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Turn the Tide: Benefit Concert in NYC for Hurricane Sandy Victims

On Dec. 2 some stellar New York City working musicians are getting together for a benefit to aid victims of Hurricane Sandy. All the particulars are here.
by David McGee
 

 
 
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The Elite Half Hundred of 2015, Part 2

Part 2 of the Elite Half Hundred selections for 2015. 'Fifty Albums That Made Life Worth Living in 2015.'
by David McGee
 

 

 
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Herb, Herby, Herbert. Daddy.

LIterate, witty, loving, insightful: a daughter remembers her unique father on the occasion of the centennial of his birth.
by David McGee
 

 
 
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Raymond Myles and the Rocky Road to Redemption

MICHAEL SIGMAN on the late New Orleans gospel icon RAYMOND MYLES and a documentarian's attempt to finish a film about Myles's tragically short life and timeless musical legacy.
by David McGee
 

 

 
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Reality Check

On April 5, 1968, the day after MARTIN LUTHER KING's assassination, ROBERT F. KENNEDY addressed 'The Mindless Menace of Violence' in a speech in Cleveland that resonates ever louder in 2015, after Charleston.
by David McGee
 

 
 
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The Mythic Weight Of Phil Spector’s Christmas Gift: A Semicentennial Reflection

November 22, 1963, was a horrible day for the nation, and for PHIL SPECTOR, a personal disaster as well, as his ambitious Christmas album arrived and was promptly forgotten. A semicentennial look back ensues.
by David McGee
 

 

 
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The Deep Roots Elite Half-Hundred of 2017 (Part 2)

Part 2 of the Elite Half-Hundred of 2017 features albums by JUNIOR SISK & THE RAMBLERS, DENNIS JOHNSON, DUDLEY TAFT, MUSICA SECRETA, RAPHAEL PICHON & PYGMALION, MAC WISEMAN and others.
by David McGee
 

 
 
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Jesse Winchester: Talk Memphis

JESSE WINCHESTER Tribute, Part 2: a Jesse monologue, his most extensive comments on his years in and abiding love for Memphis--'It was the world to me'--from an interview with Crossroads to Freedom.
by David McGee
 

 

 
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Video Moment for the Ages

From January 21, 1965, LESLEY GORE with a knockout performance of the Jeff Barry-Ellie Greenwich tune 'The Look of Love' and Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'Hello Young Lovers.'
by David McGee
 

 
 
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Pianist-Entrepreneur-Innovator

Pianist-entrepreneur-innovator LARA DOWNES is back with her most ambitious project, EXILES' CAFE, focusing on the concept of music written in exile. The album, though, is only the beginning.
by David McGee
 

 

 
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America’s Shame, Japan’s Gain: An Animatronic Ray Charles

Well, it's happened. Japan has beaten America to the technology punch again, this time with an animatronic Ray Charles singing away outside Osaka Castle Park. But who's that man the box over in the corner?
by David McGee
 

 
 
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Beautiful Music: Mr. Disney, Annette and ‘Tutti’

Part 2 of a two-part tribute to the late ANNETTE FUNICELLO, who died of multiple sclerosis at age 70 on April 8. This installment focuses on Annette's studio work with producer TUTTI CAMARATA.
by David McGee