From the category archives:

Music

Michael H. Crane, Pianist

October 25, 2009
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Last night, at the Manhattan Seventh-Day Adventist Church, pianist and composer Michael H. Crane gave a stunning performance of a number of classical works by such world-famous composers as Bach, Mozart, and Prokofiev.  The Prokofiev piece, in particular, “Concerto No. 4 in B-flat Major Op. 53 for Piano (Left Hand)” is a special reinterpretation by [...]

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Todd Alsup: Facts and Figures

March 24, 2009
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Recently, I attended the 16th Original GLBT Expo and had the pleasure of meeting a singer/ songwriter, Todd Alsup, whose 5-song EP, Facts and Figures (available through his website and on iTunes), I have played on a practically non-ending loop since last Saturday. Blending piano and soul in a manner that is by turns reminiscent [...]

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Ogre-ture: Shrek: The Musical on CD

March 3, 2009
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In some ways, Shrek: The Musical plays better as an original Broadway cast album than it does on stage. Repeated listens allow one to appreciate the lyrics, many of which are extremely clever, and even to grow quite fond of a number of the melodies. At the same time, the deficiencies of Jeanine Tesori’s score [...]

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Cole Porter

August 9, 2006
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The more I listen to Cole Porter, the more I’m convinced he was the best American musical theatre composer of all time. Here is a man whose music could be, by turns, devilishly funny, as well as heartfelt and touching, sometimes working all levels simultaneously, while avoiding any hints of kitsch or saccharinity. Not only [...]

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"Ship of Dreams": Titanic

May 4, 2006
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Today, in the office, on a whim, I’ve been listening to the soundtrack to a criminally underrated show which has almost completely fallen beneath most people’s radars: the musical of Titanic, which was critically lambasted when it first opened because (a) well, everyone heard TITANIC: THE MUSICAL, and thought, “You must be joking,” which is [...]

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Rent: The Movie: The Soundtrack: The Review

October 20, 2005
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Because I should be asleep right now but just can’t figure out how to accomplish the actual falling asleep part at the moment, I thought I’d write up a brief review of the new 2 CD Rent soundtrack for the upcoming Chris Columbus-directed film. In short: unfortunately, I’m not very impressed. Not only are not [...]

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The Decemberists in Concert

October 5, 2005
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There are very few young musician-songwriters I consider to be geniuses. My short list: Ben Folds, Fiona Apple, Alanis Morissette, and Colin Meloy, lead singer/songwriter of The Decemberists, whose concert I attended at Webster Hall in The Bowery last night, an area of the city, like so many areas of the city, that was once [...]

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The Decemberists

August 26, 2005
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I don’t often post about the music I listen to here. Because, although I listen to music a great deal, I rarely get so excited about a singer or a group that I feel the need to post about it. Just a week ago, though, a friend burned me copies of two albums from The [...]

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