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Miles Davis: Gone, Gone, Gone
Gil Evans is one of the greatest jazz orchestrators/composers/arrangers in...
Marc Blitzstein’s NO FOR AN ANSWER & Kurt Weill’s DER SILBERSEE
Kurt Weill and Marc Blitzstein may not have been bosom buddies, yet their art...
James Taylor sings “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
To finish out my week of songs, I wanted to offer an early holiday treat....
Benjamin Britten: My Beloved Is Mine
Despite many of his compositions having Christian themes, Benjamin Britten had...
Edward Kleban: Better
Like every other theater kid, I lived for the Tony Awards. Growing up in...
Kurt Weill: Vie Lange Noch?
In late 2006, I was amongst the student performers working on the...
Marc Blitzstein: Stay In My Arms
To start the week off, I’ve chosen a song by Marc Blitzstein, one of the two...
Donny Hathaway: You’ve Got a Friend
Though this song isn’t a Donny Hathaway original, I agree wholeheartedly with...
Nina Simone: Little Girl Blue
The original Rodgers and Hart tune from their mostly-forgettable musical Jumbo...
Frank Sinatra and Count Basie: Fly Me to the Moon
“But you promised black artists, Joseph.” Yes, yes, I did. And as much as I...
Cassandra Wilson: Death Letter
The original version of this song was called “Death Letter Blues” – it was...
Lianne La Havas: Elusive
“She’s saying that one has to hold someone in a relationship like one holds sand in their hands. If you simply keep your hands cupped open, the sand will happily stay there. But if you try to close your hands or squeeze them shut, the sand will slip through your fingers. You have to let someone breathe.”
John Brancy
Baritone John Brancy answers our questions on his connection to the music of...
Irving Berlin: I Paid My Income Tax Today
To round out the week, I present to you the American propaganda song "I Paid...
Kurt Weill: Und was bekam des Soldaten Weib?
Weill had brainstormed for years on ways to use his talents towards the...