It must have been terrifying to be an artist in the Soviet Union during World War II. Classical composer Dmitri Shostakovich seems to have done the best he...
Tag - music sites
I knew when I began looking for links to Bucky Pizzarelli that I would find tons of great jazz guitar. Though it is impossible to say so definitely without...
There are brilliant writers and performers who work within a genre and produce something that has one foot — or even a toe or two — outside it...
Leadbelly — Huddie Ledbetter — is a legend. The outlines are contradictory: Leadbelly was a murderer who sang kids songs and became a bedrock of...
H/T: Walter W. Before I heard them, the name My Morning Jacket suggested a proper and correct group of gentlemen who sipped tea and perhaps indulged in some...
Running into music written and performed by an individual — Lorde — who is the same age (to be precise, 15 days older) than my youngest child is an...
I didn’t liked Elton John when I was young. Youth defend their cultural choices aggressively, and I was into The Grateful Dead, Hot Tuna and that...
Brazilian music has a unique and simple beauty. Here is how singer Anna Salleh’s profile starts at her site: Singer/guitarist Anna Salleh (pronounced...
Red Norvo had to be good: Being called “Mr. Swing” in an era in which swing was king suggests a tremendous amount of respect (or an extraordinary...
The Roots are busy: They are a very successful hip-hop group and, at the same time, the house band for “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.” I am not...
Reading Music
The stories of the great bands and musicians are fascinating. Musicians as a group are brilliant, but often troubled. The combination of creativity and drama makes for great reading.
🎼🎺🎻🎹🎷🎶🎵
🎼🎺🎻🎹🎷🎶🎵
Here are some books to check out.
Duke Ellington brought class, sophistication and style to jazz which, until that point, was proudly unpolished and raucous. His story is profound. The author, Terry Teachout, also wrote "Pops," the acclaimed bio of Louis Armstrong. Click here or on the image.
What else is there to say? Here is the story behind every song written by The Beatles. Click here or on the image.
The Grateful Dead don't get enough credit for the profound nature of its lyrics. Many of the band's songs are driven by a deep and literate Americana ("I'm Uncle Sam/That's who I am/Been hidin' out/In a rock and roll band" and "Majordomo Billy Bojangles/Sit down and have a drink with me/What's this about Alabama/Keeps comin' back to me?").
David Dodd's exhaustive study tells the story, song by song. Click here or on the image.