It seems every 100 years interest in fairies surfaces. Some of you may remember Geoffery Hodson’s book “Fairies at Work and Play” where some turn-of-the-century photographer fooled many into thinking there were fairies in their gardens. Now, it appears someone named B.S. Joseph has found a dead fairy. Visit his/her (not sure what gender BS […]
“I want to enthrall the world by my creative work, by its wondrous beauty. I want to be the brightest imaginable light, the largest sun. I want to illumine the universe by my light. I want to engulf everything and absorb everything in my individuality. I want to give delight to the world. I want […]
I was driving back from the store and looked up Fairfax Ave to see what looked like LA’s 9/11. I turned on the radio to find out it was a heavy brush fire traveling up the side of a mountain not too far from Universal Studios. When I got home I took the dogs up […]
Lisa Summer, author of “Music The New Age Elixir”
I’m reading a fairly interesting book called MUSIC: The New Age Elixir by Lisa Summer. It calls to task the several shelves of books that have been written about music and the spiritual world over the past 100 years or so, from the point of view of […]
In the curiouser and curiouser department, I listened with amazement that circumcision shows great promise in reducing the number of AIDS cases among heterosexual males in Africa. The foreskin of an uncircumcised male is evidently far more susceptible to HIV than the toughened glans meatus of a circumcised male. Although this is a very serious […]
Rufus Wainwright sings that he wishes that the New York Times would publish “LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL” on its front page (THAT will never happen). I wish that newspapers would help literacy by correcting commonly mispronounced and misspelled words. So I’m starting my own campaign, and today we’ll start with
et cetera
My colleague Tom, and thousands of […]
This press release just in for a concert sponsored by the American Composers Forum of LA. I’m not sure who does her copy, but I’ll have whatever she’s having.
Soprano Kerry Walsh’s voice conveys joy, pathos, and pain in a way that creates unutterable longing. Hearing Ms. Walsh sing this range of material in a small […]
Mark Swed wrote a brilliant review for Christopher Rouse’s new REQUIEM which I didn’t get to hear because of my own concert at the same time. I don’t normally think CHORUS when I think of Christopher Rouse, but Swed’s review was so exciting, I can’t wait to hear it.
Say what?? These guys were the Beatles of Australia. No, I just made that up. The “thorts”?? Dude, what kind of a name is that?
I was amazed to hear one pop song from the late 60s after another pop up as on-screen music in Warren Beatty’s early film “Shampoo.” The Beatles, Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Buffalo Springfield, Jefferson Airplane, and the only credit we see in the entire film is at the beginning: “Music by Paul Simon.” His stuff, what […]
You gotta be tough to put up with Groucho Marks’ introductions. Nurturing? Try skeptical. But mmm mmmm! Listen to Ms Bentley. I wanna learn to play this. Do you suppose there is a notation of it somewhere? I can just smell the cigar smoke and feel those hot studio lights.
Gladys Bentley on" You Bet Your […]
“Precious Memories” Wilburn Brothers, Del Reeves, Loretta Lynn & Harold Morrison (Late 1960’s)
Jason Moskovitz sent this in. “I’m the “light-skinned” guy on the big drum.” [on the left] I’ve gotta admit that this is one of the coolest orchestrations I’ve heard/seen is quite some time. The quivery instrument is a bowed saw, the percussion ensemble are members of the Taiko group Jason belongs to. Very cool. It’s […]
Maybe I should go to Florida and drink lots of beer and scream and get filmed by MTV so all my students will know what a party animal I am. Or, I could go to Palm Springs. Hmmmm…
I had the great fortune of two concerts this past weekend. On Saturday, Vox Femina/LA premiered my ALARCON MADRIGALS, BOOK 3 at the First United Methodist Church on Wilshire (LA). As I mentioned the other day, the concert was sold out. At the last minute, they opened up the good sized balcony in the back, […]
The Vox Femina premiere of my ALARCON MADRIGALS, BOOK 3 will happen tonight. I’m opening for Carl Orff’s CARMINA BURANA which will be performed by Vox, and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, The Los Angeles Children’s Choir, and the USC Percussion Ensemble, and conducted by Iris Levine.
Funny thing is, IT’S SOLD OUT! I’m […]
As it is the end of the term, I have finals to correct, grades to calculate, a competition to adjudicate, a report about a new hire to make, and a document to create about what I think our new music school should be like, I have almost no time left to blog for a few […]
Here is a sweet clip from a family that lost their Italian Greyhound, Bitty, to bad dog food. Heartbreaking. We have 2 IGs, and Bitty looks a bit like our Cody. They are fragile dogs and have fragile digestive systems. If you have a dog, be sure you’re not feeding it tainted food.
[Rufus, takes a break from composing his opera, and watching Fellini’s SATYRICON the screen freezes on the face of the young, brown hair, big-eyed gay boy, whose face slowly grows and fills the entire 50 inch flat screen display. Rufus bolts, knowing this is not in the movie. “Hello?” The face on the screen slowly […]
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