In Concert – Michael Collins & Wu Qian @ Wigmore Hall: Finzi, Martinů, Milhaud, Tailleferre & Arnold Cooke (reviewed online)

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Michael Collins (clarinet, above), Wu Qian (piano, below)

Finzi 5 Bagatelles Op.23 (1920-9)
Martinů Sonatina for clarinet and piano (1956)
Milhaud Duo Concertante Op.351 (1956)
Tailleferre Arabesque (1973)
Cooke Clarinet Sonata in B flat (1959)

Wigmore Hall, London
Monday 9 March, 1.05pm

Reviewed from the online broadcast by Ben Hogwood Photo of Michael Collins (c) Jack Lewis Williams

This was the first public appearance for Michael Collins and Wu Qian as a duo, yet together – on BBC Radio 3’s Lunchtime Concert at least – they displayed an easy familiarity, suggesting a partnership of a longer vintage.

They began with five much-loved miniatures from Gerald Finzi, often heard in isolation on rival radio stations. Collins and Qian enjoyed the bustling counterpoint of the outer Prelude and Fughetta movements, but the emotional heart of the set lay in the lovingly phrased Romance and Forlana, whose lilting rhythms were persuasively played, and the solemn Carol. The downbeat mood, inhabited from wartime struggles, was especially pertinent, though the Fughetta gave the music renewed energy in this performance.

Martinů’s Clarinet Sonatina is a late work, completed during a brief second stay in New York. The Czech composer was used to relocating at short notice on account of Nazi invasions of his homeland and Paris, but this brief second trip to America was an ultimately unsuccessful career move. The Sonatina inhabits the composer’s restlessness, looking longingly across the Atlantic towards Paris. This was captured by Collins and Qian in the bare piano octaves and reflective melody of the Andante, while the finale found greater conviction of feeling.

While Martinů pined for the French capital, Darius Milhaud was writing his Duo Concertant as a competition piece for his Paris Conservatoire students. Milhaud rarely outstays his welcome, and the piece was wrapped up with typical humour and a heartfelt central episode, gracefully played. Meanwhile the Arabesque of Milhaud’s fellow ‘Les Six’ member, Germaine Tailleferre, was a softly undulating dance that proved restrained yet elegant.

The English composer Arnold Cooke acquired a continental edge to his music thanks to a period of study with Paul Hindemith in the 1920s. His compositions for clarinet were written for Franz Reizenstein, also a pupil of Hindemith, and include a concerto and quintet. The airy first movement of the Clarinet Sonata in B flat – written deliberately without major or minor key labelling – was similarly elusive, its questioning line thoughtfully phrased by Collins in a satisfying balance with Qian.

The strident second movement is laced with humour which Collins was keen to bring out, before a probing slow movement with private asides from the clarinet hints at darker thoughts, particularly in its low burbling notes from the instrument near the end, suggesting a watery contemplation. The Finale swept these thoughts aside, making demands on Collins’ agility with the wide range of its thematic material, common across the work. The music dipped and weaved its way through a number of entertaining figures, plumping resoundingly for the major key in a hugely satisfying coda.

You can listen to this concert on BBC Sounds until 9th April.

Published post no.2,824 – Monday 9 March 2026

In appreciation – David Gilmour @ 80

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by Ben Hogwood

On Friday, the Pink Floyd guitarist and vocalist David Gilmour turned 80. I was fortunate to see him live at the Royal Albert Hall in 2006, so wanted to pay appreciation in the form of a favourite memory, a performance of Comfortably Numb with ex-bandmate Rick Wright:

Published post no.2,823 – Sunday 8 March 2026

Switched On – Moby: Future Quiet (BMG)

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Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Quiet is the new loud for Moby, who revisits his ambient roots for album no.23. The springboard for this appears to have been the appearance of When It’s Cold I’d Like To Die, the closing track from the 1994 album Everything Is Wrong, in prominent parts of the Stranger Things series.

That song opens Future Quiet, sung by Gabriels singer Jacob Lusk, while Moby works in a sequence of vocal and instrumental tracks that are mostly on the slow and ambient side.

What’s the music like?

There is little doubt that this is the style Moby does best, his slightly mournful take on electronic ambient music working a treat here.

The vocal guests acquit themselves extremely well, none more so than serpentwithfeet on the understated On Air, India Carney on Precious Mind, and Moby himself on the plaintive This Was Never Meant For Us.

Yet less is more in this area of music, and if anything Moby’s instrumental music speaks with greater clarity. Ruhe and Great Absence are intimate piano pieces that could easily be played in the same house as the listener, while Mott Street 1992 circles back to its main piano motif. Subtle, floated vocals from Elise Serenelle boost Estrella Del Mar, while Tallinn has a lovely solo violin.

Does it all work?

Pretty much. On rare occasions the music threatens to be over-produced, but in general the room Moby affords his music adds to its emotional reach and ambience.

Is it recommended?

Yes, enthusiastically. Moby’s response to a frantic, fraught world is to seek solace in ambient music, and that we can easily join him that says much for the content of Future Quiet. It speaks very subtly but leaves a calming imprint that lasts long after you stop listening.

Listen / Buy

You can explore purchase options for physical formats of Future Quiet at the Norman Records website

Published post no.2,822 – Saturday 7 March 2026

New Music – Shabaka: Of The Earth (Shabaka Records)

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by Ben Hogwood, with text from the press release

Shabaka has today released his new solo album Of The Earth, available today worldwide via his newly formed label Shabaka Records.

Written, performed, produced and mixed entirely by Shabaka, Of The Earth marks a defining moment in the British musician’s ongoing artistic evolution. Widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in contemporary British music, Shabaka has spent the past decade reshaping global perceptions of UK jazz through projects including Sons of Kemet, The Comet Is Coming and Shabaka and the Ancestors. With Of The Earth, he steps forward not only as a bandleader and instrumentalist, but as a producer crafting his sound from the ground up.

The album follows 2024’s internationally acclaimed Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace, which introduced a new phase of Shabaka’s practice centred on flute, breath and meditative sonic space. Of The Earth extends that transformation while reconnecting with the rhythmic propulsion that has long defined his work. Built from beats, loops and layered instrumentation recorded across multiple locations, the album synthesises the diasporic rhythms of Caribbean and African traditions with electronic production and improvisation.

Much of Of The Earth was created while travelling, with Shabaka working from portable instruments and digital production tools. Electronic rhythms and looping structures form the album’s foundation, while choral melodies unfold across alto flute, saxophone and clarinet. The music reflects a sense of movement – tracing diasporic pathways through sound while remaining grounded in rhythm and breath.

For the first time on record, Shabaka also raps. Inspired in part by André 3000, the decision emerged naturally from his deep relationship with hip hop. Having grown up practicing instruments over rap beats, he approached his voice as another instrument within the album’s sonic ecosystem, exploring cadence, phrasing and breath alongside flute and saxophone.

The album also marks a renewed relationship with the saxophone. After publicly stepping away from the instrument in recent years, Shabaka returned to it during the memorial concert for South African jazz legend Louis Moholo-Moholo in 2025. On Of The Earth, the saxophone reappears not as the dominant voice of earlier projects but as one element within a broader instrumental palette shaped by years of studying global flute traditions.

Shabaka will celebrate the album’s release with a special live launch performance at Village Underground, London on April 7th 2026, where he will present the music in an evolving hybrid format blending live instrumentation, improvisation and manipulated stems from the album recordings. With Of The Earth, Shabaka reveals a new dimension of his artistry, one that unites instrumental virtuosity, beatmaking and experimentation into a singular creative vision.

Published post no.2,821 – Friday 5 March 2026

New Music – Tycho: Forge (Ninja Tune / Mom + Pop)

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by Ben Hogwood, with text lifted from the press release

Tycho has announced and released Forge, the follow-up to (and early incarnation of)  Boundary Rider, his recent collaboration with Paul Banks of Interpol.

Speaking about the track, Tycho (aka Scott Hansen) says: “Boundary Rider started life as a demo called Forge, a driving open-ended extension of the Epoch-era sound. I originally sent a pretty stripped back version to Paul Banks to see if he was interested in contributing vocals, which later informed the direction of that arrangement. After completing that version, I revisited the original to see if I could draw a compelling instrumental out of it. This is sometimes difficult with a song written with vocals in mind — it’s hard to find the elements to tie it all together once the vocals are gone. But with this one it ended up feeling nicely balanced just by pushing Zac’s guitars to the front a bit, retaining the isolated sound of the vocal version while opening up more space for the instrumentation to breathe.”

As you will hear while listening to the track below, Hansen’s point is proved with music of warmth and poise, yet also positive energy – such as that felt with the onset of Spring-like weather here in Britain!

Published post no.2,820 – Thursday 5 March 2026