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Close-up of the back of a vinyl album showing the title, artist, record label name, and recording year

Statement of Belief: Hearing John Coltrane’s “India” at 16

When I interviewed John Cage in 1987, he told me something I’ll never forget—that attending Edgar Varèse’s concerts conducted by Nicolas Slonimsky in Philharmonic Hall in downtown Los Angeles in the late 1920’s were “statements of belief” for him. The experience set Cage on course for a lifetime as a composer of new and challenging music.

A young man with a mustache sits behind a keyboard while a man stands with his back to the camera at his left and a man plays the guitar on the right

My Love-Hate Relationship with Keith Jarrett

Keith Jarrett has released another solo album, this time called Rio. As the title would suggest, it was recorded in Rio de Janeiro. On it we hear the now familiar musical mood swings: from angular vertical runs, acrid harmonies, to unbearably lovely encores. The audience once again goes wild at…