Music
Music maven from the Motor City
By MORDECAI SPECKTOR Cleaning up in the kitchen one night, I flipped on the radio to Minnesota Public Radio and...
Les Block, our music maven
By MORDECAI SPECKTOR It’s hard to know where to start when writing a remembrance of Les Block, a multifaceted musician,...
There’s always at least one doctor in the house
By DORIS RUBENSTEIN Unique. Or at least unique to Minnesota: That’s Daniel Volovets. Can you think of anyone else around...
Music’s power to heal
By MORDECAI SPECKTOR When the AJW contacted pianist Emmet Cohen on a Friday afternoon in late April, he was visiting...
Sharon’s got a brand-new bag
By MORDECAI SPECKTOR Among the many great musicians to come out of the Twin Cities in recent decades, few are...
Bill Charlap Trio draws on a vast repertoire
By MORDECAI SPECKTOR The piano trio is a venerated configuration in the world of jazz. Jazz pianists have told me...
Anat Cohen’s little quartet with a big, lovely sound
By MORDECAI SPECKTOR I last saw Anat Cohen five years ago, at breakfast in a Decorah, Iowa, motel. The Anat...
A musician’s musician
By MORDECAI SPECKTOR Apparently, I conducted a phone interview with musician David Bromberg on March 11, 2020. I barely recall...
Direct from Los Angeles, Cantor Ben Tisser
By DORIS RUBENSTEIN Ben Tisser, the new cantor at Beth El Synagogue, knew from a very early age that the...
Accordion virtuoso Mark Stillman’s long and winding road
By DORIS RUBENSTEIN The accordion may be the Rodney Dangerfield of the musical instrument world – it gets no respect...
