I was saddened Monday to learn of the death of jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd at the age of 80. He was an all time jazz great by any standards. I became an avid Byrd listener a decade ago when I discovered the treasure trove of hard bop jazz recordings made by the … Read More »
Sibelius Rocks. I like him better than my argyle socks. At half past three, I heard him played on WBJC. Sibelius Rules. But years ago he wasn’t taught in schools. A haughty bunch Of critics thought that he was out to lunch. Sibelius Reigns. His music conjures lands of fiords and … Read More »
4) The Old Dark House, 1932, directed by James Whale, starring Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton, Gloria Stuart, Ernest Thesiger, Raymond Massey, and Elspeth Dudgeon The most acclaimed horror films from the early days of sound were those produced by Universal Pictures in the early 1930′s: Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, and The … Read More »
Since Halloween is near, I thought I would share with you my top five favorite horror movies. We certainly have come a long way since I was a child in terms of what is permissable for public viewing. The other day I saw the rotting corpse of a zombie from The Walking Dead on the front … Read More »
Here are my top five reasons for not doing a top five: 1) I take forever to make up my mind. 2) Once I make up my mind, I don’t have five things but twenty. 3) I drive my wife crazy for the next three days obsessing over what I’m going to say. 4) I’m … Read More »
Does anyone ever get over the feelings of our childhood, when as school children we anticipated the arrival of our summer vacation with heart palpitating impatience, and greeted the inevitable return to classes in September with both wistful resistance and the thrill of new beginnings. As Joni Mitchell said in her song “Urge for Going”, … Read More »
This past March I wrote a blog entitled “Discovering Lancaster” about the trip my wife and I took last summer to Carlisle and Lancaster, Pennsylvania to research my family genealogy. As promised, I am returning with the first in a series of blogs about what we discovered. I wondered at first whether my family tree … Read More »
For my reminiscenses on how I “got the bug” for classical music, check out my earlier blog “Discovering Classical Music” and my bio. But as an overview and focus on my “first time”: my parents were both musicians and music teachers, so I was exposed to music since before I can remember. My earliest experiences were … Read More »
Harry Smith is not even mentioned in the Grove Dictionary of Music, but he may have been the biggest influence on popular music of the past half century. And he was not even a musician. A true eccentric, Smith was a resident of New York’s Greenwich Village for most of his life. He was an artist, … Read More »
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Conversation with a Listener. Brahms vs. Wagner
By Reed Hessler | Posted in Host Blogs | Comments Off
Last week I received a series of emails from a listener inquiring about the difference between Brahms and Wagner. I thought it would be interesting to share these postings with you. The listener will remain anonymous out … Read More »