King of the Tabla and Other Gods of Music
The creation mythology of jazz tells of the transplantation and fusion of various musical cultures in the 18th and 19th centuries. The slave trade brought north-west African [read on]
Articles by Nancy Berman
Women Rock the Jazz Fest: Jann Arden, Martha Wainwright, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Davina and the Vagabonds
The opening weekend of the 39th edition of the FIJM featured some of the most inspiring women in the music world, including a new fun find. Friday night Jann Arden [read on]
Who knew monks could dance?
In Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Sutra, 19 Shaolin monks from an ancient temple near Dengfeng, China, perform hair-raising feats of martial prowess honed over a lifetime of [read on]
Legend Lin Dance Theatre’s Eternal Tides: the virtuosity of stillness
I have never seen anything like this. The stage is hung with long white translucent panels. Just in front of the stage, a candle burns on a sort of shrine. On each [read on]
Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal’s Dance Me: paging Leonard Cohen
With the one-year anniversary of his death one month past, Montreal’s craze for all things Leonard Cohen shows no sign of abating. There was the five-night Jenny Holzer [read on]
Danse Danse presents Hofesh Shecter’s Grand Finale: an absolute must see
Many years ago I met a young man from Tel Aviv. I asked him what it was like to live in a place where bombs regularly go off in night clubs, pizza parlors, and crowded [read on]
Marie Chouinard’s Garden of Earthly Delights: The Ecstasy of Creation
When was the last time you took a good look at Hieronymous Bosch’s early 16th-century painting “The Garden of Earthly Delights?” I mean, really looked at it, at all the [read on]
Michael Kaeshammer and Lisa Simone Double Bill at the FIJM
I admit that curiosity got the better of me: I wanted to see Lisa Simone not because I knew her music or anything about her, but rather because she is the great Nina [read on]
Joss Stone and Melissa Etheridge Double Bill at the FIJM: Age Before Beauty
In the middle of her concert at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier Wednesday night, English soul wunderkind Joss Stone told the packed audience a story her mother had just told her: [read on]
The World Famous Harlem Gospel Choir: Praising the Lord at the FIJM
No matter how foul your mood, it’s ridiculously difficult not to smile like a fool at a gospel concert, and the World Famous Harlem Gospel Choir had the whole audience [read on]
The Bad Plus at the FIJM: very, very good
Nancy Berman reviews The Bad Plus at the Montreal International Jazz Festival.
The Kids Are Alright: Young Musicians Revive Montreal’s Classical Music Scene
What’s that you say? You don’t like classical music? It’s only for the gray-haired crowd? Elie Boissinot and Francis Choinière would like to prove you wrong. [read on]