Longy School In Cambridge, MA Graduates 97

[From article]
Longy School of Music of Bard College concluded its yearlong centennial celebration by honoring 97 graduating students, including 55 Master of Music students at a commencement ceremony at First Church in Cambridge on May 14.
The commencement address was delivered by guest speaker Tony Brown, the award-winning executive director of Heart of Los Angeles, a community center for young people in the Rampart District of Los Angeles which houses Longy’s Master of Arts in Teaching program.

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/news/20160517/longy-school-of-music-graduates-97-students

Longy School of Music graduates 97 students
Posted May. 17, 2016 at 7:43 AM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

Musical Favorites Reveal Most About A Person, New Book

[From article]
This question, so deceptively simple, is explored to great and fascinating lengths in Tom Vanderbilt’s new book “You May Also Like: Taste in an Endless Age of Choice” (Knopf).
“I was simply feeling overwhelmed not only by choices, but what people were saying about those choices,” Vanderbilt tells The Post.
“A simple trip to a restaurant, or to a site like Amazon to buy a product, or to watch a movie on Netflix became like an epic quest,” he says. “What was the best? Whose opinion should I trust? I felt swamped by other people’s tastes, and I was trying to gain some sense, in essence, where all those preferences came from without simply saying, ‘There’s no accounting for taste.’ ”
As it turns out, there is and there isn’t. Our tastes range from innate to acquired, cultivated to contextual, adaptive to reactive.



Infants, long before they are verbal, express preferences: They stare at more attractive faces longer. Babies like the foods they like and refuse the ones they don’t. Children develop favorite colors and numbers, with no real reason to have either.
We adults are no less cryptic in our tastes. As Vanderbilt writes, we express preferences for such mundanities as toilet paper (hung over or under?), bathroom stalls (middle or end?), and even the color of his book jacket (blue or red?).
[. . .]
“Liking is really about anticipation and memory. Even as you are looking forward to something, you are looking backward to the last time you enjoyed it. You can spend weeks waiting for ‘the meal of a lifetime,’ which will itself last a few hours . . . That so many people photograph their ‘memorable’ meals speaks not only to how fleeting the experience may be but to how photographing it helps actually make it memorable.”
We are all born with the same simple tastes: All infants love sweetness (breast milk, life) and have an aversion to bitterness (possible poison). It’s an evolutionary adaptation designed to keep us alive.
[. . .]
Then, too, are our acquired tastes: Few people like the flavor of coffee or beer upon that first sip, but they force themselves to keep going until they actually experience pleasure.
[. . .]
Just as we can likely guess someone’s socioeconomic background through the way that they talk or the state of their teeth, so we can through taste.
The expressions “good taste” and “bad taste” didn’t enter the lexicon until the 20th century, but ever since, Vanderbilt writes, “taste is social comparison.” More people will admit to listening to NPR than Howard Stern, or reading The New York Times to this very paper, though there is significant crossover with both.
[. . .]



“If all I knew about you was the last five books you read, I probably wouldn’t know much,” chief engineer Glenn McDonald told Vanderbilt. “But if I knew the last five songs you listened to on a streaming service, I’d probably know a lot about you.”
Music is among the most personal, visceral taste we have, one we now engage with, thanks to smartphones, daily and intimately. As Vanderbilt points out, “People will talk about ‘my music’ in a way they do not talk about ‘my movies.’ ”
[. . .]
The only constant when it comes to our tastes, Vanderbilt writes, is that they’re always changing. It’s our basic nature to seek out the new and the normal, the fantastic and the familiar.
[. . .]
“Even when we look back and see how much our tastes have changed, the idea that we will change equally in the future seems to confound us,” he writes. “It is what keeps tattoo removal practitioners in business.”

http://nypost.com/2016/05/08/the-science-of-taste-and-why-the-music-you-like-may-be-the-most-telling-preference-of-all/

The science of taste and why the music you like may be the most telling preference of all
By Maureen Callahan
New York Post
May 8, 2016 | 7:00am

Tufts Jazz Orchestra Pleases Fans Each Year

Joel LaRue, Director

Etta James sings At Last. The jazz orchestra performed their own rendition at Tufts on April 23, 2016.

Published on Mar 24, 2013
The Original Version of "AT LAST", ETTA JAMES song + Lyrics.
At Last, used in Wall-e soundtrack, has been covered by Beyonce, Christina Aguilera and Celine Dion.

https://youtu.be/bwzDxp2TC7I



* * *


Marja Ritchie

Published on Apr 24, 2015
The Tufts University Jazz Orchestra (TJO) performs "I'm Gonna Live Till I Die", Spring Semester 2015.
Director: Joel LaRue Smith
Vocalist: Marja Ritchie
https://youtu.be/kL_XYnLrLE8

Merle Haggard, Country Music Super Star, Dead at 79

Mourned: The father-of-six is seen with his fifth wife Theresa Ann Lane, in 2006.

[From article]
Country icon Merle Haggard has died from pneumonia at home in Palo Cedro, California on his 79th birthday.
Stars including his long-term friend and collaborator, Willie Nelson, rushed to pay tribute after Haggard's manager confirmed the news.
The death came just a few days after the singer canceled his April concert dates after suffering from a recurring bout of double pneumonia.
Haggard's son Ben, 23, also paid tribute, writing: 'A week ago dad told us he was gonna pass on his birthday. And he wasn't wrong. A[n] hour ago he took his last breath surrounded by family and friends.'
Ben, the lead guitarist in his father's band, the Strangers, also shared a black-and-white photo of his hand grasping his father's hand.
In a statement issued by his publicist last week Merle had told fans: 'I hope to be back on the road in May, but I'm taking it one day at a time.'
The singer of hits like Okie From Muskogee, Mama Tried and Workin' Man Blues had previously cancelled dates in February and March.
He had a battle with lung cancer in 2008 - having part of a lung removed - but despite illness and his advancing age kept up an ambitious touring schedule.
Indeed, his 2015 tour schedule saw him perform in over 30 cities.
Amongst those paying to tribute was his close friend and collaborator Nelson, who said: 'He was my brother, my friend. I will miss him.'
Stars including Carrie Underwood, Cassadee Pope, Dierks Bentley and Hillary Scott also shared their condolences.
A masterful guitarist, fiddler and songwriter as well as singer, Haggard recorded for more than 40 years, releasing dozens of albums and No. 1 hits.
The Country Music Hall of Famer's repertoire included songs with traditional country music themes such as drinking and heartache but he also infused them with more insight and tenderness than most honky-tonkers. He also broadened the genre by writing about poverty, loneliness and social issues.
Haggard once said he preferred playing guitar to singing, but it was his voice that made him stand out.
'Haggard's exceptionally true intonation, his command of varied vocal textures and his insinuating phrasing would make him a superior vocalist in any idiom,' the New York Times said of Haggard in his prime. 'Like Muddy Waters in the blues field and only a handful of other performers, he both embodies and transcends his rich American musical heritage.'
Haggard's sound drew from traditional country but also touched on folk, pop, jazz, blues and rock and his songs were covered by the likes of the Grateful Dead, Elvis Costello and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
'I can't remember when I haven't listened to him,' said Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. 'Some of the best songs and best delivery you can get.'
Haggard was born April 6, 1937, near Bakersfield, California, the son of a couple who had been part of the exodus from Oklahoma's Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. Haggard's father was a carpenter for a railroad and the family lived in a converted boxcar.
Haggard, who was nine years old when his father died of a brain tumor, quit school in the eighth grade and began hopping freight trains. He also took up the guitar and petty crime and frequently was placed in - and escaped from - juvenile reformatories.
A few years later he was living out the lyrics of what would be one of his biggest hits - Mama Tried, the story of a man who marked his 21st birthday in prison.
He had been sent to California's notorious San Quentin prison for trying to break into a cafe - too drunk to realize that at the time it was still open and serving customers.
Haggard was already a big fan of country star Lefty Frizzell when he saw Johnny Cash perform at the prison in 1958 and decided to make a career of music after being paroled almost three years into his sentence.
'I would've become a lifetime criminal if music hadn't saved my ass,' Haggard said in a PBS documentary. 'I'm living proof that things go wrong in America and I'm also living proof that things can go right.'


The Hag: The country icon is seen in his prime back in 1980; he only started making music after he saw Johnny Cash perform at California's notorious San Quentin prison, where he was serving time.

During his time as governor of California, Ronald Reagan pardoned Haggard for his crime.
Haggard returned to his hometown in 1960 and, along with Buck Owens, helped define what became known as the Bakersfield sound - a more raw, twangy-er country sound than the highly produced music that was coming out of Nashville at the time.
The subject matter of the songs Haggard wrote was more blunt than some of his fans were accustomed to - Irma Jackson was about interracial romance - and he rebelled when record company executives wanted to change his style.
'I've never been a guy that can do what people told me,' he told the Times. 'It's always been my nature to fight the system.'
Hits such as Workin' Man Blues, Hungry Eyes and If We Make It Through December, the plaintive story of a laid-off factory worker trying to salvage Christmas for his young daughter, were likened to the populist works of Woody Guthrie.
Haggard's other hits included Lonesome Fugitive, Silver Wings, Sing Me Back Home, Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man), The Bottle Let Me Down, The Fightin' Side of Me, Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink, and Pancho and Lefty, a duet with Willie Nelson.
Haggard toured constantly with his band, the Strangers, and once described his life as 'a 35-year bus ride' - and that was in 1996, long before his bus stopped rolling.
Haggard's fame skyrocketed in 1970 with Okie From Muskogee, an anti-hippie song ('we don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee, we don't take our trips on LSD') that came to be embraced by conservatives. Haggard said in interviews the song started out as a joke and a character study and that it did not necessarily reflect his views.
Haggard often told interviewers he was not political but his songs showed he was certainly opinionated and a libertarian thinker. In 2003 he defended the Dixie Chicks from fans' backlash after they criticized President George W. Bush and he wrote a song in tribute to former first lady Hillary Clinton when she was seeking the presidency in 2007.
He also wrote Crippled Soldiers And Me to protest the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said burning the American flag was an expression of free speech and That's the News to criticize media coverage of the war in Iraq.
Stardom took a toll on the man known to his fans as The Hag and his career waned in the late 1980s amid personal problems. He filed for bankruptcy protection in 1992 after years of hard living, four divorces, gambling and bad investments. He once estimated that he had blown $100 million.
In My House Of Memories he wrote of a sleepless, always-naked five-day drug binge on his houseboat with an unnamed woman country singer. By his mid-60s Haggard had settled down and spent his spare time fishing on his ranch in Northern California.
Haggard was married five times, and had six children - Dana, Marty, Kelli, Noel, Jenessa and Ben.
He is survived by them, and his wife of 23 years Theresa Ann Lane.

Icon: Merle Haggard, seen last year, died at home on his 79th birthday.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3526856/Country-icon-Merle-Haggard-dies-79th-birthday-days-cancelling-April-tour-dates.html

Willie Nelson pays tribute to 'brother' Merle Haggard... as heartbroken son reveals country icon correctly predicted he would die on 79th birthday
Haggard had already fought off lung cancer which left him weak
He cancelled tour dates - indicating all was not well for an artist who loved life on stage
He famously said, in 1990, that when he quits doing tours 'the next big event is my funeral'
Haggard rose from poverty and prison to international fame with hits like Okie From Muskogee
He is now regarded as one of the most influential country stars known for his twangy 'Bakersfield sound'
By LIZZIE SMITH FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 12:54 EST, 6 April 2016 | UPDATED: 05:17 EST, 7 April 2016

Broadway Hit Musical Restricts Auditions To Non White Actors

A scene from the musical "Hamilton."

Photo: AP
[From article]
Open auditions are being held for the hottest show on Broadway — but whites need not apply.
Already the hottest ticket in town, rap-based musical “Hamilton” put out a casting call, seeking “NON-WHITE men and women” to audition for its Broadway run and touring companies.
Producers are also looking for actors “ages 20s to 30s” who can sing and rap — but “no prior theater experience necessary,” the ad says.
The seemingly prejudicial race and age poster flies in the face of the culturally diverse cast that has helped “Hamilton” surge to success and garner stellar reviews.
The modern musical chronicles America’s founding fathers like Aaron Burr and George Washington — played by actors who are black and Latino. The show’s writer Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is Puerto Rican, plays the title role of Alexander Hamilton.
In a statement, “Hamilton” said its producers “regret the confusion that’s arisen from the recent posting” but defended the verbiage.
“It is essential to the storytelling of ‘Hamilton’ that the principal roles — which were written for non-white characters (excepting King George) — be performed by non-white actors,” the statement said.
“This adheres to the accepted practice that certain characteristics in certain roles constitute a ‘bona fide occupational qualification’ that is legal.”
It also noted other shows like “The Color Purple,” “Porgy & Bess” and “Matilda” that call for “race, ethnicity or age specific casting” — but agreed to tweak the ad.
“The casting will be amended to also include language we neglected to add, that is, we welcome people of all ethnicities to audition for ‘Hamilton,’” the statement added.
Asked about the casting call, the city Human Rights Commission reiterated that discrimination based on age, race, gender, disability and “other protected categories in employment advertisements” is prohibited.
“Before determining a violation of the law, the commission would need to investigate the alleged violation, gathering information and testimony from parties involved,” an HRC spokesman said.

http://nypost.com/2016/03/30/whites-need-not-apply-for-hamilton-open-audition/

Whites need not apply for ‘Hamilton’ open audition
By Lia Eustachewich
New York Post
March 30, 2016 | 3:00pm | Updated

* * *

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/03/30/hit-broadway-show-celebrates-diversity-by-excluding-whites.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fmost-popular+%28Internal+-+Most+Popular+Content%29

Todd's American Dispatch
Hit Broadway show celebrates diversity by excluding whites
By Todd Starnes
Published March 30, 2016
FoxNews.com

* * *

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/03/29/hamilton-casting-call-non-white/

Broadway Union Takes Issue With ‘Hamilton’ Casting Call For ‘Non-White’ Performers
March 29, 2016 11:18 PM

* * *

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/theater-arts/hamilton-hiring-practices-fire-due-discrimination-article-1.2582555

'Hamilton' hiring practices under fire due to discrimination
BY JOE DZIEMIANOWICZ

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Wednesday, March 30, 2016, 11:38 AM

Tuifts University LIve Streaming Music Concerts

http://as.tufts.edu/music/musiccenter/liveStream.htm

Live streaming Music from Tufts University



8:00 PM Thursday December 10, 2015

Pains of Passion - Night of Opera Scenes




8:00 PM Friday December 2011 

Kiniwe, drum and dance concert of Ghana

Palestinian Racism Invades Music World

[From article]
A Jewish American rapper has been kicked off the program of a music fest in Spain because he refused to make a statement in support of Palestinian statehood.
Rapper Matisyahu was accused of being a "lover of Israel" and unceremoniously cancelled by event organizers.
[. . .]
Did you get that? Jews are being blamed for climate change as well as the failure to make marijuana legal. This is extremely inventive anti-Semitism, besting even the Nazis in Jew-hate.
[. . .]
the act of forcing him to declare his allegiance to their anti-Semitic agenda is proof enough of the evil nature of the BDS movement and why it's so hard to stand up to the hate.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/08/spanish_music_festival_boots_jewish_rapper_for_not_declaring_his_support_for_palestinian_statehood.html

August 18, 2015
Spanish music festival boots Jewish rapper for not declaring his support for Palestinian statehood.
By Rick Moran

Cole Porter Wrote This Song in 1934 for Today

Published on Jan 7, 2013
From the musical "Anything Goes." Music and lyrics by Cole Porter. Original book by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse.
Debuted on Broadway in 1934.

Song Book From Columbia University

[From article]
Columbia graduates have a long and influential history in musical theater. Songwriters Richard Rodgers (CC 1923) and Lorenz Hart (JRN 1916) wrote their first songs for the University Varsity Show in 1919, and Rodgers later paired up with Oscar Hammerstein (CC 1916) to create such classics as Oklahoma and The Sound of Music. Then there's composer John Kander (GSAS '54), who wrote a dozen musicals, including Cabaret and Chicago, with lyricist Fred Ebb.

http://news.columbia.edu/songbook

May 4, 2015
For Some Columbia Alumni, Life Truly is a Cabaret

By Bridget O'Brian

Columbia Songbook Performance
from ColumbiaNews PRO

Before they graduate from Columbia’s School of the Arts, M.F.A. students in the theater producing and management concentration are required to put together a project that has some connection to the University.
As befitting a budding producer, Danielle Gautier, a first-year student in the program, decided to go big on her project. “I got to thinking, `What could I do that would really showcase the Columbia community?’ she said. "I started researching who’s gone here – the composers, the writers, the actors. What I found was that there was more than enough material, so why not use everyone?”


Columbia Songbook Performance from ColumbiaNews on Vimeo.

65-year-old Randy Howard, Country Singer Shot Dead By Bounty Hunter. Warrant For DUI.

65-year-old Country Singer Randy Howard, right, with Willie Nelson

[From article]
When asked if authorities are investigating whether Shell had the right to enter Howard's home, DeVine said he couldn't discuss specifics, but that the 'investigation includes all aspects of the incident.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3120445/Authorities-Singer-killed-gunfight-bounty-hunter.html

Country singer Randy Howard is killed in gunfight with bounty hunter who tried to take him into custody for skipping court
A bounty hunter trying to detain Randy Howard, who was wanted on a DUI charged, shot and killed the man in a gunfight, authorities said
Howard was a member of country music's 'Outlaw' movement, which rejected Nashville's polished music in favor of a rougher sound
Howard shared the stage with Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams Jr.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokesman Josh DeVine said Howard had been charged with multiple offenses and missed a court date
On Tuesday night, bounty hunter Jackie Shell showed up at Howard's home to take him into custody, DeVine said
Howard opened fire, Shell shot back and Howard was killed, he said
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
PUBLISHED: 18:00 EST, 11 June 2015 | UPDATED: 08:56 EST, 12 June 2015





* * *

[From article]
Howard was a member of country music's "Outlaw" movement, which rejected Nashville's polished music in favor of a rougher sound. Howard shared the stage with Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams Jr., and has written songs for Hank Williams III, according to Howard's LinkedIn site.
[. . .]
Howard had been charged with fourth-offense DUI, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a firearm while intoxicated and driving on a revoked license, DeVine said. But he missed a court appearance, DeVine said.
Howard was a member of country music's "Outlaw" movement, which rejected Nashville's polished music in favor of a rougher sound. Howard shared the stage with Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams Jr., and has written songs for Hank Williams III, according to Howard's LinkedIn site.
Hank Williams III posted a picture on his Facebook page Thursday of him and Howard smiling together under the words, "RIP Randy Howard."
Howard had been charged with fourth-offense DUI, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a firearm while intoxicated and driving on a revoked license, DeVine said. But he missed a court appearance, DeVine said.

http://news.yahoo.com/authorities-singer-killed-gunfight-bounty-hunter-180407327.html

Authorities: Singer killed in gunfight with bounty hunter
AP
June 11, 2015

Listening To Mozart Improves Memory

Listening to music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, shown in the portrait above, caused changes in brain wave activity that are linked to intelligence, memory and having an open mind to problem solving, research from Sapienza University of Rome shows. The effects were most pronounced in young adults and elderly adults.

[From article]
The researchers, from Sapienza University of Rome, said: 'These results may be representative of the fact that Mozart's music is able to 'activate' neuronal cortical circuits (circuits of nerve cells in the brain) related to attentive and cognitive functions.'
The results were 'not just a consequence of listening to music in general', they added.
For the study, which was published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition, the researchers used EEG machines to record the electrical activity of the participants' brains.
Recordings were made before and after they listened to 'L'allegro con spirito' from the Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major K448 by Mozart, and before and after they listened to Fur Elise by Beethoven.The group was made up of 10 young healthy adults with an average age of 33 (referred as the Adults), 10 healthy elderly adults with an average age of 85 (known as the Elderly), and 10 elderly people with mild cognitive impairment with an average age of 77 (referred to as MCI).
'The results of our study show an increase in the alpha power and MF frequency index of background activity in both Adults and in the healthy elderly after listening to Mozart's K448, a pattern of brain wave activity linked to intelligent quotient (IQ), memory, cognition and (having an) open mind to problem solving.

[. . .]

'One of the distinctive features of Mozart's music is the frequent repetition of the melodic line; this determines the virtual lack of 'surprise' elements that may distract the listener's attention from rational listening, where each element of harmonic (and melodic) tension finds a resolution that confirms listeners' expectations,' they wrote.
A previous study, published in 1993, found that listening to K448 could also improve spatial reasoning skills for a short time afterwards.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3112339/How-listening-Mozart-boost-memory-Classical-composer-s-music-linked-increase-brain-wave-activity-beats-Beethoven.html

Listening to Mozart can boost your memory: Classical composer's music increases brain wave activity - and it beats Beethoven
Researchers played classical music to young adults and elderly people
Listening to Mozart's L'allegro con spirito sparked changes in brain activity
It triggered brain activity linked to memory, cognition and problem solving
Beethoven's Fur Elise, however, failed to show any significant change
By SOPHIE FREEMAN FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 08:40 EST, 5 June 2015 | UPDATED: 08:43 EST, 5 June 2015

Blues Legend B.B. King Dead At 89

[From article]
Blues legend B.B. King has died in Las Vegas aged 89, his lawyer confirmed on Thursday.
[. . .]

King, known as the 'King Of Blues', sold millions of records worldwide, won 15 Grammys and was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3082785/Blues-legend-BB-King-dies-age-89-Las-Vegas.html

'King Of Blues' guitarist B.B. King dies in Las Vegas aged 89 following long bout of ill health
Died in his sleep at home in Las Vegas at 9.40pm on Thursday
Admitted to hospital last month for diabetes-related illness
Legendary musician toured until 2014 and recorded 42 studio albums
Seven-decade career included up to 342 shows per year, won 15 Grammys
Fellow musicians including Ringo Starr and Lenny Kravitz tweeted their appreciation
By BECKY FREETH FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 00:50 EST, 15 May 2015 | UPDATED: 09:01 EST, 15 May 2015

Violinist Arrested in New York City After Running Naked Through Hotel, Invading A Woman's Room

Stefan Arzberger, 42

[From article]
Stefan Arzberger, 42, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, assault and strangulation raps in Manhattan Supreme Court for barging into a North Carolina woman’s room at the Hudson Hotel and choking her.
“I’ve never seen a strangulation case like this before,” said prosecutor Samuel Cocks. “He nearly killed a 64-year-old woman.”
But his lawyer insisted that it wasn’t Arzberger’s fault but the transexual hooker who drugged and robbed him.
[. . .]
Hudson Hotel video surveillance shows the lead violinist of the Leipzig String Quartet going to his room accompanied by a woman at 3:53 am
The same woman is then seen leaving the room alone with his iPad under her arm, Levitt said.
About three hours later, a wild-eyed and naked Arzberger stumbled out of his room at the West 58th Street hotel and began mindlessly knocking on guests’ doors claiming to be room service, the prosecutor said.
When the victim opened her door, he wrapped his hands around her neck with so much pressure the blood vessels in her eyes popped, he said.
[. . .]
“It will not be first time and won’t be the last a prostitute rolled a john in NYC – it happens all the time,” the prosecutor said. “Most of the time they don’t drug the johns to do it.”
The prosecutor also said that Arzberger, who recently performed at the Library of Congress, tested negative for two date-rape drugs.
Arzberger, who is currently out on $100,000 bail, asked Justice Ronald Zweibel to return his passport so he can perform in an upcoming music tour that includes stops in Europe, Asia and South America.

http://nypost.com/2015/04/30/violinist-charged-in-naked-hotel-rampage-was-drugged-by-hooker-lawyer/

Violinist charged in ‘naked hotel rampage’ was drugged by hooker: lawyer
By Rebecca Rosenberg
New York Post
April 30, 2015 | 8:03pm

Ben E. King, Rock Singer Writer, Dies at 76

Ben E. King in NYC in November 2008
Photo: WireImage

[From article]
Ben E. King, the unforgettable lead singer for the Drifters and solo star whose plaintive baritone graced such pop and rhythm & blues classics as “Stand by Me,” ”There Goes My Baby” and “Spanish Harlem,” has died. He was 76.
King died Thursday of natural causes in Teaneck, New Jersey, his longtime residence, publicist Phil Brown told the Associated Press on Friday.
A native of North Carolina who moved to New York City as a boy, King was singing with the Five Crowns when they were hired in 1958 to become the new incarnation of the Drifters, a top act for Atlantic Records who had several doo-wop hits featuring tenor Clyde McPhatter. The new Drifters, their records among the first in the rock era to use strings, had a more polished production and vocal style and became key influences on numerous ’60s recordings.

[. . .]

He is survived by his wife, Betty; three children and six grandchildren, according to Brown.
Ben E. King was a stage name. He was born Benjamin Earl Nelson in Henderson, N.C., and moved to Harlem at age 9, giving him early exposure to both country and urban music. He sang in church and joined local street corner groups in Harlem, although admittedly as much to impress girls as for the music.
[. . .]
“There was an honesty about all that was going on,” he told classicbands.com about his early career. “It connected with the people in the street. You were able to sing something they related to instantly, because it was part of what you felt. It was part of what you had already traveled through.”
“Those things don’t happen today,” he added. “I feel sorry for the kids in the industry today. They have on sunglasses, eat caviar in jet planes, but they’ll never know the true feeling that we did.”

http://nypost.com/2015/05/01/stand-by-me-singer-ben-e-king-dead-at-age-76/

‘Stand By Me’ singer Ben E. King dead at age 76
By Associated Press
New York Post
May 1, 2015 | 11:02am

New Black Panther Party Marches In Austin, Texas, At SXSW Chanting Kill Police

Published on Mar 16, 2015

Black Panthers march downtown Austin, TX during SXSW chanting slogans supporting killing cops. This is the type of propaganda we saw in Ferguson funded by George Soros. "A pig is a pig that's what I said, the only good pig is a pig that's dead". "Oink! Oink! Bang! Bang!". "Marching down the avenue, 20 more pigs and we'll be through".

Marvin Gaye's Heirs' Copyright Claims Prevail Over Pharrell Williams, and Robin Thicke. Awarded $7 million

[From article]
A jury says singers Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke copied a Marvin Gaye song to create “Blurred Lines” and awarded nearly $7.4 million to Gaye’s family. The eight-person panel reached the decision Tuesday after hearing nearly a week of testimony about similarities between “Blurred Lines” — the biggest hit of 2013 — and Gaye’s 1977 hit “Got to Give It Up.” Gaye’s children sued Thicke and Williams, saying their song infringed the copyright of their father’s song. Marvin Gaye’s daughter Nona Gaye wept as the verdict was being read and was hugged by her attorney, Richard Busch. “Right now, I feel free,” Nona Gaye said after the verdict. “Free from … Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke’s chains and what they tried to keep on us and the lies that were told.”

http://pagesix.com/2015/03/10/jury-finds-thicke-pharrell-copied-marvin-gaye-tune-for-blurred-lines/?_ga=1.147124595.513597348.1426034011

Got to give it up! Pharrell, Thicke must pay $7.4M for copying Gaye’s song
By Associated Press
New York Post
Page Six
March 10, 2015 | 5:44pm

How Song "This Ole House" Was Written

 
Stuart Hamblen (far right) in King Of The Cowboys (1943), also known as Starlight On The Trail. That's rodeo champ Yakima Canutt behind him.

[From song]
I was wandering way up in the mountains and came across this dilapidated cabin." He was hunting in the high Sierras and had noticed a mangy, starving old hound dog hanging around an otherwise abandoned cabin. "Inside, I found an old prospector lying dead. I saw curtains, so that meant a woman had been there. I saw kids' things lyin' around. And they were all gone now. The old man was alone." Most of us would just get out, some perhaps would go to the cops, but Hamblen sat down and, with the corpse lying next to him for inspiration, began to rough out a song. "It took about 30 minutes," he said. "I put it down on a brown paper bag the old fellow had left lying there:
Ain't a-gonna need this house no longer 
Ain't a-gonna need this house no more 
Ain't got time to fix the shingles 
Ain't got time to fix the floor 
Ain't got time to oil the hinges Or to mend no window pane 
Ain't-a-gonna need this house no longer 
I'm a-gettin' ready to meet the saints.
[. . .]
A quarter-century after he himself met the saints and a century after his birth, "This Ole House" remains the versatile Stuart Hamblen's most enduring legacy - and the only Number One hit written in the presence of a dead body.

http://www.steynonline.com/1405/this-ole-house

This Ole House
Steyn's Song of the Week
by Stuart Hamblen
November 16, 2014

Billy Joel Learned About Love The Hard Way

Billy Joel and Third Wife Katie Lee, 32 years younger than him.

Photo: FilmMagic
[From article]
“You just need one — one person out of millions — to know and accept and love you for being, well, just the way you are . . . I see old folks walking down the street who look like they’ve been together 50 years, and there’s something very touching about it — that they’ve lasted so long. I used to wonder: How come I don’t have that? I can dream about it, think about it, write music and lyrics and sing about it. I can even try to achieve it again, and often have.”
His three tortured marriages — and the music they’ve inspired — are testament to that.
[. . .]

“You can have all the money in the world, you can have mansions, you can have properties, you can have yachts, you can have limousines, you can have motorcycles,” he told Schruers. But without love, “it doesn’t mean a goddamn thing.”

http://pagesix.com/2014/10/26/how-billy-joels-three-wives-stole-his-heart-and-his-money/?_ga=1.99508317.212440808.1402078759

How Billy Joel’s three wives stole his heart and his money
By Maureen Callahan
New York Post
October 26, 2014 | 4:39am

Car Surveillance Systems May Violate State Laws

Under the Holder-Obama Doctrine, inconvenient laws may be ignored. Auto industry lawlessness is like the psychiatric industry which remain clueless about laws that regulate the behavior of psychiatrists. If it feels good just do it.

[From article]
The feature involves "Valet Mode," an aspect of the Performance Data Recorder in the 2015 Corvette. It allows owners to secretly record conversations in their cars and performance data when they're not along for the ride, such as when the car is being parked by a valet.
GM has apparently discovered that secret recordings are illegal in many states.
[. . .]
Besides recording conversations, Valet Mode also shows how the car was driven while in the hands of another. It disables the entertainment system and locks storage compartments to deter thefts. Valet Mode is just one part of the Performance Data Recorder, which has the main purpose of being a fun way for owners to make video and audio recordings of their more exhilarating drives in a Corvette, including their choice of some of the car's performance indicators.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/09/28/gm-chevrolet-corvette-valet-mode-spying/16336573/

GM warns Chevrolet Corvette spy feature may break law

Chris Woodyard

USA TODAY

10:51 a.m. EDT September 28, 2014

Taylor Swift Comments On Music Industry

[From article]
Music is art, and art is important and rare. Important, rare things are valuable. Valuable things should be paid for. It's my opinion that music should not be free, and my prediction is that individual artists and their labels will someday decide what an album's price point is. I hope they don't underestimate themselves or undervalue their art.
[. . .]
Some music is just for fun, a passing fling (the ones they dance to at clubs and parties for a month while the song is a huge radio hit, that they will soon forget they ever danced to). Some songs and albums represent seasons of our lives, like relationships that we hold dear in our memories but had their time and place in the past.
However, some artists will be like finding "the one." We will cherish every album they put out until they retire and we will play their music for our children and grandchildren. As an artist, this is the dream bond we hope to establish with our fans.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/for-taylor-swift-the-future-of-music-is-a-love-story-1404763219?mod=e2tw

For Taylor Swift, the Future of Music Is a Love Story
The Singer-Songwriter Says Artists and Fans Will Still Form Deep Bonds, but They Will Do It in New Ways
By TAYLOR SWIFT
Updated July 7, 2014 6:39 p.m. ET