Daniel Pioro

January 2023 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer of Opera McGill’s production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums of January

1. Sebastian Rochford- A Short Diary

Sad-sack Satie? Sold!

2. Elle King- Come Get Your Wife

Sounds like home.

3. The Art Ensemble of Chicago- The Sixth Decade: From Paris to Paris

Roscoe Mitchell and Moor Mother are my favorite dynamic duo.

4. Daniel Pioro- Saint Boy

My review.

5. Mette Henriette- Drifting

ECM-core.

6. Fred Hersch and esperanza spalding- Alive at the Village Vanguard

My review.

7. Obituary- Dying of Everything

Don’t I know it.

8. Kali Malone- Does Spring Hide Its Joy

My review.

9. Lil Yachty- Let’s Start Here.

Surprise, surprise, surprise!

10. Véronique Gens and Orchestre National De Lille- Poulenc: La voix humain

Allô!


Top Ten Songs of January

1. Måneskin- "Kool Kids"

Rock and roll hilarity.

2. Bizzy Banks- "Ok Ok Ok"

Notarized.

3. Gloss Up featuring Icewear Vezzo- "From Cross the Way"

“Bouncin’ like them checks!”

4. Ice Spice- “In Ha Mood”

She’s no one-hit wonder.

5. Yahritza y su Esencia- “Cambiaste”

Change is the only constant.

6. Public Image Ltd- "Hawaii"

A beautiful sunset.

7. Belle and Sebastian- “Juliet Naked”

My favorite Nick Hornby novel.

8. Jill Barber- "Homemaker"

Tammy lives.

9. SleazyWorld Go- “Robbers and Villains”

Grimy side.

10. Boygenius- "$20"

Three is a magic number.


Top Ten Performances of January

1. Pretty Yende- Folly Theater

My review.

2. Mike Dillon and Brian Haas- The Brick

My review.

3. Miguel Zenón Quartet- Folly Theater

My review.

4. Oran Etkin- Polsky Theatre

My review.

5. Kinnor Philharmonic- White Theatre

My review.

6. No Treble- InterUrban ArtHouse

My Instagram photo.

7. OJT- Green Lady Lounge

My review.

8. Scott Looney, Kevin Cheli, Krista Kopper, Seth Davis and Evan Verploegh- Westport Coffee House

My review.

9. Venetophilia- Kansas City Public Library

My Instagram clip.

10. Charles Williams, DeAndre Manning and Mike Warren- Eddie V’s


The previous monthly survey is here.

Album Review: Daniel Pioro- Saint Boy

Hearing musicians and arts presenters apologize to audiences for staging challenging or unconventional music always makes me furious.  The excellent Kansas City bassist Krista Kopper came uncomfortably close to begging forgiveness for the cutting-edge repertoire performed at InterUrban ArtHouse in Overland Park, Kansas, on Wednesday, January 18.

The program exhibited by her No Treble trio included premieres of experimental pieces by three Kansas City area composers.  Even though the audience of about 40 was presumably receptive to new music, Kopper offered defensive explanations of the adventurous sounds.  The strength of Viktor Suslin’s woozy “Grenzubertritt” and “Evening Redness in the West,” Seth Andrew Davis’ twist on Spaghetti Western scores, spoke for themselves.

Nothing on Saint Boy, the wondrous new album of chamber music by the British violinist Daniel Pioro, is as jarring as the gnarliest moments of the concert in Kansas.  Even so, the album’s blend of old (Johann Sebastian Bach and Hildegard von Bingen) and new (Laurence Crane’s “2020 Music” and Pioro’s Glass-like title track) is unconventional in the hidebound realm of classical music.  In this ahistorical moment, apologies aren’t necessary.