The banjo-folk music bastion has a remarkable lineage. Derived from African lutes called n’goni that were brought by slaves to the New World, the development of the banjo provides a fascinating insight into the birth of American music. Master n’goni player Cheick Hamala Diabate, together with celebrated bluegrass banjoist Sammy Shelor, multi-instrumentalist Danny Knicely, and […]
The banjo-folk music bastion has a remarkable lineage. Derived from African lutes called n’goni that were brought by slaves to the New World, the development of the banjo provides a fascinating insight into the birth of American music. Master n’goni player Cheick Hamala Diabate, together with celebrated bluegrass banjoist Sammy Shelor, multi-instrumentalist Danny Knicely, and […]
Sometime in late elementary school, you learn about the didgeridoo (occasionally spelled didjeridu). It’s a funky instrument played by half naked Aboriginal people in the Australian bush. It’s more than a thousand years old. It doesn’t actually sound all that great. Then, while attending a Phish show, you come across another didge. It’s pressed to […]
I first heard Stephen Steinbrink in a suburban basement, around 4am. The evening’s wild, drunken revelries were dying down, a guitar was being passed around the small circle of musicians, and he was begged to play. He played two songs (one cover and one original) which were so simple, direct, delicate, and great, that it […]
Powerful chords and dramatic tension punctuate the classical music program from the internationally renowned Venice Baroque Orchestra. Traversing the globe since 1997, the ensemble is recognized as one of the premier purveyors of period instrument performances (say it five times fast). A wide variety of strings and woodwinds carry works by Geminiani, Veracini, and Vivaldi […]
“When people think of the word threesome, they think of one man and two women, and they think of the man getting pleasured by the women,” said Tif Robinette, a self-declared feminist. “But here we have three really strong female artists from the state of Virginia reacting to and tearing apart ideas of the ideal […]
There is a unity expressed in musician Cian Nugent’s work beyond the ruminations of one man’s guitar. But hearing snatches of his recordings, it’d be easy to attribute various tracks to as many different performers. “I don’t mean to become stylistically incoherent,” he said by phone from his native Dublin. “I just got to keep […]
Chinese pianist Lang Lang is one of the hottest performers in the world right now. Equally known for his energetic performances and his prodigious talent, the Shenyang native has wowed audiences since he became inspired to try piano after watching a Tom & Jerry cartoon entitled, “The Cat Concerto.” Thirty years on, Lang Lang has […]
The poster for George Clooney’s The Monuments Men has that wow factor. Not the poster itself—a bunch of guys standing next to each other smirking or stony-faced is kind of dull. But look at the names on the left. Clooney. Matt Damon. Bill Murray. John Goodman. Jean Dujardin. Bob Balaban. Hugh Bonneville. Cate Blanchett. Now, […]
American roots band Annalivia gathers from the various branches of influence on folk music’s family tree. As the band tours in support of its latest album, The Same Way Down, Liz Simmons’ and Flynn Cohen’s vocals draw on a combination of Irish, Scottish, and old time Appalachian music, while Charlottesville native Bronwyn Keith-Hynes backs up […]
Bid boredom adieu with seven subtitled screenings at the University of Virginia’s French Film Festival. Award-winning Cameroonian director Jean-Pierre Békolo leads discussions on his filmmaking practices in the sci-fi erotic thriller Les Saignantes and the controversial political drama Le Président. Additional films run the gamut from a star-studded melodrama (De Rouille et d’Os, featuring Marion […]