Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new CD of music composed by classic American songwriter Vincent Youmans and performed by William Bolcom and Joan Morris. It's called "Orchids in the Moonlight: Songs of Vincent Youmans."
Part two of an interview with singer and songwriter David Frishberg, who composed pop hits like "Peel Me a Grape" and "I'm Hip." He'll also perform on the piano.
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews the soundtrack from the movie "Tune in Tomorrow" composed by Wynton Marsalis and recorded by Marsalis and his band. Whitehead says it makes good use of the trumpeter's conservative, backward-looking approach.
Television Critic David Bianculli previews the eight-hour PBS series "Television." The series is composed of clips from vintage and recent television programs as well as interviews with the creative people behind some of the best news and entertainment shows.
A just-reissued album, from 1981, features diverse musicians playing songs that Nino Rota composed for Federico Fellini movies. Critic Kevin Whitehead calls it a charming album that's long overdue.
Traveler Eric Hansen. In 1982, Hansen set out alone across Borneo, an island in Indonesia composed almost entirely of rain forests and populated by natives who have had the least amount of of contact with westerners. Hansen's account of his travels is contained in the book Stranger in the Forest: A Foot Across Borneo. Hansen has also travelled to North Africa, Afghanistan, Nepal, India and Southeast Asia.
This was a spectacular year for literary fiction, so my "Best Books" list is exclusively composed of novels and short story collections — and I wish I could triple its length, but I'll keep it to 10.
Among the most central pieces of the classical-music repertoire are the 16 string quartets Beethoven composed over the course of his career. For critic Lloyd Schwartz, these quartets, especially as recorded by the Budapest String Quartet, were crucial to his own musical upbringing.
Soprano singer Deborah Roberts sings on the new CD "Lucrezia Vizzana: Musica Secreta." It features music composed by Vizzana and other 17th century nuns in Italy.
Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a cd featuring Carl Stalling's cartoon music. From 1936 to 1958 Stalling composed music for Warner Brother's cartoons including: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the Road Runner. The title is "The Carl Stalling Project, Vol. 2, Warner Bros."
Computer animator Steven Segal. Segal does his programming on his home computer, unlike most computer animation which is composed on complex processors. His entry in a national computer animation festival is titled "Dance of the Stumblers."
Chuck Barris is the creator of "The Dating Game," "The Newlywed Game," and "The Gong Show." He also composed the themes for each show. The new film "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" is based on Barris' 1980 autobiography in which he claims - while he was creating game shows - he was also a CIA assasin. "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" is George Clooney's directorial debut. (REBROADCAST from 1/28/86)
Jane Ira Bloom recorded her first album when she was still a student at Yale; she later was invited to compose music for NASA. Critic Kevin Whitehead says her latest album features tasteful electronics and a sensitive, spare accompaniment.
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews the operatic adaptation of Henry James' story, "The Turn of The Screw." It was composed by Benjamin Britten in 1954, and London records has just reissued a recording of Britten performing the work.
Spaghetti Westerns, Philadelphia soul, opera and the Wu-Tang Clan all come together in the music of Adrian Younge. He has produced and composed two new albums — one with William Hart, the lead singer of The Delfonics, and another with rapper Ghostface Killah.
Pianist Peter Mintun talks about how Fred Astaire's movies impacted his career. Mintun is considered one of today’s leading interpreters of popular songs composed between the two world wars which he calls classic melodies that transcend time.
Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews a new release of previously unheard Woody Guthrie lyrics put to music by British folksinger-songwriter Billy Bragg. Bragg composed music for the lyrics with the help of the American band Wilco. It's called "Mermaid Avenue." (Elektra)
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz discusses the history of musicians adapting Bach's music for their own instruments -- regardless of what the piece was originally composed for. He says Sharon Isbin's new album of Bach's Four Lute Suites is in an excellent example -- it has a depth of emotion he doesn't normally associated with the guitar.
American Conductor John Mauceri. He is the host and narrator of a new PBS Great Performances documentary, "Music for the Movies: The Hollywood Sound." Mauceri also composes the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in music from Hollywood films from the 30's and 40s'. (The documentary airs tonight at 9:30). Mauceri is currently music director of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra in L.A. He has two new CDs: "Between Two Worlds: Music of Korngold," and "The Sound of Hollywood: Music From the Movies" (both on London records).
Everything's in balance on the tenor saxophonist's new album: Smith's pliable expressive tone is neither too heavy nor too light as he exploits the tension between the composed and the improvised.
