John Shand | Music & Other Spheres Posts

January 6, 2014 / Album Reviews - Archive

  Forever (Decca) It could almost be a flaw from a classical tragedy. A gifted singer, swollen with acclaim and popularity, suddenly believes he or she can write songs. It’s rife among jazz singers who, vexed by trying to make standards live anew, trot out trite ditties of their own,…

December 3, 2013 / Concert Reviews - Archive

Clarendon Guesthouse, November 30 Check each egg before you eat it. Mikelangelo told us he was hatched from one (an indeterminate time after a frenzied splicing of his parents), and dipping your spoon into something similar would be a disturbing way to start your day. It was alarming enough entertaining…

December 3, 2013 / Concert Reviews - Archive

Concert Hall, November 28 The relationship between father and son has been the stuff of Shakespearian drama and TV sit-com. It may have played its part in invading Iraq and in abrupt shifts of course for certain inherited business empires. It certainly coloured this night’s music, and too often the…