Arvo Pärt’s Fratres
An intensely haunting piece played to perfection. The bell-like piano chords that enter at 1:24 should remind everyone of the impact Pärt has had on the Hollywood film industry.…
Farewell Lhasa
Either I’m really out of touch, or the music media is. But here it is September and I’m just learning that the great Lhasa de Sela died in January…
Versailles and Les Puces
To begin, Versailles was AWFUL. Oh so crowded, absurdly garish, and frankly, a bit weird. Sitting among the Louis XIV opulence were modern Japanese pop art pieces, displayed behind ropes, one in…
New Ambient
I went on an expedition today to seek out new ambient music. It was a tricky hunt. Ambient is a misused, misunderstood genre. If you refer back to Eno’s…
Goodnight, Mr. Charoenrat
I was quite saddened to learn of Darawan Charoenrat’s passing, especially since I’m only now hearing about it, three months after the fact. His legendary Thai restaurant Kanomwan on…
New Zealand on the Tiny Desk
NPR’s excellent music blog includes an ongoing feature called Tiny Desk Concert in which bands perform lo-fi sets from the station’s office (desks included). This week the site hosts…
Montemartre, Anyone?
Well kids, we finally did it. We finally booked our trip to Paris. This is particularly monumental being Steph’s first Euro vacay and all. But now that we have…
Parking Integers
There was a time when meaningful internet domain names remained widely available. This bygone era began in pre-web 1985*, if you can imagine, and ran until the gold rush for…
The Black Orpheus Mystery
Black Orpheus is a beautiful movie with an equally beautiful soundtrack. I recently found a copy of the original LP for $3, which is now in almost constant rotation.
The Zachary Breaux Jazz Fest (Jazz Where Least Expected)
Many years ago, guitarist Zachary Breaux took a vacation with his wife and three daughters to the sandy beaches of Florida. As they meandered along the shore the group…
The Freakishly Smart President
Which President earns the title Most Freakishly Smart?
“The Incredible Sounds of Synclavier II,” and other hits
One of the most expensive synthesizers ever made and arguably one of the most beautiful too. On how the Synclavier captured our imaginations...
The Perils of a Jazz Pianist’s Left-Hand
For the modern jazz pianist, the risk of developing disparities between the right and left hand is well-known and rarely discussed. It’s our secret shame. To understand this, try…
Soul of a City
It’s April, time for the Spring KUHF fundraiser. One of the gifts-with-donation this year is the Engines of our Ingenuity CD Soul of a City. This new multimedia package, the 11th…
Horace Silver Transcription, “Peace”
Horace Silver made his name working alongside Blakey, Rollins, and countless others. But later he would part ways with be-bop to explore the funkier aspects of jazz. His strong…
Phineas Newborn Transcription, Sugar Ray
Phineas Newborn was the pianist’s pianist. He died way too young and only recorded a few albums, all of them gems. I spent some time transcribing the “head” to…
“Crank It Down”: Music For Sleeping
Ambient music, it’s warm milk to a seasoned insomniac. It’s Ambien without the morning hangover. The sandman of choice for me has always been the genre’s master, Brian Eno. There’s just…
For the Love of You, ARP 2600
It’s my sad confession. I once had a crush on a machine. I was an impressionable teenager and the ARP 2600 was my pinup girl. I loved this thing…
Benny Green Transcription, Cottontail
Benny Green trading choruses with a guitarist on the Ellington rhythm changes “Cottontail” from the Ray Brown CD Seven Steps To Heaven. Note the tempo — a scorching 300…
Benny Green Transcription, The Song Is You
This is the first chorus of a Benny Green solo on “The Song Is You” from his debut CD Prelude (1989, Criss Cross). The thing that’s impressive about this solo…
Mulgrew Miller Transcription
RIP Mulgrew. What a loss: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/arts/music/mulgrew-miller-jazz-pianist-dies-at-57.html Here are three choruses of a Mulgrew Miller piano solo on “If I Should Lose You,” from the album Getting To Know You.…
Roger Ebert: Hero
Roger Ebert’s battle with throat cancer has been a quiet background story for many years. News that the disease cost him his jaw and the ability to speak emerged…
Hipster Proto Bands
Band name-dropping is a tried and true technique for making yourself appear knowledgeable and cool. The more obscure the band the better. The smaller their output the better. If…
An Apple for an Apple
A brief history of the Battle of the Beatle, the legendary band's enduring conflicts with Apple Computers, EMI, and their future in the digital musicsphere.
Blinded by the Douche
“Blinded by the Light” was a perplexing piece of pop music. Despite the song’s surreal refrains, or maybe because of them, it achieved anthem-level notoriety in 1976, popular among both hipster children and…
