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Posted by: Pat Padua
Gregory Porter’s 2013 Blue Note album Liquid Spirit just won a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album. This week we welcome this rising star to the Library of Congress. Porter’s influences range from the Southern Gospel sound of Bakersfield in his native California to his mother’s Nat King Cole records. The Grammy winner records for the …
Posted in: Jazz
Posted by: Pat Padua
This Friday, the Music Division’s popular jazz film series returns to the Mary Pickford Theater. Senior Reference Specialist Larry Appelbaum curated the series and provided program notes. Friday evenings at 7:00 pm – Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor, James Madison Building. No tickets or reservations needed. Limited seating begins at 6:30pm. Programs subject to change without …
Posted in: Film Music, Jazz, Musicians
Posted by: Pat Padua
With the help of Elizabeth Fulford Miller, who provided web metrics, In the Muse looks back at the past year to see our most popular blog posts. 11. 1750: Berlin on the Potomac. A look at Berlin chamber music under Frederick the Great, the subject of a program in our Spring 2012 lecture series. 10. Our …
Posted in: Dance, Film Music, Jazz, Pic of the Week, Sheet Music, Special Collections, Staff
Posted by: Pat Padua
The !!!! Beat was a pioneering blues, soul and R&B television show broadcast from WFAA in Dallas, Texas and hosted by radio d.j. William “Hoss” Allen. The series, which began production in January 1966, ran for 26 episodes with stellar performances by national and regional stars, including Little Milton, Esther Phillips, Etta James, Gatemouth Brown, Louis …
Posted in: Film Music, Jazz
Posted by: Pat Padua
Today we remember the birthday of one of bebop’s pioneers, captured in a classic portrait by photographer William P. Gottlieb. Drummer Max Roach was born on January 10, 1924 in North Carolina. He was not only a pioneer of the new form but was active in the Civil Rights movement with his We Insist! Max …
Posted in: Birthdays, Jazz, Musicians, Pic of the Week, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
In the Muse has been under the weather lately, and would have otherwise paid timely homage to one of the twentieth century’s greatest entertainers. Francis Albert Sinatra was born in Hoboken, New Jersey on December 12, 1915. His long and storied career invited imitation …
Posted in: Birthdays, Jazz, Musicians, Pic of the Week, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
September 19th was the birthday of two old friends of the Music Division. Jazz pianist/composer Muhal Richard Abrams was born September 19, 1930 in Chicago. He worked as a sideman behind such luminaries as Dexter Gordon and Max Roach, and was part of the 1970s jazz loft scene in New York, so named because of …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Jazz, Pic of the Week
Posted by: Pat Padua
This week’s Pic of the Week breaks one of the cardinal rules of Good Photography: show your subject. But if you recognize the face emerging from the ghostly apparition, it makes perfect sense. Jazz singer Mel Tormé was born on this day in 1925. He began his long career as a drummer for Chico Marx, …
Posted in: Birthdays, Jazz, Musicians, Pic of the Week, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
September 2 marks the birthdays of two very different musician/ composers whose works grace the Music Division’s storied vaults. Classical guitarist Laurindo Almeida was born on this day in 1917. His career ran the gamut from Sao Paulo radio to Hollywood session man, and he worked with a range of artists from Villa-Lobos and Carmen …