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Posted by: Pat Padua
The jazz world has lost one of its great pianists, Hank Jones, who died yesterday in New York. He was 91. During his long and storied career Jones appeared on countless sessions with legends from all walks of jazz: Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, John Coltrane, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Jazz writer Howard Mandel …
Posted in: Composers, In Memoriam, Jazz, Musicians, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
Pianist-composer Uri Caine has played with a veritable who’s-who of jazz, from hard bop legend Hank Mobley to soul-jazz leader Grover Washington to avant-garde icon John Zorn, from scat singer Annie Ross to the man who has been described as “James Brown trapped in Don Knotts’ body,” Arto Lindsay. He has performed Duke Ellington numbers …
Posted in: Composers, Concerts and Events, Jazz
Posted by: Pat Padua
“People talk about song-writing techniques. I have a technique. I sit around scratching myself and waiting for something to crop up. That’s why they call it a gift! Sit there and open up your mind and let yourself be a conduit.” That’s song-writer and raconteur Bill Withers, who so memorably closed a great evening of …
Posted in: Composers, Concerts and Events, Musicians
Posted by: Pat Padua
Above the desk where I sign in to work hangs a pin-up calendar whose pet of the month of May is a Shih Tzu in a shiny red wagon. Below the happy pup is the notation that May 2nd-8th, 2010 is Be Kind to Animals Week. According to the American Humane Association , this week …
Posted in: Composers, Jazz, Musicians, Sheet Music, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
“It would be nice to hear someone say, ‘Look at that gas station in the moonlight. It’s pure John Adams.’ ” — John Adams, composer of Nixon in China. [1] New Yorker music critic Alex Ross recently blogged about two different composers named John Adams, distinguished by their middle names of Luther and Coolidge. This common …
Posted in: Composers, Sheet Music, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
This week marks the birthday of two of the participants in Great Conversations in Music, a series of interviews hosted by Eugene Istomin (1925-2003). Video clips from the entire series can be viewed on the Performing Arts Encyclopedia, and are organized by The Pianists, The Composers, Chamber Music, The Virtuosos, and The Conductors. One of those conductors …
Posted by: Pat Padua
Otto. Cutey. Stinkpot. Wucker. Dumplin’. Maestro. Big Red. Head Knocker. Puddin’. These are some of the many nicknames given the man born Edward Kennedy, whom we all know as “Duke” Ellington. Born April 29, 1899 in Washington, D.C., Ellington was one of the great jazz bandleaders, pianists, and composers. The Music Division is home to …
Posted in: African American History, Birthdays, Composers, Jazz, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
Music and poetry are two sides of artistic expression that are often inseparable – in the nomenclature of today’s youth, they are indeed Best Friends Forever. April is National Poetry Month, a designation first made in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets in New York. As the month winds down, In the Muse sets anchor …
Posted in: Composers, Sheet Music, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
Charles Mingus was born in Nogales, Arizona on April 22, 1922. The first instrument he played was the trombone, a sound he always liked – trombonist Jimmy Knepper was one of the defining voices of many a Mingus ensemble. But it was with the bass that Mingus found his voice. Inspired by Ellington bassist Jimmy …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Jazz, Musicians, Special Collections