Quest for Magic: A Conversation with Paul Winter on Earth Music and ‘Horn of Plenty’

The most common defense for insisting on genre classifications is that it “simplifies” discussions about music. According to Kelefa Sanneh, author of Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres (Penguin, 2021), “Devotion to a sound is essentially about community and belonging.”  In this sense, one can see adherence to genre norms as […]

Review: Simón Willson’s ‘Feel Love’

In many ways, the burgeoning improvised music community in Brooklyn resembles downtown New York’s loft movement of the ‘70s. But it differs in one important way: Brooklyn seems to have an even stronger sense of community, with musicians often collaborating on each other’s albums. Such is the case for Chilean-born, Brooklyn-based bassist and composer Simón […]