Our top pick of New In Music This Week: June 2nd is:

BROADWAY: CAMELOT OBCR (Broadway Records)

Lincoln Center Theater’s revival of the Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe musical Camelot received 5 Tony nominations including Best Revival of a Musical. The musical tells the story of King Arthur (Andrew Burnap) and the knights he pursues for his round table. Amongst them is Lancelot Du Lac (Jordan Donica) who falls for Arthur’s beloved Guenevere (Phillipa Soo). The show is filed with such songs as I Loved You Once in Silence, If Ever I Would Leave You, How to Handle a Woman and the title song.

I haven’t seen this production, but Donica apparently steals the show with his incredible singing. That’s reason enough to follow this recording wherever it wants to take us.

Our other choices as the best of what’s New In Music this Week: June 2nd are:

CABARET: ACOUSTIC SONDHEIM: LIVE FROM BROOKLYN – Eleri Ward (Ghostlight Records)

Every day a little death. Apparently with this final volume of her trilogy, Ward is going to move on from Stephen Sondheim‘s music. But before she does she’s releasing this live in studio recording with special guest Bobby Conte (Company). Ward has a good thing going with these recordings and I’m looking forward to whatever she does next.

Her lo-fi recordings of Sondheim’s music had me losing my mind with how beautiful they were. It will be agony not to have more recordings of this musical theater genius from Ward, but I know things now about unique ways to bring color and light to his music.

CLASSICAL: MUSIC FOR A NEW CENTURY – Daniel Hope and the New Century Chamber Orchestra (Deutsch Grammophon)

Violinist Hope has assembled a fascinating line-up of music to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the New Century Chamber Orchestra. Pianist Alexey Botvinov joins for a performance of Philip Glass‘s Third Piano Concerto. The remaining three works are having world premiere recordings on Music For a New Century. They are Tan Dun’s Double Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Orchestra with Percussions; Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Lament for Solo Violin and String Orchestra and Jake Heggie’s Overture Joyfully. The latter three works were all commissions by the NCCO.

CONTEMPORARY OPERA: BLACK LODGE – David T. Little (Cantaloupe Music)

Last year Opera Philadelphia gave the premiere of this modern opera by David T. Little. Press materials describe Black Lodge as a metal/punk-infused opera. If you’re expecting Puccini, this won’t be for you. But if you want a work that pushes the envelope of what the form can do, Black Lodge is definitely for you.

The libretto is by poet Anne Waldman and the story of a man trying to escape from the torment of demons of his own design has echoes of William S. Burroughs and David Lynch. Black Lodge is performed by Timur and the Dime Museum with the Isaura String Quartet. Fasten your seat belts, this is going to a bumpy ride..but a seriously fascinating one. Little is amongst our finest contemporary composers.

JAZZ: SLOW DRAG – Donald Byrd (Blue Note Records)

This is one of two of the June reissues of vinyl only reissues of classic jazz albums remastered from the original master tapes. Slow Drag was originally released in 1967 and found the trumpeter joined by bassist Walter Booker, drummer Billy Higgins, saxophonist Sonny Red and pianist Cedar Walton. This proved to be one of Byrd’s last hard bop albums.

The six songs on this album are the title track, Secret Love, Book’s Bossa, Jelly Roll, The Loaner and My Ideal. His version of Secret Love is definitely different than the version many people know by Doris Day.

JAZZ: TORRENT – Satoko Fujii (Libra Records)

Pianist Fujii doesn’t just play the key on the piano, she plays the whole damn thing. Inside, outside, it’s all fair game for her adventurous music. You can’t call what she does traditional jazz for she incorporates multiple genres into her music. the end result is endlessly fascinating and definitely unique.

Each tracks sounds exactly likes its title: from the opening title track to the closing track, Wave Crest. Rather amazingly, all six tracks were completely improvised during the recording session. Titles were only added after they had all been recorded. If you’ve never heard Fujii before, this is a great way to get introduced to her superb talent.

JAZZ: THE JUNGLE – Wynton Marsalis (Blue Engine Records)

In 1997 Wynton Marsalis became the first recipient of a Pulitzer Prize in Music for a work that was jazz. He won the award for Blood on the Fields, an incredible work that defied easy categorization.

He’s back with another epic work: his Symphony No. 4 which also defies a single genre to define it. One ting that does define it is it is resolutely a work that has New York City at its heart. There are six movements in the symphony which definitely gives the listener a feeling of being in NYC.

The symphony concludes with a 15-minute final movement entitled Struggle in the Digital Market which sums up one of the points Marsalis is making with this work: the challenge of being alive in our modern day world.

This is a recording of a performance from 2019 with Marsalis, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under the direction of conductor Nicholas Buc.

JAZZ: TIME FOR TYNER – McCoy Tyner (Blue Note Records)

This is the second of the two June vinyl-only releases. This was pianist Tyner’s 3rd Blue Note album and it was released in 1969. Tyner used an interesting combination for his quartet on this album: vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, bassist Herbie Lewis and drummer Freddie Waits.

The six tracks on the album are African Village, Little Madimba, May Street, I Didn’t Know What Time it Was, The Surrey With the Fringe on Top and I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face. The first three are originals and the last three come from the musicals Too Many Girls, Oklahoma! and My Fair Lady.

That’s it for the best of what’s New In Music This Week: June 2nd. What are you listening to? Leave a message in the comments section. Enjoy the music and enjoy your weekend.

Main Photo: Part of the album art for Camelot

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Jacob Jonas The Company, which was named “Artist in Residence” for 2018/2019 at the Wallis, has received more than its share of positive press coverage. They have variously been referred to as “Best New Dance Force,” one of “12 Standout Companies,” “25 to Watch” and more. Not bad for someone who is all of 26 years old and started the company five years ago.

The pieces being performed this week are Transfer, Make a Toast and Crash (all three choreographed by Jonas) plus Unknown Territories choreographed by Donald Byrd and Cupido choreographed by Omar Román De Jesús.

When I spoke with Jonas by phone last week, we talked about his ambition, balancing acclaim with work and lessons learned.

Why so many world premieres for this engagement?

This was the first summer of our company we weren’t sharing or performing work. We had a lot of time to be in the studio creating. I think it’s a big honor and opportunity to be “Company in Residence” at the Wallis and I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity and not just show repertoire. I wanted to give the audience the honor it deserves and come out full-fledged.

Is there a common theme to be found amongst the five world premieres?

I don’t think there is one. It’s just exciting and diverse. We talked about the theme for the season and it is definitely like equality, inclusion, diversity – this feeling of a global theme. I’m a Jewish artist; one of our guest choreographers is African-American and one is Puerto Rican. There are musicians from Israel, Cuba and all around the world. It really feels like this inclusive program.

With all the attention and acclaim you and your company have received during its first five years, how do you juggle that kind of attention and the expectations that come with it? How does it inspire you rather than inhibit your growth as an artist and as a company?

That’s funny. One of the first reviews I ever got wasn’t very positive from the New York Times. I looked at it as a positive thing. I talked with someone I looked up to and he said “Don’t take anything personally – positively or negatively.” It was really good advice for me at the time.

I think the expectation that I have is with myself. We’ve been consistent with our success with audiences and our reactions from people. I don’t think about the press or any of that stuff going into the show. I want to make the work the best it can be. If I’m content, I’ll follow my instincts and make it the best it can be. There are many artists and organizations that I admire and they’re people making change and that’s what I wake up to in the morning and I want to do that work and at that level.

Can you really make change in the world through dance?

That’s a great question. I think about it three ways. Selfishly I see what dance does for me personally. I have something to look forward to and I’m becoming a better person. I see what it is doing for my dancers, my organization and the audiences we attract. Not just the work onstage, but on Instagram. I get messages all the time that the work inspires. And through education. I just think about the power of the arts. Not just my work, but the exposure to creativity. What the world needs is more funding into the arts and arts education. You’ll se the impact it makes on kids and the future generations.

When you start a company at a young age, what was hardest to learn about the cultural landscape and what are the mistakes you made that informed who you are today?

I think the biggest is not mixing laziness with patience. The ability to be patient is really important in running a company like this. It won’t all happen tomorrow. Having short-term and long-term goals is something I’ve learned. Building a team that is like-minded. There are people who can do what you can do from dance to administration. You can choose the people around you and identify with what your vision is. I think that’s what’s most exciting – to build that team confidently.

Fredrich Nietzsche one said “I would believe only in a God that knows how to dance.” Why do you think dance inspires even as noted a skeptic as Nietzsche?

Because it is just dope. Dance is amazing. I think you can’t really lie. You can’t lie with dancing. You can turn a normal person into a pop star with a good producer. You can find someone on the street and make them an actor. You can’t just be a dancer. It requires so much rigorous training. It’s just such a powerful art form that’s very human and real.

You have talked about being bullied in school for your interest in dance. Five years into having your own company, what would you tell the young boy being bullied if you had the chance to do so?

I don’t know if I would tell him anything different. I think people bullied me because I was dancing. If you wanted to be a ballet dancer anywhere else in the world you are encouraged. But in the States, you say you want to dance and people just judge you for that. It takes a lot of courage, not for me personally, to pursue a life in the arts. Especially because most parents won’t be supportive of it. I think for any artist you have to continue believing in what you want to do, do good work and surround yourself with good people.

Photo and Videos courtesy of JacobJonas.com

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