In the taxonomy of contemporary music, “alt” can stand for more than “alternative.” For sure, the prefix is commonly used to signify a deviation from a genre’s traditional aesthetics: alt-rock, alt-country, alt-jazz, alt-folk. But “alt” can also mean “anti,” and I know of no instance so extreme as the one of “alt-cabaret,” a genre that has become a sensational vogue in London over the past several years and has recently emerged in New York to attack the entrenched performance traditions of the Great American Songbook. READ MORE >>
David Mamet or his lawyers chose to put an odd disclaimer at the beginning of Phil Spector, the TV movie that Mamet wrote and directed for HBO, to be broadcast this Sunday. "This is a work of fiction," we are told. READ MORE >>
Yes, it’s a huge comeback. But for whom? READ MORE >>
The facts were sketchy, and that seemed utterly appropriate to Donald Byrd. Last week, a lesser-known jazz-oriented pianist named Alex Bugnon posted on his Facebook page an announcement that Byrd had died on February 4, at age 80. READ MORE >>
Sing Along with Beck
This old-timey "album" of sheet music isn't worth the gimmick
My grandmother slept with the poultry man to help feed her six children, my mother told me many times. READ MORE >>
