John Shand | Music & Other Spheres Posts

November 30, 2017 / Album Reviews - Archive

AT LEAST WAVE YOUR HANDKERCHIEF AT ME (Glitterbeat/Planet) Can there be a gentler of expression longing than the title of this album, whether it expresses aching separation or forbidden love? In fact gentleness is a hallmark of an album that carries the subtitle The Joys and Sorrows of Southern Albanian…

November 26, 2017 / Album Reviews - Archive

YAKIYA (Tall Poppies) 8/10 This is hair-curling stuff. Bass trombonist Adrian Sherriff, bass guitarist Jonathan Dimond and drummer Adam King share a keen interest in rhythmic complexities, whether by way of superimposing one rhythm atop another or incorporating metric modulation, intricate cycles or other options. The detailed liner-notes provide explanations…

November 25, 2017 / Concert Reviews - Archive

Reginald Theatre, November 9 9/10 When Jen Shyu was last here 15 months ago I suggested her eclectic, multifaceted, mind-bending performances could become even more exhilarating were she to reach the point where idiom – that outmoded and redundant concept – was discarded altogether. This time she was indeed closer…