Harold Budd cites not music but visual art (in particular, the abstract expressionists Mark Tobey and Jackson Pollock) as his chief inspiration, although the notion that he's somehow immune to the thrill of music isn't true. As a teenager, he fell in love with the electrifying sound of bebop and went on to play drums … Continue reading Harold Budd : utterly no interest in labels
Month: May 2016
Guy Clark dies at 74
Best known as one of the great songwriters of the 20th century, Clark took unassuming characters and mundane happenings and projected them into narratives with epic scope. Among Texas songwriters, only Willie Nelson and Townes Van Zandt compare to Clark, who died at age 74 Tuesday morning at his Nashville home, after a long illness. Guy … Continue reading Guy Clark dies at 74
Two Pop Masterpieces Turn 50 Today : Pet Sounds & Blonde on Blonde
Both recordings were released on May 16, 1966, fifty years ago today. One a ground breaking aural masterpiece which broke the mold of what a rock band might aspire toward with album length work; the other an impressive combination of roots rock and Shakespearian imagery. Brian Wilson’s Pet Sounds inspired The Beatles and countless other … Continue reading Two Pop Masterpieces Turn 50 Today : Pet Sounds & Blonde on Blonde
Shelby Lynne : A long and winding road leading to artistic fulfillment
Shelby Lynne was destined to be a singer. Born a singer. She was raised in rural Alabama by musical parents who stressed individuality and the importance of standing apart from others. Lynne was born Shelby Lynne Moorer in Quantico, Virginia, in 1968 and spent most of her childhood in Jackson, Alabama. Her father was a … Continue reading Shelby Lynne : A long and winding road leading to artistic fulfillment
Remembering Steven Stucky : Gentle yet powerful influence
“One kind of artist is always striving to annihilate the past,” composer Steven Stucky once wrote, “to make the world anew in each new work, and so to triumph over the dead weight of routine. I am the other kind . . . who only sees his way forward by standing on the shoulders of those who … Continue reading Remembering Steven Stucky : Gentle yet powerful influence
Morton Feldman’s Piano and String Quartet
A major figure in 20th-century music, Morton Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown. Feldman's works are characterized by notational innovations that he developed to create his characteristic sound: rhythms that seem to be free … Continue reading Morton Feldman’s Piano and String Quartet
Musica Kaleidoskopea 