Jay Harvey Upstage

Although next Tuesday's Wisconsin primary may check his momentum somewhat, Donald Trump appears to be unstoppable on his... Posted by Jay Harvey on  Thursday, March 31, 2016

The crowning achievement of James Aikman 's residency with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra so far is likely to be the premiere of "Peacemakers" at a Butler ArtsFest concert on April 15. This 80-minute "filmic oratorio" gathers together portraits in music and pictures celebrating the legacy of world figures who worked toward peace — work that was cut short by assassination for many of them. In a recent interview, the composer said the idea for the new composition came to him on a solitary walk along Lake Michigan in 2010. Jamie Aikman was moved by the lives and words of great world peacemakers. "I thought of everyone who had worked steadfastly for peace and has been assassinated," Aikman said. "Looking for peace is a dangerous business. I thought, 'Let's keep this idea (of peace) alive — use their words in a piece of music." Initially, the composer planned a work for chorus and orchestra. But the opportunities for a bread...

Freddie Mendoza, with his "other" horn When he taught in Texas before coming to the University of Indianapolis last year, Freddie Mendoza was a major composing/performing/arranging force in the band Los Jazz Vatos. The release "El Jefe" ( Lounge Side Records ) is a great exhibition of this sextet, with a few other musicians making cameo appearances. The arrangements are meaty, and everyone crafts solos that get right to the point. The title tune, one of Mendoza's, yields to a Jimmy Shortell trumpet solo that is fully in the spirit of the tune. The ensemble works together cohesively, and the conciseness of the soloing never sounds offhand or short on ideas. It's the essence of what's meant by the kudos "taking care of business." The label's name seems to be addressed in "Ted's Groove," in which the hot temperature of "El Jefe" is lowered to a cool lounge atmosphere. Its four-to-the-bar swing indicates immediat...

What happens when the Rolling Stones play a free concert in Havana? For one fan, a bizarre comparison touting the gig's historical importance. My oh my, I feel a song coming on! "Playing the Fool in the Land of Raul": a commentary in song, inspired by the first song in the Rolling Stones' Havana... Posted by Jay Harvey on  Sunday, March 27, 2016

It may be time to crystallize the mud wrestling match of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz in a song of my own devising in a performance at the classic karaoke level. They do run run, don't they? Posted by Jay Harvey on  Friday, March 25, 2016

Ancient Greek religion and its Roman offspring have been both puzzling and fascinating to most of what is  quaintly called Christendom. That tradition, with its fallible, squabbling gods, perpetually interfering with human lives in a way that makes Jehovah look standoffish, seems to defy piety. Once those stories and the complexity of divine natures were turned to artistic purposes, however, they came alive as material that speaks to our dilemmas, right up to the present day. This pertinence is what drives the adaptation of Aeschylus' "Prometheus Bound" that EclecticPond Theatre Company is presenting through April 3 at the Wheeler Arts Community. Hephaestus secures manacles on the prisoner's wrists. Carey Shea, the production's director, had the provocative notion to make Prometheus' offense against the divine order — bringing the gift of fire to humankind — the archetype of the 21st-century exposure of government secrets represented by WikiLeaks and ...

As Garrick Ohlsson's solo recital here last fall demonstrated, he is a pianist with the verve of a youngster and the good manners and elegance of a venerable master. These qualities were also evident here Sunday in collaboration with four members of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, in a co-presentation with the American Pianists Association in Indiana Landmarks Center 's Grand Hall. Garrick Ohlsson will return to town in June as a concerto soloist. Major works for piano and strings were the focus. Both of them are complex, generously proportioned pieces in four movements: Beethoven's Trio No. 6 in E-flat, op. 70, no. 2, and Brahms Quintet in F minor, op. 34. Among the large Brahms legacy of compositional second thoughts, the quintet began life as a strings-only work, then passed through a two-piano version that attained some currency among Brahms' friends for several years. What the composer seems to have been seeking was an instrumental combination th...