Tag Archives: music

“Glenn Gould’s Scribbles”

Posted on November 6, 2018 by JMN

Those scribbles? That’s Glenn Gould, scratching on his sheet music as he recorded Bach’s “Goldberg” Variations in 1981. We reported this week on the newly rediscovered score, which offers some insights — barely legible ones — into Gould’s process and … Continue reading →

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Since My Baby Left Me

Posted on November 6, 2018 by JMN

Since my baby left me, I’ve found a place to dwell, at the end of Lonely Street in Heartbreak Hotel. I get so lonely, baby. I get so lonely. I get so lonely I could die. Elvis sang those words … Continue reading →

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A little twirly birdie?

Posted on October 27, 2018 by JMN

I stream my music from Spotify and Pandora, resorting to radio only when I’m in the car. My local station is Jack Radio. Its jaunty slogan, We play what we want, belies the wretched predictability of its fare, a trait … Continue reading →

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“Emphasis on the Right Syllable”

Posted on October 23, 2018 by JMN

[Neil Tennant is one half of The Pet Shop Boys, a long-running pop music duo (unknown to me) whose other half is Chris Lowe. At age 64, Tennant comes across In The Guardian interview as articulate, witty, and thoughtful in … Continue reading →

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Understanding Lyrics

Posted on October 23, 2018 by JMN

My sister told me I had to listen to “One Headlight” by Jakob Dylan and The Wallflowers. A friend had introduced her to the song. “Before you hear it,” she said, “I just want to say, you’re going to find … Continue reading →

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Boosler, Eisenberg, Cage, Aznavour, Hockney

Posted on October 3, 2018 by JMN

Men, she sighs, expect her to cook breakfast the morning after sex. “They want things like toast,” she says, exasperated. “I don’t have these recipes.” (Jason Zinoman, “The Comedy Master Who Hasn’t Gotten Her Due: Elayne Boosler,” NYTimes, 10-1-18) “I … Continue reading →

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Yo-Yo Ma, America’s Cellist

Posted on September 28, 2018 by JMN

And what Mr. Ma plays at moments like those [i.e. historic occasions], to make us cry and then soothe us, is, more often than not, a selection from the Bach cello suites. These six works are the Everest of his … Continue reading →

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Help Wanted

Posted on September 23, 2018 by JMN

I count ninety-six pieces of J.S. Bach’s “Das Wohltemperirte Klavier” (The Well-tempered Clavier — does “tempered” mean “tuned”?). I don’t know if ninety-six is the canonical count. I may have miscounted. I purchased the recording from iTunes some years ago … Continue reading →

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Feelings and Imagination

Posted on September 19, 2018 by JMN

I once authored a proto-blog in the BI (Before Internet) epoch, an ante-deluvian moment on the cyber-scale of time. I was based in a rambling bayou city situated in a large, hidebound, arrière-garde, rump-facing state of the sector of the … Continue reading →

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Lost in jazz ecstasy

Posted on September 16, 2018 by JMN

This flash-back is from The Guardian. I have a vague memory of when Elvis invaded the airways, and my grandmother commenting, “I can’t imagine anyone can find that music pretty.” Photographer Michael Peto and writer Anthony Samson visited the cinemas … Continue reading →

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