Wonderful world of Allee Willis now in fun pop-up book
One of Hollywood’s most legendary homes—where every room bursts with color, music, and an eye-popping collection of American kitsch —is that of the Grammy, Tony, and Emmy-winning Hall of Fame songwriter, the late Allee Willis. The hit songwriter co-wrote Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September“ and “Boogie Wonderland,” as well as, among many many other songs, the theme ...
‘Early Sounds of Jewish Music’ to resonate at UCLA Herb Alpert School
Apr
23
2025
Early Sounds of Jewish Music is an afternoon symposium and evening concert celebrating the rarely-heard musical traditions of Jewish communities from the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. 1:00 pm Symposium led by internationally recognized scholars and musicians, through talks, communal singing, and roundtable discussions will uncover the music that animated Jewish life in early modern Europe ...
Baby-boomer must-see: ‘One to One, John & Yoko’
This poster may only serve to reignite the unsubsiding loathing for Yoko Ono but the documentary, which had musical oversight by the couple’s son Sean, actually counters that view. It reveals an amazingly beautiful relationship between an unlikely pairing, two artists. I recommend it highly. I couldn’t even move from my seat for a good ...
New doc ‘One to One: John & Yoko’ on arts couple’s Greenwich Village life slated to open
Apr
2
2025
We’re seeing it next week. But no harm to view the trailer. “One to One: John & Yoko” concerns an eighteen-month window in 1971 in which the controversial couple, newly arrived in the United States, lived in a tiny apartment in the Village where, among other things, they watched gobs of American television. Living through ...
Road trip with Neil Young, April 17, via new doc ‘Coastal’
February 9, 2025: Neil Young performs for victims of Altadena fire at Pasadena Red Cross shelter He’s so interesting — and so worth it. He’s truly an artist of our collective lifetime. I saw him in concert in the summer of 2023 at the Greek Theatre. His show was a fascinating melange of devoted musicianship ...
An aural ‘fountain of tears’: ‘Ainadamar,’ soon at L.A. Opera
Ainadamar, in Metropolitan Opera production, year, photo: It’s special if only because it will be conducted by Lina González-Granados, who will lead the LA Opera Orchestra premiere of the Grammy Award-winning opera Ainadamar by Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov. The opera, dating from 2003, traces the life and work of poet-playwright Federico García Lorca (a trouser role by mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack), ...
Haunting new Vivaldi opera a cautionary tale at Guggenheim ‘Works & Process’
In these cataclysmic times it sometimes seems that, if we’re looking for leadership out of an existential crisis, we need artists more than we do politicians. That thought occurred to me two weeks ago, while wildfires ravaged Los Angeles and New York shivered through an Arctic vortex, and I sat in the auditorium of the ...
Devastated by the Pacific Palisades Fire: publisher of works of Arnold Schoenberg
Jan
14
2025
ed. note: We learned of the brutal fate of Belmont Publishing from the grandson of Arnold Schoenberg, a friend of artsmeme, Randol Schoenberg. This sad story we publish here while offering the Schoenberg family our deepest condolences The fire that ravaged the Pacific Palisades community in early January left a trail of devastation, and unfortunately, ...
Jeremy Denk’s profound encounter with ‘crazy uncle’ Charles Ives at 92nd & Lex
Jeremy Denk, pianoall photos: Joseph Sinnott for 92nd St Y Jeremy Denk, one of our leading classical pianists, winner of a MacArthur fellowship and the Avery Fisher Prize, originally dismissed the gnarly genius Charles Ives as “the crazy uncle of American music, weaving familiar tunes—hymns, ragtime, marches—into unsettling quilts.” But over time Denk has evolved ...
Don’t freak out! Unless you’re at ZAPPADAN!
Nov
20
2024
Our Los Angeles rock-and-roll-and revolution tour-guide, Dominic Priore, author of “Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Last Stand in Hollywood.”, shares with us news of his impending illustrated lecture, “Freak Out Hot Spots!,” a symposium filled with photos and super-rare footage of all the locations on Frank Zappa’s 1966 map of Sunset Strip hangouts. ...