The New Season: Music
Contributor Bill Flanagan previews some of fall's most anticipated new releases, from pop to classical and jazz:
The biggest date of the fall music season is November 10th. That's when Taylor Swift's sixth album, "Reputation," arrives. Swift has gone from teen star to adult artist and from country to pop without missing a step or making a mistake.
- "Reputation" by Taylor Swift (Big Machine); Available on CD (from Amazon and Barnes & Noble), and Digital Download (Google Play and iTunes)
- taylorswift.com
To watch Taylor Swift perform "Look What You Made Me Do," from the album "Reputation," click on the video player below.
Forty years after the death of the great soprano Maria Callas, Warner Classics is releasing "Maria Callas: The Live Recordings 1949-1964" -- a 42-CD box set. That's quite a large box! Verdi, Wagner, Puccini -- Callas sings the pantheon. This is immortal music.
- "Maria Callas: The Live Recordings 1949-1964" available on CD from Warner Classics
The jazz world is leaning forward in anticipation of "Harmony of Difference," the new album from Kamasi Washington, the brilliant young composer-saxophonist who blew everyone away with his 2015 triple album, "The Epic." Anything less than a masterpiece will be considered a disappointment. No pressure!
- "Harmony of Difference" by Kamasi Washington (Young Turks), available September 29
- kamasiwashington.com
- For information on Kamasi Washington's upcoming tour (beginning October 28) click here
To watch Kamasi Washington perform "Truth," from the EP album "Harmony of Difference," click on the video player below.
U2 has finally finished the much-delayed "Songs of Experience." It's coming on the first of December. It's the album U2 fans hoped they still had in them.
To hear U2 perform "You're the Best Thing About Me," from the album "Songs of Experience," click on the video player below.
In October the brilliant Chinese pianist Lang Lang will release "Romance" -- and no, it's not a collection of love songs. It's romance in the classical sense -- short pieces. "Ave Maria" and Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" are among the crowd-pleasers getting the Lang Lang touch.
- "Romance" by Lang Lang (Sony Classical); Available October 13 on CD (from Amazon) and Digital Download (Amazon and iTunes)
- langlang.com
- Classical pianist Lang Lang ("Sunday Morning," 06/18/17)
We lost free jazz giant Ornette Coleman in 2015. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize and a Macarthur Fellowship, it's hard to believe there are important Ornette albums never issued on CD. That will be rectified with the digital release of "Ornette at 12" and "Crisis," two late-'60s albums, now combined into one. Both records feature Charlie Haden, Dewey Redman and Denardo Coleman, with Don Cherry joining on "Crisis." It was edgy then, it's edgy now -- but it's great American music.
- "Ornette at 12/Crisis" by Ornette Coleman (Real Gone); Available on CD (from Amazon)
To hear Ornette Coleman perform "Song for Ché," from the album "Crisis," click on the video player below.
Back in 1969 Stephen Stills wrote "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" about his girlfriend Judy Collins. The romance did not last, but their friendship did. Forty-eight years later, Collins and Stills have finally made an album together. "Everybody Knows" arrived in stores this weekend. Let's see if the spark is still there.
- "Everybody Knows" by Stephen Stills and Judy Collins (Wildflower/Cleopatra); Available on CD (from Amazon and Barnes & Noble), Digital Download (Google Play and iTunes) and Streaming (Amazon)
To hear Stephen Stills and Judy Collins perform "Questions," from the album "Everybody Knows," click on the video player below.
We live in a time when album sales are down, but with streaming services and satellite radio, we are consuming more music than ever. The autumn of 2017 will give you a lot to listen to.