Irving Plaza shook last night from the power and energy of Black Joe Lewis. Coming from the current blues-rock capital of the world, Austin, Texas, Black Joe plays a red river blues style infused with elements of funk and soul, producing music that channels all the passion of blues and sets it to a rhythm… Read more »
If you woke up this morning with more than $25 in your pocket and did not go to City Winery last night, you messed up. Last night, the legendary blues player John Hammond allowed all watching the extreme pleasure of listening to him play. Hammond, 71, slammed his southern roots blues down with a soulful,… Read more »
Fifty years ago today, in a small New York City theater, in front of an audience of 728 people, Ed Sullivan launched The Beatles, ignited a cultural revolution and unleashed the desire to create music in countless artists. The audience of 73 million television viewers included children like Steven Tyler, Richie Sambora, Tom Petty, Nancy… Read more »
My brother, Rory, and I, agreed on two things in early 1964: we loved bacon and we were crazy cuckoo nuts over the Beatles. Every Friday night that year, Mom gave us each a dollar to “get the hell out of the house and don’t come back until the store closes.” Together, Rory, 7, and… Read more »
New York’s attempt to think about stupid stuff for a weekend came to an abrupt halt early on Super Bowl Sunday when word was leaked that Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead of a heroin overdose. Hoffman was a highly celebrated actor and I had the good fortune to see him on stage several times…. Read more »
The minty New York streets certainly provide enough coolness these days to keep my mind on edge. For the unrare occasions when I need to firmly grip the hands of my clock and escape time for a couple of hours. One of the places where this delicate procedure has a high degree of success is… Read more »
Stories are an essential part of human civilization. Every person’s life is one’s own individual narrative. There are also stories that have been told and preserved for hundreds and even thousands of years. There is the story of Abraham and Isaac, Siddhartha Gautama and the Bohdi Tree, Achilles and Agamemnon, Arjuna and Krishna, Mohammad and… Read more »
The lives of musicians are endlessly fascinating. Through dedicated and devoted practice, the instruments become part of the their being, a natural appendage of their life. The instruments become their voice through which they communicate with the world. The stimulus of their life, the spirit of their time, their personal desires and heartbreaks are transformed… Read more »
The poetry scene in New York City is more alive and vibrant than ever. This may strike some people by surprise. When we think of poetry we often think of the 19th century salons in Paris or the Bohemian haunts of the 20’s or the howling beatitudes of the 50’s and 60’s. However, there are… Read more »
Most people are familiar with the fable of the enraged lion marauding villages. Brave warriors are sent to defeat the lion and one after another the warriors are lost, rendering the villages increasingly vulnerable. Finally, a tiny mouse meagerly and harmlessly visits the lair of the lion and finds a thorn stuck in his paw. … Read more »
