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Posted by: Pat Padua
With 2016 drawing to a close, anxious music fans may worry that a year that has taken away so many legends may yet give us one more reason to mourn. Starting with the death of Natalie Cole on New Year’s Day, dozens of artists who have provided the soundtracks of our lives died this year. …
Posted in: Composers, In Memoriam, Musicians, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
In a recent interview with Smokey Robinson, recipient of this year‘s Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, the songwriter told the Music Division about the birth of Motown, which he co-founded with Berry Gordy, Jr. Asked about the crossover appeal of the label, Robinson passed on something that Gordy had said to him: “I’m going to …
Posted in: Concerts and Events, Musicians
Posted by: Pat Padua
This year we’ve lost too many beloved figures in the entertainment world. Among them, the deaths of David Bowie and Prince struck the Music Division particularly hard. These two iconic performers made a lot of great records, and a lot of perhaps less-than-great movies. Many of their films have been screened in area repertory theaters, …
Posted in: Film Music, Musicians
Posted by: Pat Padua
The music world continues to mourn Prince, who died on April 21 at the young age of 57. The diminutive purple icon was a mad musical scientist who took James Brown and Jimi Hendrix into his lab and concocted something uniquely and unforgettably fabulous. Prince fans come from all walks of life, and he entered …
Posted in: In Memoriam, Musicians, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
Gershwin Prize Honoree Billy Joel met Beethoven this week thanks to the Music Division, who showed the six-time Grammy-winning composer manuscripts and artifacts from one of his favorite composers, including a lock of Beethoven’s hair. Joel was an engaged audience, humming along to Gershwin’s “Summertime” when he was showed a holograph from Porgy and Bess, …
Posted in: Composers, Concerts and Events, Musicians
Posted by: Pat Padua
A member of the audience at Tuesday’s Copyright Matters event in the Coolidge Auditorium asked songwriter Jimmy Webb about Donna Summer’s version of his song, “MacArthur Park.” Webb explained that it was his first number one record as well as Summer’s first number one record. “I’m not a fan of disco, but I was crazy …
Posted in: Composers, Concerts and Events, Musicians
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
“I feel this record ties past and present together through all those people and places in the South I knew and thought I had left behind.” Singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash is talking about her new album The River and the Thread, which she will premiere during a three-day residency at the Library of Congress that begins …
Posted in: Composers, Concerts and Events, Musicians
Posted by: Pat Padua
The music world lost one of its most influential voices last Sunday. Lou Reed (1942-2013) headed a legendary rock band before embarking on a solo career that led him from glam-rocker to elder rock statesman. The Velvet Underground released a handful of albums, each with a distinct personality that veered from blistering sonic experimentation to …
Posted in: Composers, Musicians, Special Collections