Notes from the Gramophone

It was the long, opening cut from “Recycled,” the 1975 release by Nektar, that had me jumping for joy around the house Saturday afternoon. Thank heavens Bryan had gone out for a little while so I could crank it up and act silly.

It was part of “Highs in the Seventies,” the tribute to that mixed up decade of music, which airs on WXPN FM, 88.5 from the University of Pennsylvania. Arriving on the first Saturday of each month and hosted by Dan Reed, “Highs” always hauls out some obscure treasures. But the first Saturday of the first month of the New Year is extra obscure because it’s Dan Reed’s special “all progressive rock” show. This one went all morning and afternoon, a delicious eight hours.

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Everyone is looking back at 2008 and understandably looking forward to 2009. So I thought I’d get on the bandwagon and remember a few special conversations I had with people in music (and one non-conversation).

John Hiatt was fun to talk to especially when I learned that his wife is 5 days older than me. He seemed to open up and relax more then. He had been a little elusive for years when he came around, not doing interviews at all it seemed. So I was gratified when he spoke to me before an appearance at the State Theater. He was touring to promote his new album Same Old Man, a real DIY project, recorded in a refurbished garage. Continue Reading »

I was reading an online list of the 12 worst holiday songs and one of them was Madonna’s version of “Santa Baby.” Hmmmm, I guess I agree that it’s difficult to believe Madge — the other Chairman of the Board, the legend, the brand — is a breathless, kewpie doll, cooing her way into obtaining material things. If she wants a yacht (”and really, that’s not a lot”) she could go out and buy it herself.

But the real problem I have with her version of the song is that it pales in comparison with the original version by Eartha Kitt. Released in the mid-1950s, Ms. Kitt’s “Santa Baby” has that same saucy, tongue-in-cheek delivery as Ms. Kitt’s other gems like “C’est si bon” and “Je cherche un homme.”

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And it’s for a good cause!

The 9th Annual Ernie White and Band and Friends Christmas Benefit Concert has become one of the area’s most anticipated rock ‘n’ roll events. And it’s a real palate cleanser from the umpteenth version of Chestnuts Roasting we’ve endured — definitely not Perry Como!

For the past eight years, Trenton’s legendary guitar rocker, Ernie White – along with his band — have spearheaded this rockin’ Christmas concert with the help of an all-star, all-Trenton cast of musicians. Continue Reading »

A word about those “holiday letters” you get with the cards every year. You know which ones I mean. Continue Reading »

I never realized how many re-runs of Cold Case you can watch if you’re stuck in the hospital emergency room overnight, waiting for your loved one to be seen and given something FOR THE PAIN. And they are particularly dark episodes of Cold Case too.  Lots of serial killers in the overnight, it seems. Wonder if it has something to do with the ginsu knives being sold on other stations?

Fortunately, I had some reading material with me and was especially interested in the new Rolling Stone’s 50 Best Albums of the Year issue. It is that time of the year when critics and folks like me tally lists of favorites. I’d be curious to hear some of yours?

I am still not in the download generation so I rely on ACTUAL CDS! and there were a couple of them that I sought out. Continue Reading »

In my confusion over the events of the last week or so — let’s just say turmoil in the newspaper business has touched my life — I completely forgot that Monday, Dec. 8 was the 28th anniversary of John Lennon’s murder.

Only when Helen Leight from WXPN talked about it on her mid-day show and then played a few of John’s wonderful songs from Double Fantasy did the memories come back about that night. What a great album it is — his comeback from being a house husband and raising Sean Ono Lennon (both father and son were born on Oct. 10, by the way). John had just turned 40 when it was released. Continue Reading »

Well, of course it isn’t. But when I spoke to the legendary Odetta, the godmother of soul, the unwavering voice of the civil rights movement, she said she wouldn’t stop singing until the world was a perfect place.

Odetta has stopped singing. She died of a heart attack earlier this week, at age 77. Although she lived to see an African-American man be elected President, she died before her wish to sing at Barack Obama’s inauguration came true. Continue Reading »

As the holiday season kicks into full gear — music, eating, shopping, decorating, visiting, more eating — here’s a way to stay stress-free and happily chilled.

The Princeton University Concert Jazz Ensemble and the University Pat Metheny Ensemble, directed by Anthony D.J. Branker, will spotlight the music of composer, guitarist and bandleader Pat Metheny, with the program So May It Secretly Begin: The Music of Pat Metheny, Dec. 6.

The concert, to be held at Richardson Auditorium on the campus of Princeton University, will draw from such critically acclaimed Metheny recordings as Still Life (Talking), Bright Size Life, Letter from Home, American Garage and Works. Continue Reading »

Eleven Princeton-based student choral groups — including the famed American Boychoir — are featured on A Princeton Christmas: For the Children of Africa Vol. 2 as a way to lift spirits around the world and raise funds for the School Feeding campaign of the United Nations World Food Program in Africa. It’s the follow-up to last year’s critically acclaimed inaugural album by the richly-talented student choral community. Continue Reading »