Bill Marx

Boston

Editor-in-Chief at The Arts Fuse

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Articles

Musician Interview: Neal Francis on His Album "Return To Zero"

3 weeks ago | artsfuse.org | Rob Duguay |Bill Marx

By Rob DuguayChicago singer-songwriter and pianist Neal Francis has been riding a smooth retro groove since the late 2010s, thanks to his stellar fusion of funk, soul, R&B, and psychedelic rock — nostalgic musical dives into an era when the chic sported bell bottoms and afros. He continues this creative approach with his third studio album, Return To Zero, on ATO Records. As part of his tour supporting the release, Francis and his band will be performing at The Sinclair in Cambridge on March 26.
Locke's 2024 List of Notable Operatic Recordings and a Few Non-Operatic Ones

Dec 5, 2024 | artsfuse.org | Ralph P. Locke |Bill Marx

By Ralph LockeThe opera repertory is so much richer than what gets staged nowadays; many of the most exciting recordings that came my way are of somewhat or entirely forgotten operas from past eras. Once again, the past twelve months have seen an outpouring of fascinating and important recordings of operatic and other vocal works (and a few instrumental ones).
Album Review: "Hear My Song: The Collection 1966-1995" -- The Complete Laura Nyro

Dec 5, 2024 | artsfuse.org | Jason M. Rubin |Bill Marx

By Jason M. RubinYou can get away with being familiar with just an album or two, but Laura Nyro’s music always rewards repeated listenings, and following her mercurial career so thoroughly restores her to three-dimensional life. It could be one of those late-night infomercials selling multi-CD sets of the greatest hits of all time.
Woodstock Film Festival, Dispatch #1 -- Human Struggles

Oct 26, 2024 | artsfuse.org | Peg Aloi |Bill Marx

By Peg AloiAt the Woodstock Film Festival: the stunning documentary The Remarkable life of Ibelin and Mike Leigh’s rich and powerful Hard Truths. This is my first time covering the Woodstock Film Festival, although it is located only an hour from where I live. Timing has been one of the reasons; the WFF usually takes place at the same time as the London Film Festival at the BFI, which I have covered for the Arts Fuse for the last several years.
Arts Remembrance: Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead

Oct 26, 2024 | artsfuse.org | Scott McLennan |Bill Marx

By Scott McLennanThanks in large part to the late Phil Lesh’s influence, the performances of the Grateful Dead developed a signature blend of composition and improvisation. The origins of the Grateful Dead were five musicians from different musical neighborhoods who found a common ground by developing a communal language that encouraged give and take.
Concert Review: The Boston Chamber Music Society Perform Ives, Mendelssohn, and Mozart

Oct 26, 2024 | artsfuse.org | Aaron Keebaugh |Bill Marx

By Aaron KeebaughThe Boston Chamber Music Society’s greatest strengths lay in its skill in letting the music breathe. He had been raised to break the rules. And that always suited him. But even Charles Ives realized that his radical experiments with musical quotation, bitonality, and jumbled collages of cross rhythms might never see the light of day. Working as an insurance salesman by day and a composer by night, Ives toiled away for little reward other than the sheer joy of doing so.
Doc Talk: Errol Morris Exposes Trump’s Border Terrorism in "Separated"

Oct 25, 2024 | artsfuse.org | Peter Keough |Bill Marx

By Peter KeoughSeparated is a compelling, urgent, and essential examination of an ongoing injustice (over 1300 children remain separated today, according to the Department of Homeland Security) that every American should see and ponder before going to the polls. Errol Morris was hoping that the network that owns his new film Separated, adapted from Jacob Soboroff’s book Separated: Inside an American Tragedy, would broadcast it before the November 5 presidential election.
Film Review: "Conclave" -- Autumn of the Patriarchy

Oct 23, 2024 | artsfuse.org | Peter Keough |Bill Marx

By Peter KeoughCalling out papal bull in the twisty, provocative, and subversive Conclave. Conclave, directed by John Berger, based on the novel by Robert Harris. Opening at the Boston Common and in the suburbs on October 25. As we wait anxiously for the upcoming Presidential election, John Berger’s Conclave, a twisty, provocative, and subversive thriller about a fictitious but no less stressful and consequential contest, serves as a welcome diversion.
Classical Concert Commentary: The Boston Symphony Orchestra Takes On the Contemporary

Oct 23, 2024 | artsfuse.org | Aaron Keebaugh |Bill Marx

By Aaron KeebaughIt is only a month into the current season, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra has offered three pieces that have either been heard for the first time in Symphony Hall or given that more rare honor that evades most premieres — the deuxième performance. The honor of redux recently fell to Michael Gandolfi’s Ascending Light, a bold and life-affirming memorial to victims of the Armenian genocide that had first been performed in Boston in 2015.
Film Review: "Anora" -- A Rollicking Fractured Fairy Tale

Oct 23, 2024 | artsfuse.org | Erica Abeel |Bill Marx

By Erica AbeelIn Anora, director Sean Baker brilliantly sustains a hybrid tone, weaving together LOL comedy, sadness, and rage. Anora, directed by Sean Baker. Screening begins on October 25 at Coolidge Corner Theatre, the Alamo Drafthouse Boston, and AMC Theatres. With certain films you need only hear about the premise or an inspired bit of casting and you’re on board.