Bela Fleck and the Flecktones notwithstanding, Timothy was no particular fan of the banjo’s intrusion into jazz. In his view, it was best relegated to jazz’s Cajun cousin, zydeco — which he quite liked, make no mistake. It had (in his view) no place in New Orleans’ jazz palaces like …
Well, I suppose the one example of Russia’s most famous musical export here at the SunHouse would indeed sing… if I knew the first thing about tuning one, or playing one once tuned. The balalaika in question is one of the last items from Timothy’s music closet to find a …
One of the first LPs I purchased without thought or care about who else in my musical circle liked it was The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” in 1973 or thereabouts. I was a “theatre person,” a dancer, a poet, and not by any stretch a …
Maybe it’s because I’ve been immersed in the sweetly sentimental world of the latest Ken Burns (my hero!) film, on Country Music, these last few days. Maybe it’s the earlier sunsets, the surest sign we in the Northern Hemisphere have of the approaching winter. Mostly, it is because of what …
One of the more enjoyable aspects of cataloging every book and CD and DVD (and eventually LP album) that came out of my parents’ house is discovering some odd-ball treasure you would never have expected them to own. Some oddities in the collection are expected. I’ve already remarked elsewhere on …
