Rob Weinert-Kendt
@robkendt.bsky.social
Editor of American Theatre magazine, musical omnivore. trainmyear.blogspot.com
Another thing I can thank Kirk Hamilton's great Strong Songs podcast for: pointing me to this essential Roy Hargrove "crossover" record from 2003. It's a jazz-hip-hop-funk party in a box. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/7ocjym...
December 1, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Another thing I can thank Kirk Hamilton's great Strong Songs podcast for: pointing me to this essential Roy Hargrove "crossover" record from 2003. It's a jazz-hip-hop-funk party in a box. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/7ocjym...
Love this point from @helenshaw.bsky.social about the way Stoppard’s literary references could be a door, not a barrier www.newyorker.com/culture/post...
December 1, 2025 at 3:56 AM
Love this point from @helenshaw.bsky.social about the way Stoppard’s literary references could be a door, not a barrier www.newyorker.com/culture/post...
Blues and gospel are close siblings, but Blind Willie Johnson’s music allows no distinction between the two genres. His songs sound no less haunted than Robert Johnson’s, and no less beatific than Thomas Dorsey’s. The lamb throws down with the lion. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/3H90ji...
December 1, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Blues and gospel are close siblings, but Blind Willie Johnson’s music allows no distinction between the two genres. His songs sound no less haunted than Robert Johnson’s, and no less beatific than Thomas Dorsey’s. The lamb throws down with the lion. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/3H90ji...
Many Yes fans swear by this 5-track record from 1977 as one of their best, and after years of trying to hear what they hear, I think I’m closer than ever—mainly because I’ve finally succumbed to the mad, labyrinthine majesty of “Awaken.” #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/5D6az0...
November 28, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Many Yes fans swear by this 5-track record from 1977 as one of their best, and after years of trying to hear what they hear, I think I’m closer than ever—mainly because I’ve finally succumbed to the mad, labyrinthine majesty of “Awaken.” #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/5D6az0...
I was mostly a snob about synth-heavy New Wave while it was happening, but I always admired Alison Moyet's powerhouse pipes. What a belated pleasure it is now to spend a day letting this lush 1982 record wash over me. Fave track: "Bad Connection." #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/47FOg0...
November 27, 2025 at 5:03 PM
I was mostly a snob about synth-heavy New Wave while it was happening, but I always admired Alison Moyet's powerhouse pipes. What a belated pleasure it is now to spend a day letting this lush 1982 record wash over me. Fave track: "Bad Connection." #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/47FOg0...
I prefer their third record, BLACK AND WHITE, but there’s no denying the visceral power of The Stranglers’ aggressive, arresting 1977 debut, whose rich musical layers reward repeat listens. The bonus tracks are some of my faves here. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/38lyLe...
November 26, 2025 at 11:47 PM
I prefer their third record, BLACK AND WHITE, but there’s no denying the visceral power of The Stranglers’ aggressive, arresting 1977 debut, whose rich musical layers reward repeat listens. The bonus tracks are some of my faves here. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/38lyLe...
Guitarists Carlos Alomar and Ricky Gardiner remain the standouts on this still-fresh-sounding Iggy Pop classic, though of course its guiding, shaping personality is the inimitable, irrepressible Osterberg himself, under strong Bowie influence. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/2jnV6y...
November 25, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Guitarists Carlos Alomar and Ricky Gardiner remain the standouts on this still-fresh-sounding Iggy Pop classic, though of course its guiding, shaping personality is the inimitable, irrepressible Osterberg himself, under strong Bowie influence. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/2jnV6y...
In 1989 I interviewed Jimmy Cliff for The Scottsdale Progress. I happened to be visiting my grandparents in Merrillville, Indiana, at the time, so he called me there. I remember literally typing this article on a manual typewriter in my grandparents’ garage. docs.google.com/document/d/1...
November 25, 2025 at 2:58 AM
In 1989 I interviewed Jimmy Cliff for The Scottsdale Progress. I happened to be visiting my grandparents in Merrillville, Indiana, at the time, so he called me there. I remember literally typing this article on a manual typewriter in my grandparents’ garage. docs.google.com/document/d/1...
I only just heard Judee Sill’s third album—recorded in the 1970s but not released until 2005, a quarter century after her death—and I’m happy to report it’s as rich and layered and ornery and moving as her first two. What a blazing talent we lost. #dailyalbum music.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
November 24, 2025 at 9:04 PM
I only just heard Judee Sill’s third album—recorded in the 1970s but not released until 2005, a quarter century after her death—and I’m happy to report it’s as rich and layered and ornery and moving as her first two. What a blazing talent we lost. #dailyalbum music.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Came to this Conspirare record to check out the Pizzetti Mass, which I’m watching on a stream from Eastman School of Music today, and stayed for the whole luminous, lovingly rendered collection of contemporary choral work. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/2JnuTQ...
November 23, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Came to this Conspirare record to check out the Pizzetti Mass, which I’m watching on a stream from Eastman School of Music today, and stayed for the whole luminous, lovingly rendered collection of contemporary choral work. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/2JnuTQ...
One under-appreciated period detail that BLUE MOON gets right: The pianist playing standards throughout renders them very straightforwardly, with some embellishments certainly, but not with the kind of jazz substitutions you would hear from even the most hackish cocktail pianist post-Bill Evans.
November 22, 2025 at 7:08 PM
One under-appreciated period detail that BLUE MOON gets right: The pianist playing standards throughout renders them very straightforwardly, with some embellishments certainly, but not with the kind of jazz substitutions you would hear from even the most hackish cocktail pianist post-Bill Evans.
Hard to imagine a project more tailored to my tastes than Rufus Wainwright singing Kurt Weill. The new record does not disappoint: Though its vibe is more supper club than smoky cabaret, RW digs into a wide range of material with both sweep and nuance. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/5vLjeC...
November 22, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Hard to imagine a project more tailored to my tastes than Rufus Wainwright singing Kurt Weill. The new record does not disappoint: Though its vibe is more supper club than smoky cabaret, RW digs into a wide range of material with both sweep and nuance. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/5vLjeC...
Oops, Spotify has a photo of the wrong bespectacled German Jewish refugee here (it's Lion Feuchtwanger)
November 22, 2025 at 5:40 AM
Oops, Spotify has a photo of the wrong bespectacled German Jewish refugee here (it's Lion Feuchtwanger)
Brecht wasn’t the only German playwright Weill did great work with. There was also Georg Kaiser, with whom he wrote this gorgeous opera. The only drawback to this 2-disc listen are the long dialogue scenes, but it’s worth it for the moving music. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/1DXDdK...
November 21, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Brecht wasn’t the only German playwright Weill did great work with. There was also Georg Kaiser, with whom he wrote this gorgeous opera. The only drawback to this 2-disc listen are the long dialogue scenes, but it’s worth it for the moving music. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/1DXDdK...
The new Foxwarren disc is one of those records that is both immediately pleasing and reveals layers upon layers after repeated listens. The artful braiding of dialogue into the band’s expertly woven folk-pop sound is just one of its many charms. #dailyalbum foxwarren.bandcamp.com/album/2
November 21, 2025 at 2:10 AM
The new Foxwarren disc is one of those records that is both immediately pleasing and reveals layers upon layers after repeated listens. The artful braiding of dialogue into the band’s expertly woven folk-pop sound is just one of its many charms. #dailyalbum foxwarren.bandcamp.com/album/2
Is there more to the appeal of this Stravinsky suite than mere historical cosplay? Is it the equivalent of a baroque cover album? We can admit that's part of the draw without slighting his contribution: the astringent frame he puts around this old music. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/2D1LKw...
November 19, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Is there more to the appeal of this Stravinsky suite than mere historical cosplay? Is it the equivalent of a baroque cover album? We can admit that's part of the draw without slighting his contribution: the astringent frame he puts around this old music. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/2D1LKw...
Imagine making a record this good when you were 18. Still an utterly absorbing listen after nearly three decades. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/5gVBXH...
November 19, 2025 at 1:20 AM
Imagine making a record this good when you were 18. Still an utterly absorbing listen after nearly three decades. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/5gVBXH...
Even before he played with Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye earned a place in rock history for this groundbreaking 2-LP compilation of 1960s psych and garage rock (reconstituted here as a YouTube playlist), which he labeled "punk rock" all the way back in 1972. #dailyalbum music.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
November 17, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Even before he played with Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye earned a place in rock history for this groundbreaking 2-LP compilation of 1960s psych and garage rock (reconstituted here as a YouTube playlist), which he labeled "punk rock" all the way back in 1972. #dailyalbum music.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Love the way Caroline Shaw is able to weave Sacred Harp lyrics into an equal parts enchanting/unsettling mix of plainsong, fragmented rhythms, and sneakily complicated harmony on this piece, recorded with Dawn Upshaw, Sō Percussion, and Gilbert Kalish. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/5beMIp...
November 16, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Love the way Caroline Shaw is able to weave Sacred Harp lyrics into an equal parts enchanting/unsettling mix of plainsong, fragmented rhythms, and sneakily complicated harmony on this piece, recorded with Dawn Upshaw, Sō Percussion, and Gilbert Kalish. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/5beMIp...
“Snide” was literally in his name, but it’s not fair to remember the ornery troubadour Todd Snider (taken too soon, RIP) only for his snark and bite; I also cherish the true feeling he baked into all his work. This record is the one I turn to most. #dailyalbum
open.spotify.com/album/6KEpPO...
open.spotify.com/album/6KEpPO...
November 15, 2025 at 9:30 PM
“Snide” was literally in his name, but it’s not fair to remember the ornery troubadour Todd Snider (taken too soon, RIP) only for his snark and bite; I also cherish the true feeling he baked into all his work. This record is the one I turn to most. #dailyalbum
open.spotify.com/album/6KEpPO...
open.spotify.com/album/6KEpPO...
The news that Sting’s shipbuilding musical is coming to the Met Opera next June gave me an excuse to revisit its pretty glorious score, which shows solid storytelling craft and has flashes of true inspiration. He really should try his hand at another.
#dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/1bL0cQ...
#dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/1bL0cQ...
November 14, 2025 at 10:41 PM
The news that Sting’s shipbuilding musical is coming to the Met Opera next June gave me an excuse to revisit its pretty glorious score, which shows solid storytelling craft and has flashes of true inspiration. He really should try his hand at another.
#dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/1bL0cQ...
#dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/1bL0cQ...
I don’t use music primarily as a balm, but there’s no gainsaying how much this willowy Bridget St. John record hits the spot on a stressful day. The tricksy opener “Nice” alone is a perfect, crystalline oasis unto itself. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/2Az9SC...
November 13, 2025 at 11:14 PM
I don’t use music primarily as a balm, but there’s no gainsaying how much this willowy Bridget St. John record hits the spot on a stressful day. The tricksy opener “Nice” alone is a perfect, crystalline oasis unto itself. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/2Az9SC...
I first came to Canadian soprano Patricia O'Callaghan for her renditions of Weill, Poulenc, and Satie, and have followed her intermittently since; she's got Dawn Upshaw-worthy chops and eclecticism. Her new song cycle with David Braid is exquisite. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/22bvWd...
November 12, 2025 at 3:14 PM
I first came to Canadian soprano Patricia O'Callaghan for her renditions of Weill, Poulenc, and Satie, and have followed her intermittently since; she's got Dawn Upshaw-worthy chops and eclecticism. Her new song cycle with David Braid is exquisite. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/22bvWd...
I raise a toast to QUEENS, Martyna Majok’s layered and moving, and mostly unflinching, portrait of immigrant women struggling against punishing odds for dignity and self-determination, not to mention warmth and meaning, in my borough. Through Dec. 7 at MTC
November 12, 2025 at 4:51 AM
I raise a toast to QUEENS, Martyna Majok’s layered and moving, and mostly unflinching, portrait of immigrant women struggling against punishing odds for dignity and self-determination, not to mention warmth and meaning, in my borough. Through Dec. 7 at MTC
Happily revisiting one of my favorite records: the North American version of The Style Council's "Café Bleu," a delicious grab bag of jazz-pop and blue-eyed soul, with dollops of rap and ragtime. It already sounded timeless in 1984. This band was my Wham! #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/playlist/0D0...
November 11, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Happily revisiting one of my favorite records: the North American version of The Style Council's "Café Bleu," a delicious grab bag of jazz-pop and blue-eyed soul, with dollops of rap and ragtime. It already sounded timeless in 1984. This band was my Wham! #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/playlist/0D0...