John Shand | Music & Other Spheres Posts

October 1, 2015 / Concert Reviews - Archive

505, September 19 Often the most interesting artists are able to reinvent themselves, Picasso being the ultimate example. Having carved a career as a composer and violinist leading the Elektra String Quartet, Romano Crivici has now returned to his first instrument, piano, and formed a new ensemble playing compositions that…

September 27, 2015 / Album Reviews - Archive

Dawn (Cuneiform) A certain virtuoso local drummer, now deceased, used to think British jazz was a joke. I doubt he had heard much. The US Cuneiform label continues its inestimable retrospective on British jazz’s golden era, stretching roughly from 1965 until 1980, and this new instalment of recordings from the…

September 25, 2015 / Theatre Reviews - Archive

New Theatre, September 15 Depicting genius is hard. Credibly depicting Shakespeare, our greatest writer and finest observer of humanity, is even tougher, as Tom Stoppard proved with his lame attempt in Shakespeare in Love. The idea of making Will a TV talk show guest (alongside Francis Bacon), quizzing him about…