Antonio Carlos Jobim is one of my favorite composers. I am often surprised at how many people don’t recognize the name because I am certain almost anyone over the age of 35 knows at least some of his tunes whether they realize it or not. Jobim’s most well known compositions are The Girl from Ipanema, Desafinado, How Insensitive, One Note […]
Antonio Carlos Jobim (1927-1994) Read More »
September marked the 50th anniversary of the recording of jazz pianist Erroll Garner‘s classic album Concert By the Sea. Sony Records celebrates the anniversary of this classic record with the two-CD set called The Complete Concert By the Sea. The entire concert is now available which includes many previously unreleased tracks plus a rare interview with Garner. A recent documentary
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I have been reading the new autobiography by Declan MacManus or, as he is better known, Elvis Costello. It is called “Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink”. It is well written but that is hardly surprising given his skill with words as exhibited in many of his songs. I am not a fan of all of his stuff. His voice can
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When I was in my early twenties I found a book in the library called “I Am a Composer”. It was an English translation of Arthur Honegger’s 1954 book, written in French. This book got me interested in Honegger because of his very original ideas and concepts. I recently ordered this book and I am now reading it again and,
Arthur Honegger (1892-1955) Read More »
Musician friends of mine are always surprised when I tell them I am a fan of composer Anton Webern. After all, his music is spiky and to many ears it seems discordant. Webern was a part of the Second Viennese School (along with Schoenberg and Berg). I was first introduced to this music when I studied music theory in college.
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Inspiration is something that I think is commonly misunderstood. Many people think that music is written when a flood of ideas comes to the writer like a thunderbolt. Once in a great while this sort of thing may happen but the old adage about inspiration being more about perspiration holds true. Personally I have to write four pieces of music