John Shand | Music & Other Spheres Posts

August 27, 2017 / Features - Archive

The Australian cabaret singer and pianist Janet Seidel died August 7 after succumbing to cancer at the age of 62. Seidel, who released 18 albums across two decades, enjoyed substantial success overseas as well as in Australia. Her trademark was a girlish voice and her ability to blend the ingenue…

August 25, 2017 / Concert Reviews - Archive

Io Myers Studio, August 5 7/10 In previewing this concert I noted that no one could accuse composer Ellen Kirkwood of lacking ambition. This was because the thematic underpinnings of [A]part, her new long-form work for jazz orchestra, were her responses to such major issues as climate change and the…

August 24, 2017 / Album Reviews - Archive

ORBITS AND RIFFS (http://www.ephemeraensemble.com/) 8/10 In an age when so much art is introspective Keyna Wilkins dares to look outwards, and not just to other people or Mother Nature, but to the wider cosmos. There’s nothing like doing that to put our squabbles and Trumpian absurdities into perspective. I presume…