Damn, I miss live music, but new releases from the Manuel Valera Trio and the Marvin Stamm/Mike Holober Quartet capture that frisson of excitement available only in a live setting.
Cuban pianist Manuel Valera and Iranian santourist Sourena Sefati have each released new albums that live outside the musical mainstream but which are nonetheless quite comfortable inside the ear. Valera’s compositions draw on the theoretical constructs of Russian composer and conductor Nicolas Slonimsky, and Sefati employs ancient Persian elements in his modern compositions. Continue reading
