Fame or Famine

I don’t know if this was the performance John mentioned in the comments, but there’s a great pic of Meshiya Lake at Washington Square Park on Flickr. Here’s the review:

“Caught Loose Marble with Meshiya Lake at Washington Square Park on July 7th. I’m listening and watching, being blown away by their combined talents, and thinking these guys may be having fun and making a few bucks, BUT do they actually realize how good they are? I mean they are GOOD.
The musicians play together like a well oiled machine and are equally entertaining on their riffs.
The dancers, whether dancing together or …read more

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"The world needs more music like this" was the comment of Ani Moore when she posted this link. I couldn’t agree more.

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What you’re going to watch here is half the phenomenon that finally let me enjoy jazz.
See, I never really liked jazz, and so I never went to any performances. Why bother, when I didn’t like the sound? Then I got involved in jazz band in H.S. (just because I was an obnoxious extrovert, not for any love of the music) and discovered that playing jazz was amazing fun. Suddenly the framework made sense, a jungle gym of chord changes upon with I and my friends would cavort and play "Watch this!" as our fingers did stunts within the sounds.
And …read more

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Via ArtsJournal, I found this neat column written by a librettist currently working on a new opera. I found his remarks about the creative process fascinating – like hearing the DVD commentary before the movie’s even made:

"…I was feeling a bit nervous when I knocked on the door of his Upper West Side studio, and I nearly jumped out of my skin when he put a sheaf of rough pencil sketches on the music rack of his piano. Would I like the way they sounded? Would he be open to criticism? Would I be open to it?
I’m delighted to say …read more

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Last night my friend Betty Wantsme (yes, she’s a burlesque performer, why do you ask?) took me out to the High Noon Saloon in Madison, WI to see “Screamin’ Cyn-Cyn & the Pons.” “I’m not sure if you’ll like the music,” she warned me, “but I know you’ll like the performance.”
I knew I would too, just from watching them set up. The drummer was sitting there, smiling and twinkling-eyed, twirling his sticks and patiently waiting for his mates to finish their tuning and stuff so he could start banging on things, his bass drum bouncing with little McDonalds Playland balls. …read more

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A follow-up to Camina’s question. There’s also the old-fashioned way, by waiting outside of the stage door after a concert, hoping for a glance of your hero(ine) as they make their way from the concert, tired and exhausted, and into a limo in the hopes of a few hours sleep before getting on the road for their next gig early the following morning.
Get the picture? Usually not the easiest way to meet someone. Unless, of course, you’re Tori Amos. In 1995 or so my girlfriend and I saw her in Madison WI. My girlfriend wanted to wait by the …read more

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I think we’re in the beginnings of a renaissance of sorts.
Dancing with the Stars is the number one show. A show which doesn’t showcase pro dancers–it showcases people learning to dance. And one of the most popular video games out there right now is Guitar Hero – a game where you have a simplified fret board and get to pretend that you are playing the rock n roll hits in a live band. The goal is to play well enough to earn money and become a star. You get signed by promoters, you have fines for inciting riots, and you …read more

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…but with all the bad reviews and horror stories pre-opening, I can only say that I hope the Pirate Queen has managed to patch all her leaks…

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I wanted to be a gypsy.
Seriously. I went to BYU after H.S. because my parents wanted me to go there, but I really wanted to go to Broadway and tread the boards. I was a triple threat in H.S.; put some polish on me, and I was sure I’d be a star.
So it’s really fun to read things like BroadwayWorld’s Gypsy of the Month. It’s interesting to read about Luis Salgado, about how he got where he is (really incredible stuff, coming out of Puerto Rico, running his own dance school, running of to NYC to chase his dreams…he needs …read more

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While shopping for DVD players with my girlfriend we started talking about American Idol. We’re both closeted Karaoke afficionadoes, and she was excited to discover that there is an "American Idol" version of the video game Karaoke. She confessed guiltily to wanting to play it; I have to confess, we share that dark and secret passion. It’s hard to confess, but I hear there are special clubs for people like us…
Anyway, finding this article this morning about the Metropolitan Opera Auditions brought it to mind:

“If you can type your application, you can sing for us,” said Darren Keith Woods, the …read more

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