tyner and Bud Powell."

Read the full story.

If you live in Boston or Cambridge, you can see and hear Iyer with poet Robert Pinsky on March 14 at Sanders Theatre as part of the Celebrity Series of Boston's 75th Anniversary Season.

vijay-iyer.com

The 2013 MacArthur Fellows

Wayne Shorter: Jazz means 'I dare you'

Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter

"The six years I was with Miles, we never talked about music. We never had a rehearsal. Jazz shouldn’t have any mandates. Jazz is not supposed to be something that’s required to sound like jazz. For me, the word 'jazz' means, 'I dare you.'" —Wayne Shorter

Wayne Shorter makes his Celebrity Series debut as part of the Wayne Shorter 80th Birthday Celebration (which will also feature John Patitucci, Danilo Perez, Brian Blade, Dave Douglas, Joe Lovano, Terri Lyne Carrington, Esperanza Spalding, Geri Allen, Lawrence Fields, Linda Oh, and Joey Barron).

Tip of the cap to Jason Crane and Destinationout.

Jazz pianist Dave Brubeck dies at 91

 

Pioneering jazz composer and pianist Dave Brubeck has died of heart failure at the age of 91.

Brubeck was presented 11 times by Celebrity Series of Boston between 1971 and 1984, including appearances with his quartet and alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, with his son, Darius and baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan.

San Francisco Chronicle

Chicago Tribune

New York Daily News

BBC News

USA Today

Dave Brubeck Quartet playing In Your Own Sweet Wa (video)

Dave Brubeck Quartet playing These Foolish Things (video)

Dave Brubeck Quartet playing Take Five (video)

 

Chick Corea & Gary Burton talk about "Hot House" project (video)

Chick Corea and Gary Burton's "Hot House" comes to Celebrity Series and Symphony Hall this Sunday at 5pm.

Chick Corea and Gary Burton play Eleanor Rigby

Check them out in their Celebrity Series debut at Boston's Symphony Hall, Sunday, October 21. Tickets.

It’s a ‘Hot House’ with Chick Corea & Gary Burton Sunday

Check out Ed Symkus' feature from MetroWest Daily News highlighting Chick Corea and Gary Burton's performance with the Harlem String Quartet at Symphony Hall on Sunday:

It’s a ‘Hot House’ with Chick Corea and Gary Burton Sunday

 

 

Two more reviews of Vijay Iyer / Miguel Zenon performance

I have shared the Globe's review of the Celebrity Series' December 9 Vijay Iyer/Miguel Zenon concert on this blog, but I would be remiss if I didn't also share two reviews from other publications. JazzTimes Magazine and India New England both covered the concert and both reviews are worth a look:

JazzTimes

India New England

Iyer/Zenon concert reviewed by Globe's Steve Greenlee

Vijay Iyer during his Celebrity Series performance Friday night

Steve Greenlee reviewed the Celebrity Series of Boston's double bill of the Miguel Zenon Quartet and the Vijay Iyer Trio at Berklee Performance Center for The Boston Globe:

"Two of jazz’s most exciting and innovative artists - pianist Vijay Iyer and alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón - brought their groups to town Friday night for a 2 1/2-hour roof raiser of a show."

Read the complete review (login required)

Vijay Iyer's full-length interview with Boston Phoenix's Jon Garelick

Check out Jon Garelick's extensive interview with pianist Vijay Iyer in today's Boston Phoenix.

Iyer performs tomorrow night, December 9, at the Berklee Performance Center as part of a double-bill with saxophonist Miguel Zenon.

Recent Celebrity Series reviews ...

November has been a busy month here at Celebrity Series world headquarters. Below are just a few of the reviews for just a few of the performances this month ...

Angelika Kirchschlager and Jean-Yves Thibaudet at NEC's Jordan Hall:

Boston Globe

Boston Classical Review

Orion String Quartet with David Shifrin
(performance included Boston premiere of Marc Neikrug's Clarinet Quintet)

The Classical Review

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones at Sanders Theatre:

Harvard Crimson

Itzhak Perlman at Symphony Hall:

Boston Globe

Boston Classical Review