[contextly_auto_sidebar id="mbl7Kvnu4O02Y4xkk8gCu7d8lD7hlfYk"] THERE'S been a lot of talk about Mr. Wonder lately, largely because of the recent concerts. It reminds me of what may be my favorite Stevie song, from a record my parents had when I was a kid and which I pretty much wore out. Cool that he is tipping his hat to another piano player. I've only seen Stevie play once, at the 80th … [Read more...]
“Love Songs: A Hidden History”
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="jmgPWNAcri7qqzMjI9cU8cSfZfom5qHL"] INTERESTED in songs about love and sex going back to ancient fertility rites, through the medieval troubadours and the German art song and into the age of "Tangled Up in Blue," Ziggy Stardust, and bedroom R&B? Then you may want to get your hands on Ted Gioia's new secret history, Love Songs, just out on Oxford University … [Read more...]
Bob Marley: Happy 70th Birthday
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="3BXI0gx6g2APPzSTAgIfCMxuJKZAolOM"] RACING on a deadline, but can't resist posting this 1973 footage of Marley singing Concrete Jungle with the original Wailers. Sorry for cacophonous ad at beginning. Listen to those harmonies! This is like post-apocalyptic soul music. In my 20s I was a huge fan of '60s/early '70s Jamaican music (ska, rocksteady, lovers rock, dub) … [Read more...]
The Ballad of Alejandro Escovedo
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="CCAh4bKVUCAChyU9848GkcdsXhxXqV12"] ABOUT a week ago, I caught the Austin, TX, troubadour at City Winery in New York. Great show -- one of my musical heroes -- thoughts will follow. Sheesh busy few days hope to post on this tonight if I can. Everyone needs to pick up his records Thirteen Years and live chronicle More Miles Than Money if they are curious. He's … [Read more...]
Will Nashville’s Gentrification Destroy Its Music Scene?
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="Qwm7a4AXHZhLoHI5Q02SruYLg3cIgNWX"] ONE of the most pressing issues for culture-makers (and fellow travelers, like your humble blogger) is rapid gentrification. Often driven by the arrival or artists and musicians to a neighborhood or city, winner-take-all capitalism often means that investors and Trump-like developers arrive soon after and squeeze out the creative … [Read more...]
Billy Bragg: Taylor Swift vs. Spotify
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="El8ggTki0ehHooViWfWostAjBU7WfB0A"] RECENTLY, I've been puzzled over how to frame the Taylor Swift vs. Spotify fight. Having to take sides in that battle -- between a plutocrat popstar and an exploitative streaming service -- really makes me feel like I live in a dystopia. It's sort of an illusion of choice. "Maybe I should just ignore it?" crossed my mind a few … [Read more...]
Musicians Respond to YouTube’s Streaming Plan
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="6BOXVutxAn6x54DqzWmGmpzRcmnqtSpG"] IT'S been on the verge of dropping for months now, but YouTube has finally announced its new music streaming service, which could perhaps crush some of the others. What will it mean for musicians, er, content providers, especially those without corporate backing? At this point we don't entirely know, but the group Content Creators … [Read more...]
La Ciudad de las Ideas festival
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="9AhxX8pf5CvtID3wavJN9goOU6FcNHYU"] YOUR humble blogger is just back from a few days in Puebla, Mexico, which hosted an annual ideas conference that included writer Piper Kerman, filmmaker Werner Herzog, tiger mom Amy Chua, and a host of musicians, neuroscientists, and magicians. There was also an appearance by the Orquestra Esperanza Azteca, one of the many groups … [Read more...]
Obama Wants a “Free and Open Internet”
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="jqHfdeb7F6lDN38IeV0lSf8Avyx9cp2I"] THE president, I'm pleased to say, has now taken a fair and reasonable stance on an issue that exerts a strong effect on the creative class. Do we want the web to be skyboxed-- the rich over here, in the good seats, the rest over there, fighting for crumbs -- the way American society is? I don't, and that's what net neutrality, in … [Read more...]
“What’s With All the Jazz Bashing?”
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="5PEO4QFSNmxgzHgSPv9UaaL0AEAfjMDQ"] SOME of America's smartest publications -- the ones that often offered robust and serious jazz coverage in decades past -- have recently been running articles (satiric, critical or otherwise) dissing one of my favorite art forms. New Yorker, Atlantic, New York Review of Books... What's behind it? Music historian and CultureCrash … [Read more...]