Realizing the ‘Dream’

On his new album, XALAM, Israel-born virtuoso drummer BEN AYLON teams with an all-star assemblage of West African musicians to cast the traditional music and instruments of Senegal and Mali in a fresh, contemporary setting.
by David McGee
 

 
 

A Dazzling French Connection

After dazzling the opera world on stage last year, Belgium's SONYA YONCHEVA is doing it on record, with her debut album, PARIS, MON AMOUR--a different sort of French connection. Also: TRIO MEDIAEVAL.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Nature as The Ultimate Matchmaker

THE NORTH WIND WAS A WOMAN, comprised of three intriguing chamber works by DAVID BRUCE, features stirring mandolin work by AVI AVITAL. Review by ROBERT HUGILL.
by David McGee
 

 
 

Ghost Forest

RON HUNTER, founder/editor of Nature Writing.com, recently found a much different scene than he had anticipated when he encountered 'a self-healing natural cycle in the red fir-lodgepole pine forests of the Sierra Nevada.'
by David McGee
 

 

 

A Day With Robert Schumann

IN this month's PLEASURES OF MUSIC, an 1884 report by May Byron on A DAY WITH ROBERT SCHUMANN. In this account, the author chronicles a day spent with the arch-Romantic composer, which includes some vivid scenes with Schumann's...
by David McGee
 

 
 

The Latest from Komako Sakai

As I’ve made clear before here at 7-Imp, I’m a fan of the illustration work of Komako Sakai (who even visited for a brief interview last year). So, I was happy to see that she’s illustrated a new book, this one written by...
by David McGee
 

 

 

The Bookman in Zoomland

JULES welcomes a guest post by DEAN SCHNEIDER, a veteran teacher at Nashville, TN's Ensworth School. Herein Mr. Schneider reveals his plan for a history course he'll be teaching this year--one that recognizes the temper of the ...
by David McGee
 

 
 

Everybody Loves Vint!

In his acclaimed book The Soul of All Living Creatures, DR. VINT VIRGA offers a spiritual-oriented examination of the connection between humans and animals. He explains further to our DUNCAN STRAUSS in TALKING ANIMALS
by David McGee
 

 

 

The Dog Aging Project: All Pooches Invited

'They age like us." Dr. Daniel Promislaw has some news about your aging canine.
by David McGee
 

 
 

Condemned To Live (1935)

From 1935, CONDEMNED TO LIVE, a film sympathetic to vampires, and as a short subject from 1954, the Famous Studios anti-smoking cartoon, 'NO IFS, ANDS OR BUTTS,' starring Buzzy and Katnip.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Johnny Cash to Carl Perkins

WORLDWIDE EXCLUSIVE: In a previously unpublished letter written in April 1981, JOHNNY CASH apprises CARL PERKINS of his plans for the two of them plus their Sun llabelmate JERRY LEE LEWIS, to appear in concert together in Germa...
by David McGee
 

 
 

The Kiowas’ Sacred Longhorn Mountain Under Siege in Oklahoma

In southwest Oklahoma the LONGHORN MOUNTAIN, sacred site to the Kiowa people, is in jeopardy of being turned to rubble by a gravel mining operation. Mining has stalled but the threat remains.
by David McGee