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25 Things, a meme reborn
During the year that I was on Facebook (2009), I participated in the viral survey called “25 Random Things About Me”. The idea behind it was simple: you list…
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Tiny Desk Concert: Marketa Irglova
We need more of this in the world — two unaffected artists straight-up making music, no gimmicks, no pizzazz. Marketa Irglova and the talented newcomer Aida Shahghasemi performed a…
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Dovekeepers Cover Photo
A little tidbit about the cover photo of Alice Hoffman’s The Dovekeepers. It’s a photograph by Joyce Tenneson, a photographer in NYC who shoots large-format polaroids on chocolate film. This…
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Cloud Shmoud
Spent today immersed in the software side of social media and mobile. Very timely stuff of course, though I couldn't get as excited as everyone else about putting web…
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electronic minimalism: listen
Beautifully strange music from a composer in Spain named José Manuel Berenguer, a.k.a. ‘jmb’. Free mp3s on his website, though he strongly suggests that you contact him for higher quality…
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Bill Hanley: Genius
The man who single-handedly invented the concert sound system. File under: amazing people deserving wider recognition.
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A Glass, Darkly
Had an amazing day in NYC today. We walked endlessly, photographing architecture and odd window displays, consuming epic amounts of cappuccino, admiring a city we once called home. Late…
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The Horrors of the Half-Diminished
The pesky root-tritone relationship in the half-diminished chord — min 7 (b5) — adds an annoying constraint to voicings options. Often chordal players will omit it entirely, particularly when…
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Greasy Dominant Tricks
Continuing the topic of chords (chords, I love chords!!), it’s time to bask in the power of the dominant nine — whether flatted or raised. The voicings below are…
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Luscious Chord Fatness
In the spirit of the previous post, I thought I’d talk about a few more chord tricks. Here the focus is on creating the biggest sound possible, the type…
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Ferrante Voicings
The great pianist/composer Russell Ferrante (of the Yellowjackets) has a unique brand of chordal harmony. While much of what he plays is as rich and complex as chocolate cake, it could be argued…
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Manolo
Last night we ditched a planned movie outing to go wandering through the Galleria. The appeal of the Apple Store is always great, and yet it always disappoints. There,…
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Two More Soundtrack Gems
Continuing the topic of soundtracks, I’d like to add two more films for consideration, both of which are now available on Netflix Instant. “Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries)” comes from…
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Review: Gretchen Parlato “The Lost and Found”
Gretchen Parlato’s much anticipated third release, The Lost and Found, secures her position as the leading vocalist in New York’s under-40 jazz scene. On this 15-track program, Parlato and producer Robert Glasper…
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A phone call from space
This is pretty amazing: On Sunday, my dad received a phone call from astronaut Mike Barratt aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery! He reported, “The view is spectacular up here.” Adding…
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Goodnight Milton
Today we bid farewell to another musical giant, the one and only Milton Babbitt who died Sunday at 94. Babbitt’s boundary-pushing musical works posed challenges both for his audience…
