I fell in love with the song “My Favorite Things” in 1993, the year my daughter was born, after buying Al Jarreau’s live-in-studio recording. He performed the song with operatic soloist, Kathleen Battle, and the combination, made in one take, felt flawless. I could immediately conceive of any number of interpretations of the song, it…
“Alon Basela,” a song by Avishai Cohen, means “an oak tree planted in stone.” It symbolizes knowing one’s strength by knowing the strength of one’s roots. Musically, it is a kick-ass live performance from a brilliant bassist, his pianist, Omri Mor, and his amazing percussionist, Itamar Doari. The time signature is mad.
In March 1969, Diana Ross and the Supremes hosted the television show, The Hollywood Palace, a musical variety show typical of the 1960s. It was among a flurry of televised performances for the group, all of which proved instrumental in making Diana a generational star. By 1970, the group had dissolved and Diana began her…
These Days of Art posts are not meant to be informative, but inspirational. I hope to present you with a little piece of art that you may be unfamiliar with. Take from it what you will, whether it is new or simply a reminder of something forgotten. Today’s art is presented by Louis Prima, trumpter,…
I don’t need to say much about this one. If you know music, you will hear the arrangement, the skintight musicianship, the moodmelting backing vocals, and the brainfreeze lead’s vocal range. J Paul is here, and he’s live with a remake of Aerosmith’s “Dream On.”
My wife knows I don’t want a funeral when I die, but should she survive me, and I hope to God she does, it will be up to her. Funerals aren’t for the dead; they’re for the living. Instead of a bunch of words, I’d rather people just hear and see … me. Not my…
In 1968, music producer Carl Davis gathered a group of session musicians and laid out a track written by Eugene Record and Sonny Sanders called “Am I the Same Girl?” The song was accompanied by lead vocals provided by Chicago native and Brunswick Records recording artist, Barbara Acklin. Barbara’s vocals were not to Davis’s liking,…
There is something unreal in the world of fiction. Now get me right; I’ve written fiction, so I understand that unreality is kind of the point. However, it sometimes leaves a plastic sheen that the producers of the work didn’t intend. Writers write too hard. Actors try to hard to achieve the beneath-the-nail grit that…
I’ve always held to the radical belief that writers should be able to write, painters to paint, and singers to sing. Now I’ve had the fortune of marrying a woman who can do all three things, and let me tell you, even for the talented, it’s damned hard to be discovered. Being remembered seems impossible.…
I’m not going to tell you about Angel Haze. Instead, I will let her speak for herself. Down is a direction, not a destination. Don’t live there. If you don’t know Haze, here is one of her big hits, performed with Sia. Now, fuck that. Here’s Haze. Out.
The Artists' Sanctum 