When one thinks of the great artistic cataloging of North American bird paintings, John James Audubon’s name often first comes to mind. That connection makes sense given that his best-known work, the multi-volume The Birds of America (1827-1838), featured four hundred and thirty-five paintings covering four hundred and eighty-nine species. Painting that many birds was […]
Despite the name of woodwind specialist John Ellis’s Double Wide, suggesting a large ensemble, the group is a quintet, with slightly unusual instrumentation. The name reflects less the size of the group and more the breadth of sounds with Ellis (clarinet, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone) on the high end, and a robust bottom featuring sousaphonist Matt […]
Coined by the philosopher Glenn Albrecht, the term ‘solastalgia” centers on the theme of homesickness while still at home with a focus towards surveying environmental damage. “Our environment is transforming around us, and we grieve for the landscapes and ecologies we knew,” says Albrecht. These feelings inspire The Solastalgia Suite (Pyroclastic, 2025), Grammy-winning pianist and […]
The popular perception of time is linear. One thing leads to another and then to another. But the passage of time is better viewed as a cyclical path, with shadows of the past and hints of the future emerging throughout. As Marcus Aurelius notes in Book VI of Meditations, “Each thing is of like form […]
