Friday, January 19, 2024

Peter Schickele ("PDQ Bach"), 1935-2024

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Peter Schickele, who  died Tuesday at 88 , was a serious composer of " more than 100 symphonic, choral, solo instrumental and chamber w...
Sunday, January 07, 2024

Thomas Curtiss, Jr., 1941-2023

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The photo is of one of the the last times Tom Curtiss and I were together, some years ago, when he and his husband, Charles Neeley, visited ...
2 comments:
Friday, December 22, 2023

"Angels We Have Heard On High" by the Portland Choir and Orchestra

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This is one of my favorite carols, in part because of how "the 'o' of 'Gloria' is fluidly sustained through 16 notes of...
Friday, December 08, 2023

Andy Irvine's "Never Tire of the Road," a tribute to Woody Guthrie

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I've been neglecting the blog lately. It's a combination of work (yes, I still do that), helping to keep the  Brooklyn Heights Blog ...
Sunday, October 22, 2023

Queen Claude and Anne Boleyn

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In my post about the global art market I noted that my given name, Claude, is gender neutral in French. Today, thanks to  Tina Brown's ...
Saturday, September 30, 2023

Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris. "Hickory Wind"

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The clip above is from  Dj Pj-roc Reacts , a hip-hop Dj's exploration and appreciation of country music. It includes audio, with photo m...
Sunday, September 10, 2023

Does being romanticized in a 1960s or '70s pop song spell present day disaster for a city?

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  I wonder how many of my fellow Baby Boomers, on hearing of the dreadful earthquake that struck southern Morocco, had this 1969 Crosby, Sti...
Saturday, September 02, 2023

Secrets of the global art market, revealed through family drama.

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The painting above, Caravaggio's "The Lute Player," circa 1596 (image: Caravaggio, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons), no...

Jimmy Buffett, "A Pirate Looks at Forty"

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His New York Times   obituary  calls him a "rougish bard of island escapism." According to  his website , "Jimmy passed away ...
Wednesday, August 02, 2023

A bold prediction; a chastened update.

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 The Mets will be a better than .500 team for the rest of the season; this despite what appears to be a daunting schedule. It won't be e...
Sunday, July 30, 2023

Sinead O'Connor - Oro Se do Bheatha Bhaile, an Irish Rebel Song

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Thanks to my long time friend Dermot McEvoy for sharing with me and many more of the old Lion's Head crew this clip of  Sinead O'Con...
1 comment:
Sunday, July 23, 2023

Tony Bennett - "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams"

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  If you've wondered what Tony Bennett's first hit was, this is it. He was  born Anthony Dominick Benedetto  (the late British humor...
Thursday, July 13, 2023

I can't give up on the Mets

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  The All Star Break is a traditional time to assess a team's performance and its prospects for the rest of the season. On May 21 I  exp...
Wednesday, July 05, 2023

Alan Arkin, folk singer (and more), 1934-2023

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Alan Arkin, who  died last Thursday  at 89, was blessed with many talents. Before his career as an actor began in earnest he played guitar a...
Monday, June 19, 2023

Some thoughts concerning the legacy of Daniel Ellsberg (1931-2023)

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First, I consider  Daniel Ellsberg a hero. He broke the law. but did so not out of desire for personal gain but to expose to the public a p...
Friday, May 26, 2023

10,000 Maniacs & David Byrne, "Let the Mystery Be" -- a (sort of) theological reflection.

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The clip above shows  10,000 Maniacs , with their then vocalist  Natalie Merchant  and a guest appearnce by  David Byrne , doing "Let t...
Thursday, May 25, 2023

Tina Turner (1939-2023) - "What's Love Got To Do With It?"; a remembrance.

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As I  noted twelve years ago , and gave the reason there, actors, artists, and musicians I have loved over the years are dying with frequenc...
Sunday, May 21, 2023

Fairport Convention - "Reno Nevada" by Richard Fariña at Cropredy 2017

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A lttle over a year ago I  posted about Fairport Convention's doing Emitt Rhodes' "Time Will Show the Wiser" on their fir...

The Mets are showing some life ... Updated!

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Updat e ... as are the bats of  Pete Alonso  and of  Francisco Lindor  (photo). True to form, the Mets started the season hot, but this year...
Sunday, May 14, 2023

Another friend gone: Anne Hagman McDermott

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The photo above shows Anne Hagman McDermott as I most remember her, in the company of a group of friends. I'm at the right, in my Mets c...
Saturday, May 06, 2023

Some thoughts on English and Portuguese history, an admirable woman, and two boroughs of New York City

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Today  King Charles III was crowned. This led me to think of the last British monarch to bear his name, Charles II (portrait by Philippe d...
Wednesday, May 03, 2023

Gordon Lightfoot (1938-2023), "Seven Islands Suite"

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No, this isn't turning into a music blog. It's that every week lately seems to bring news of the death of a musician I've loved....
1 comment:
Sunday, April 30, 2023

Harry Belafonte, "Jamaica Farewell"

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Harry Belafonte died last Tuesday at the age of 96. According to his New York Times obituary his singing career began while he was a teenag...
Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Born to Be Wild: Ann-Margret rocks!

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Ann-Margret, at 81, has recorded "Born to be Wild", an album of covers of rock classics, with help from Pete Townshend, himself no...
Monday, April 10, 2023

Oh, no! There's now an "AI Assistant" named for me.

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Will anyone now believe that anything I write is really mine, not a product of this robot ?
1 comment:
Sunday, April 09, 2023

Happy Easter! Zissen Pesach! Ramadan Mubarak!

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According to Magee Hickey on WPIX 11 Easter, Passover, and Ramadan, three important holidays of the three Abrahamic faiths, overlap only on...
Sunday, April 02, 2023

King's College Cambridge Choir, ""All Glory, Laud and Honour"

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This morning's Palm Sunday service at  Grace Church, Brooklyn  began, as it customarily does, with the joyful hymn "All Glory, Laud...
Saturday, April 01, 2023

Scarlatti Harpsichord Solo: The Cat's Fugue, Elaine Comparone

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  The prolific Italian Baroque composer Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) wrote many single movement fugues for solo harpsichord. One of thes...