Photo by Roger Bourland.
We happened into a marvelous circle of friends, a few of whom I’ve known since 1981, collectively known as “The Roving Church of Fun.” The group formed around Southern California Renaissance Faires. I first met Jim Kelly, who later became one of the Jims of Jim and Jim who were responsible for […]
I’ve avoided writing this post for some time, but don’t see any reason to put it off any longer.
In my past several years of Rufus Wainwright enthusiasm, I’ve spoken to a lot of people about my project, as well as asking for their thoughts about Rufus. Let me share some of the more challenging remarks:
“It’s […]
Photo by Roger Bourland.
There is a new trend in my neighorhood streets: humps. Meaning, beware, speed bumps ahead. But “bump” is out: hump is in. Mmmm…
Photo by Roger Bourland.
In 1983, I was commissioned by Robert Schunemann, owner of ECS Publishing and director of a choir in Cambridge, Massachusetts called “Cambridge Concentus” [or something like that] commissioned me to write three anthems for Ascension Sunday. He provided me with three texts, all of which I set and are now published by ECS Publishing in […]
Here is a famous portrait of composer Carl Ruggles by Thomas Hart Benton. A young photographer took this picture of me for an article about something for the UCLA Daily Bruin. It always reminded me of the Benton painting except Ruggles looks much grouchier.
This picture is of me in a UCLA classroom. I’m happy to […]
I was happy to have attended performances by the LA Phil last night of 2 works by Louis Andriessen and one by Arvo Pärt. For some strange reason, I have avoided hearing the former’s music, thinking it was too [you fill in the blank]. Like so many of us with flawed opinions, I just hadn’t […]
Photo by Roger Bourland.
The number one reason we cite for not exercising is lack of time, and it’s true –– who really has time to go to the gym? The demands we put on ourselves, and the priorities of the day barely leave us enough time to take a shower.Is it practical for most […]
You will be listening to music more and more at your computer and less and less through the sound system in your house. Speakers usually include a left right set and very often a sub-woofer. They come in all kinds of modern shapes and sizes. There are also devices and cables that can port your […]
A recent report tells me that CDs continue to plummet in popularity. Check out this recent poll showing who sells the most music (mp3s and hard copy music as well):
TOP 10
Wal-Mart
Best Buy
Target
Amazon.com
FYE
Circuit City
Apple iTunes
Tower Records
Sam Goody
Borders
Source: NPD
Walmart, Best Buy and Target are now the biggest sellers of CDs? Can you believe that? Amazon will continue […]
I was just watching TV and realized that blogging is the Everyman’s TV. I looked at all the content and image manipulation asking myself: would you do this if you could on your blog? The answer would be: yes.
But blogs have a “dear diary” aspect to them, one that the ultahomogenized network TV doesn’t have. […]
Wow, anti-war concerts are still happening. Are the 60s back? Hmm, no I guess not. Rolling Stone reported anti-war concert that happened last night featuring Michael Stipe, Bright Eyes, Steve Earle, Rufus Wainwright, Fischerspooner, Moby, Peaches and Devendra Banhart. Yeah, it’s not the 60s. The article gives an overview of who sang what, but as […]
The concept of contrast is one that is elemental in life. I stumbled across a passage in The Urantia Book about art that helped me focus on one of the important underlying forces of art: “great art invariably involves the effective maninulation of contrasts.” As a composer, here are some parameters in music where contrast […]
There are many resources for digitized cylinder discs on websites and blogs. I’ve been listening to many ancient recordings and am happy to pass on to you a few amusing and/or entertaining numbers.
The first is a digitized cylindrical recording made at UC Santa Barbara’s Donald C. Davidson Library. The song is called “Eli Green’s cake […]
Four Day Hombre
The UK indie group, FOUR DAY HOMBRE, has decided to issue stock in its label, Alamo Music. In fact, 30 fans have foregone their new kitchens for a chance to own stock in this rock band, described as being somewhere between Coldplay and Radiohead.
Can you imagine if we had the opportunity to buy […]
Following the success of “Hidden Legacies,” I received a commission in 1993 for a work for the Windy City Gay Chorus, conducted at that time by founding director, Richard Garrin. Richard’s energy as a conductor was high: he created tremendous momentum, thrilling phrasing, and a very sexy singing sound in his 60 voice male chorus.
Their […]
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