Musician Jeremy Pelt. Photo: Kasia Idzkowska The Griot of New York As its title hints, “Griot: This Is Important!” (HighNote, 2021) by New York-based trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, is the vital jazz... City Arts 31 Mar 2021 | 09:55
Photo courtesy of Bob Gruen A Life of Chronicling Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll Bob Gruen says he has been thinking of writing a memoir for 50 years. Now 74, and with the help of journalist Dave Thompson,... News 17 Mar 2021 | 12:38
Leon Botstein, music director and principal conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra. Photo: Ric Kallaher ( Ric Kallaher / photo by Ric Kallaher) ‘United We Play’ On March 12, 2020, the American Symphony Orchestra, along with pianist and composer Marcus Roberts and The Modern Jazz Generation,... City Arts 09 Feb 2021 | 12:36
“Resembling a cross between a choir boy and a beatnik, Mr. Dylan has a cherubic look and a mop of tousled hair he partly covers with a Huck Finn black corduroy cap,” wrote Robert Shelton, music critic for The New York Times. Photo: Jon Friedman When Bob Dylan Came to New York City Sixty years ago, the times were a-changin’. On Jan. 20, 1961, the dashing John F. Kennedy placed his hand on a Bible and duly... Voices 27 Jan 2021 | 03:49
Gail Archer at Vassar College. Photo: Stephanie Berger Cherishing the City as Her Instrument Gail Archer has performed on almost every organ in the city and countless others in the United States and Europe. “It’s not... News 18 Jan 2021 | 11:07
SummerStage in Central Park, now presented as SummerStage Anywhere online series. ( Photo: Noralanning at English Wikipedia, via Wikimedia Commons) The Summer Concert Season on Pause All across the city, from tiny clubs to massive arenas, the summer is a time for concerts. Or at least it usually is. As... News 16 Jul 2020 | 03:03
From Make Music Day in 2016, in Times Square. ( Courtesy of Make Music New York, via flickr) A Virtual Make Music Day In times fraught with tedium and isolation, it’s more important than ever to come together and get creative. It’s that time... News 18 Jun 2020 | 04:05
Wynton Marsalis and friends launched Lincoln Center's "Memorial For Us All" series on May 3. ( Photo courtesy of Lincoln Center) Voices Lifted in Love, Comfort and Hope Writers aren't ordinarily at a loss for words, but these are not ordinary times. Watching Lincoln Center's Sunday evening... City Arts 20 May 2020 | 10:35
Steven Blier of the New York Festival of Song. ( Photo: Liv Hoffman) Pleasure and Surprise In the world of classical music, there is no one quite like Steven Blier. Over the course of his nearly five-decade career,... News 02 Mar 2020 | 09:48
The author with faculty member Raj Bhimani turning pages. ( Photo: Mark Whitaker) A Week at Piano Camp – For Adults The morning begins at 9:15 with coffee and conversation in a paneled room of the Bloomingdale School of Music. The students... Camp Guide 26 Jan 2020 | 06:26
Ju-eh in "The Living Dying Opera" at the Abrons Arts Center on the Lower East Side. ( Photo: Peichao Lin) Prototype Festival A Musical Wild Card Ju-eh is a true 21st century artist. As an operatic countertenor, composer and overall conceptual curator, he has written... News 22 Dec 2019 | 12:51
20/20 vision on traffic and music What a swell concert that was! Yup, it was music when “swell” was a prime word of praise. Remember “What a Swell Party This... Columns 02 Aug 2019 | 11:14