As promised, I am following yesterday’s post on George Gershwin with one of my occasional ‘Which version do you like best?’ entries. Summertime from Porgy and Bess has become a jazz standard and has been covered by many artists since it’s composition in 1934. The song is sung several times throughout Porgy and Bess. Its […]
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned both popular and classical genres. George lived a boyhood not unusual in New York tenements, which included running around with his friends, roller-skating and misbehaving in the streets. Until 1908, he cared nothing about music. Then as a ten-year-old, he was intrigued upon hearing […]
Remembrance Day
As promised today we shall be thinking about Remembrance Day. I wish to honour those who gave their lives in conflict throughout history for what they believed to be a just cause. That being said I also want to remember that in many wars, particularly WW1 these brave souls were ‘Lions Led By Donkeys’ and […]
Mr Wilson’s Second Liners
I first encountered Mr Wilson’s Second Liners when they appeared as part of the ISAN Festival (Independent Street Arts Network) in Bradford during 2016. They were playing on the grass outside city hall to an enthusiastic crowd. Our recent visit to New Orleans with Dr. John and Hugh Laurie put me in mind of their […]
ZAZ
Isabelle Geffroy, better known by the nickname Zaz, is a French singer-songwriter. Her mother was a Spanish teacher, and her father worked for an electric company. In 1985, she entered the Conservatoire de Tours with her sister and her brother, attending courses from the ages of 6 to 11. She studied music theory, specifically the […]
Celebrate!
I am aware that it is Remembrance Sunday, and I will be addressing that on Wednesday 11th which is Remembrance Day, but I just felt today should be one of celebration because the results of the latest election in the United States perhaps give us some cause to believe that there is still some hope […]
Hugh Laurie
During my recent post on ‘Puttin’ On The Ritz’ I used a clip of Hugh Laurie playing the piano in the role of Bertie Wooster. This reminded me that he has developed a following as a musician in recent years and perhaps it was time to feature hi on this blog. So let’s begin again […]
Mack The Knife
I thought we might visit with the macabre this morning in the guise of an apparently jolly jazz standard, “Mack the Knife“. It is more properly called “The Ballad of Mack the Knife” (German: “Die Moritat von Mackie Messer“) and is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their 1928 […]
Firework Music
This being the 5th of November, it seemed opportune to share with you, dear readers, music inspired by fireworks and bonfires. So lets begin with the earliest piece that was written specifically with fireworks in mind. The Music for the Royal Fireworks is a suite in D major for wind instruments composed by Handel in […]
Puttin’ On The Ritz
“Puttin’ On the Ritz” is a song written by Irving Berlin. He wrote it in May 1927 and first published it on December 2, 1929. It was introduced by Harry Richman and chorus in the musical film Puttin’ On The Ritz (1930). According to The Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin, this was the first song […]