Classical
Celebrating Excellence: Highlights from the 2023 Gramophone Classical Music Awards Ceremony
Bulgarian Pianist Tania Stavreva's World-Class Self-Released Solo Debut Comes Complete with 'Rhythmic Movement.'
For her impressive self-released debut, 20something New York City pianist/composer Tania Stavreva has taken solo piano to rare heights on 'Rhythmic Movement,' 14 tracks of a wildly experimental jazz/classical/folk synthesis. Forward-leaning, yet firmly rooted in the folk music of her native Bulgaria, the accents fly by in dizzying whirlwind. Blogarrhea: Six Creative and Captivating New CDs, Jazz, Classical, Samba, Blues, Ambient & More Jazz
Although the Alex Levine Quartet always seems to gravitate 'Towards The Center' (Outside In Music), they veer sharply left toward the end of this all-original 63:40. Levine is an intuitive New York City guitarist who interacts with sax man Marcus Elliott, bassist Ben Rolston and drummer Stephen Boegehold in a way that presents the strengths of all four. As a composer, he doesn't necessarily take a straight line to his goal. He likes the roads less traveled, be they bumpy, unpaved or filled with potholes. Although the first 10 compositions contain mystery, drama, taut emotion and languorous sensuality, the last three tracks-"Implosion," "Adama" and "Wax"-go wild with uninhibited wanderlust.
