Jon Pareles News

Clear Plastic Masks will perform two upcoming shows in NYC tonight, May 14 at Mercury Lounge (8pm) and Friday, May 16 at Rough Trade (11:45pm).

Clear Plastic Masks will perform two upcoming shows in NYC on Wednesday, May 14 at Mercury Lounge (8pm) and Friday, May 16 at Rough Trade (11:45pm).

Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden are teaming up for a North American tour that will kick off on Saturday, July 19, at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, NV.

This week at Joe's Pub at the Public Theater, February 3 through 12th, will feature Tony Trischka, The Civilians, Akiko Yano Trio, Benjamin Walker, Dirty Bourbon River Show, Champagne Jerry, The Losers Lounge, Tori Scott, Gina Breedlove, Alexander Zhurbin, Venus & Adonis, Ari Gold and CMA Songwriters Series. Details below!

On Sunday, January 26, 2014, South Africa's Ladysmith Black Mambazo received the GRAMMY® Award for Best World Music Album for their 2013 album Live: Singing For Peace Around The World.

Internationally renowned singer/dancer/percussionist Alessandra Belloni and I Giullari di Piazza present 'Drums of Illumination,' a program of ritual drumming, trance dances, and chants representing four great cultural traditions: Southern Italian, Native American, Middle Eastern, and African Music. Belloni and I Giullari will be joined by the SilverCloud Native American Singers and Dancers, completing a remarkable group of percussionists, vocalists and dancers, all specializing in healing and ritual music and dance. Sunday, January 5th at 6 PM at Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue.

The fifth solo studio album from Beyonce is now available worldwide, exclusively on the iTunes Store (www.iTunes.com/beyonce). The self-titled set is the artist's first visual album. BEYONCE is infused with 14 new songs and 17 visually provocative videos shot around the world from Houston to New York City to Paris, and Sydney to Rio de Janeiro, all before the album's release. Let's see what the critics had to say...

A moving piece of ambient public art, composer Phil Kline's Unsilent Night can be compared to a holiday caroling party, except that participants don't sing. Instead, each carries a boombox playing a separate cassette, CD, or MP3 that becomes part of the piece. In effect, the 'performers' become single elements in a huge, mobile sound system. Performed within the confines of the city streets, Unsilent Night reverberates off the cars and buildings, resulting in a magnificent, drifting cloud of shimmering, echoing sound. The 43-minute piece includes chiming bells, choral voices, and various electronic effects.

The New York Times' Jon Pareles reviews the self-titled debut EP from emerging Nashville band Clear Plastic Masks (CPM) praising, “The churning, galvanic, righteously messy surge and crash of 1960s rock is their heritage

In a career that spans over 50 years, South Africa's Ladysmith Black Mambazo has garnered multiple GRAMMY awards, nominations and critical acclaim, and continues to sell out concerts in prestigious venues worldwide.

The six string quartets of Béla Bartók, composed between 1908 and 1939, are a towering oeuvre of 20th-century chamber music. In this series, the young California-based Calder Quartet, called “superb” by The New York Times and “formidable” by The New Yorker, perform the quartets in three concerts along with music focusing on Bartók's deep debt to the human voice, with the help of two special guest artists.

Tomorrow night, Nine Inch Nails will kick off 'Tension 2013,' an extensive North American arena tour, at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN.

On September 19th at City Winery in New York City, public radio's Afropop Worldwide celebrates 25 years of introducing Americans-and a global online community-to the most exciting music on the planet. The gala concert features Grammy Award Nominee and ngoni (African lute) virtuoso Bassekou Kouyatefrom Mali and his electrifying band Ngoni Ba. Special guest artists include Mali's Mamadou Kellyand Sudanese singing star Omer Ehsas and others. Harry Belafonte is Honorary Chair of the gala.

The World Music Institute announces its 29th season with an incredibly diverse array of artists spread over 4 concert series and 3 weekend festivals.

Joni Mitchell is confirmed to participate in an onstage TimesTalks Luminato tonight, June 16 at 6pm. Originally programmed as a 'multi-artist appreciation of Joni Mitchell,' the TimesTalk will now feature Ms. Mitchell with drummer/bandleader Brian Blade, one of the Grammy Hall of Fame winner's frequent collaborators, in conversation with New York Times chief pop music critic Jon Pareles.

Joni Mitchell is confirmed to participate in an onstage TimesTalks Luminato on Sunday, June 16 at 6pm. Originally programmed as a 'multi-artist appreciation of Joni Mitchell,' the TimesTalk will now feature Ms. Mitchell with drummer/bandleader Brian Blade, one of the Grammy Hall of Fame winner's frequent collaborators, in conversation with New York Times chief pop music critic Jon Pareles.

Fueled By Ramen recording group Paramore's hugely anticipated, self-titled new album 'PARAMORE' arrives everywhere today, April 9th, 2013.

TimesTalks just welcomed Nora Jones. TimesTalks events take place at TheTimesCenter, 242 West 41st Street, New York City. For additional information or to purchase advance tickets, which are $30 for each interview plus service fees, please call: 1.888.NYT.1870 or visit www.TimesTalks.com.

Fueled By Ramen recording group Paramore has unveiled the the first taste of their new single NOW, part of their new self-titled album, 'PARAMORE'. The single is out Jan. 22 - check out a first listen below!