Tír Na HiFi

Very sad news in this recent article in the New York Times about Keith Jarrett. He suffered two strokes in 2018 and the use of his left arm and hand have been lost, perhaps permanently. It is extremely unlikely that he will ever play piano again in public. Perhaps most touchingly of all, he finds it...

This is just wonderful. A recent live set at the Roulette in New York to celebrate Mary Halvorson’s 40th birthday. This is the best filmed record we have so far of this extraordinary musician. Blessed with a tireless work ethic and a fearless sense of adventure, Mary is undoubtedly one of the very b...

I agree, Zimerman is a very special artist. The Chopin concertos are deceptively simple and difficult to perform successfully, in my opinion, and there is a tender lyricism about both of Zimmerman’s versions of this repertoire which is utterly natural and never sounds mannered or forced. I also like...

Which Zimerman version are you referring to, Simon? The first version with the LA Philharmonic conducted by Giulini or the second version with the Polish Festival Orchestra which Zimerman conducted from the piano? I believe that Zimerman requested that DG withdraw the first version from the catalogu...

Listening again tonight to Julien Baker’s remarkable debut album, Sprained Ankle. I have returned time and time again to this woman’s work over the past few years and my understanding of these songs - anguished, heartfelt, cathartic - grows deeper with every listen. There is an emotional intensity a...

It’s a beautiful cover, Dermot, and a heartbreaking image to hold in the mind during the album’s closing song, I Don’t Want Your Voice To Move Me.

Wonderful, just wonderful. This is a recent live session by Mary Halvorson featuring fellow Braxton alumnus Ingrid Laubrock on saxophone, with Chris Lightcap on bass and Gerald Cleaver on drums. There is a more straight ahead feel to this session than much of Mary’s usual work and I feel that this c...

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/814w%2B2H627L._SX522_.jpg Listening tonight again to Laura Gibson’s Goners, a shockingly powerful album that has stayed with me over time and troubled me and shaken me. Like all the great songwriters, she finds the perfect lines, the lines that catch...

I was saddened to hear this week of the passing of Justin Townes Earle. I have to confess that I never got around to his music in his lifetime but I have been trying to make amends over the past week. Perhaps the one song that has stuck with me is Mama’s Eyes, a song that references directly just wh...

Molly Tuttle does a very fine version of Gentle on my Mind here:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rwuCG-UvgZo

Her version of Townes Van Zandt’s White Freightliner Blues is also very good:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SE2DuhXljAA