The Kid (1921)

Marking the 125th anniversary of CHARLIE CHAPLIN's birth, Deep Roots Theater presents his 1921 masterpiece, THE KID, starring Chaplin as the Tramp and 7-year-old JACKIE COOGAN as the Child.
by David McGee
 

 
 

Hag Saw It All Coming

Originally issued on Capitol in 1973 as Merle Haggard's Christmas Present: Something Old, Something New, Merle Haggard's Christmas album has only 10 cuts, but all have a special--and many a prescient--feeling about them. Hag sa...
by David McGee
 

 

 

Bach by Thile (Not Thile Does Bach)

It was inevitable: after flirting with Bach for his entire professional career, CHRIS THILE has released a solo album of the Baroque giant's Sonatas & Partitas. Reviewer CHRSITINE N. LAYTON hails it as a big winner.
by David McGee
 

 
 

A Christmas Classic For A Nuclear Armageddon

A seasonal classic born of an interfaith couple’s mutual concern for the fate of the world during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. The origin story of 'DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR?'
by David McGee
 

 

 

A Visit with Matthew Cordell to Talk About What is Still My Favorite Picture Book of the Year

An interview with Matthew Cordell, author/illustrator of our kids' lit blogger Jules's favorite book of the year, hello! hello!
by David McGee
 

 
 

Caruso on The Art of Singing

ENRICO CARUSO holds forth on the ART OF SINGING in an excerpt from a 1909 collection of h is public utterances on his art. The wealth of embedded videos include the 1918 silent film MY COUSIN, featuring the great singer in a du...
by David McGee
 

 

 

Dadaji’s Paintbrush: A Thing of Beauty

In which JULES hails ‘Dadaji’s Paintbrush,’ an open-hearted and tender intergenerational story of a boy and his grandfather in India, as ‘a thing of beauty’
by David McGee
 

 
 

A Soul Ever More Grateful For What It Knows Of Love

An updated review of a holiday classic: B.B. KING's A CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION OF HOPE. Indeed it is.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Doubtful Lake

NATURES TEMPLE: One of the great women of 20th Century American letters chronicles her extraordinary hike in 1918 from Doubtful Lake to the Cascade Mountains. From her book Tenting To-Night.
by David McGee
 

 
 

Spring in Verse

Spring cannot arrive too soon, and we anticipate its arrival in verse from SHAKESPEARE, EMILY DICKINSON, WILLIAM WORDSWORTH and other, and in song from MARK O'CONNOR, VIVALDI et al.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Being About an Instrument ‘At Once Familiar and Unknown’

In ART OF THE MANDOLIN, AVI AVITAL offers a perspective on 300 years of music composed specifically for his instrument of choice. A range of perspectives--via reviews, interviews and first-person observations-help explain the a...
by David McGee
 

 
 

‘A Particular Anarchic Brand of Music Theater’

In the spirit of The Residents, London's BASTARD ASSIGNMENTS make their album debut with 'a particular anarchic brand of music theater,' according to our ROBERT HUGILL. Read on....
by David McGee