Song of Fire

Babies and music

Jon O — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:52:36 +0000

If you're a parent, you might be wondering what music is best to play for your baby. Will Mozart make her smarter? Will the simplistic Barney theme song stultify his brain? Can I nurture a preference for Tori Amos over Britney Spears?

The end of piano lessons

Jon O — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 04:22:51 +0000

Pianos used to be common in American households. Many of us had uncles or grandmothers who could sit down at a party and accompany group sing-alongs. Music programs in schools were common when I was growing up, as were private piano lessons in the home. This is not the case any longer.

A journey into the mystery of bird song

Jon O — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 06:59:58 +0000

I mentioned this book by David Rothenberg -- Why Birds Sing: A Journey into the Mystery of Bird Song -- in an earlier post (Why Do Birds Sing, April 2008). Rothenberg is a jazz musician who not only writes eloquently, explaining what we know about the strange structure of bird song, but has composed a CD of music incorporating bird song that is included with the book.

Two versions of West Side Story’s “America”

Jon O — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:19:17 +0000

MOG music blogger Mike the Knife posted a 1968 video clip of Keith Emerson and The Nice performing an instrumental rock version of "America" from the Bernstein/Sondheim musical West Side Story. The collage of images that is spliced into the video highlights the hypocrisy in American culture and politics that was omnipresent at the time. It reminded me of an interesting contrast between the original stage version of the song in 1957 and the version used in the 1961 film.

Ndegeocello as anti-star

Jon O — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 07:31:08 +0000

MeShell Ndegeocello gave an inspired performance today at SF Pride in San Francisco, an hour-long set that included songs from The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams such as "Evolution," "Article 3" and "Sloganeer," as well as a selection of unrecorded songs written by herself or others that so far can only be heard in live settings.

Brain scans reveal your musical autobiography

Jon O — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:35:16 +0000

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the National Institute for Deafness and Other Communication Disorders took brain scans of musicians and discovered that improvisation fires regions of the brain associated with activities such as telling a story about yourself while shutting off areas responsible for planning and self-censorship.

Poor Kokopelli

Jon O — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:40:28 +0000

Poor Kokopelli -- realty companies, restaurants, lodges, gyms, ice cream, bands, art galleries, software, wine, golf clubs… Whatever you can imagine, you can bet there’s a Kokopelli namesake somewhere.

Why we go to concerts but don’t buy CDs

Jon O — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 18:40:43 +0000

I came across a post with that title on the Portfolio magazine website. What was interesting was the comments, which reflected a cross-section of attitudes to the question. Some comments challenged the statement by saying the high cost of tickets and the behavior of crowds discourage concert attendance. Others appreciate the dynamic quality of live music compared with the "perfect" sound captured on CD.

Shades of love - the 10 best love songs

Jon O — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 08:51:50 +0000

There are plenty of good love songs out there, but what makes a love song truly great? I offer this list of ten great love songs -- some well known and some not so well known -- in a spectrum of styles representing the many shades of love.

Ten unlikely hit songs that broke the rules

Jon O — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 07:10:56 +0000

Few songs that break the rules of pop songwriting ever achieve mainstream success. Deviate from the predictable verse/chorus structure in 4/4 time arranged for a basic grouping of guitar/keyboards, bass and drums, and you can pretty much guarantee being marginalized. During a 20-year period from roughly 1965-1985, however – a period that witnessed a flowering of musical creativity and widespread openness to experimentation – it was possible to break the rules and have a hit record. Here are ten unlikely hits from that period.