Louis Armstrong: the jazz genius
On August 4, 1901, the future king of jazz Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans. Without this person, it is impossible to imagine the music of the 20th century.
There are two kinds of...
Jesse Neo Moves into Hip Hop and Releases Gemtracks Marketplace
By joining the hip hop music scene as a songwriter, the electronic singer, promoter and DJ, Jesse Neo, well-known for his irresistible party hits that have received radio plays and media acclaim in recent...
What Are the Best Famous Artist-Designed Album Covers?
The Velvet Underground. The Velvet Underground & Nico (1969)
The Velvet Underground, the debut album of the dusky American anti-hippies, did not achieve commercial success, which did not prevent it from taking an honorable place...
Brass Horns Mounted in Interactive Sculptures by Steve Parker Emit Sound By Touch
Artist and musician Steve Parker’s latest interactive projects invite viewers to feel the music—literally. Activated by touch, “Ghost Box” plays randomized audio segments on a loop, including the ticks of Morse Code, the chorus of...
Become a Piano Savant with This Clever Guide to Classic Tunes by Christoph Niemann
Your days of expensive piano lessons are over. Master the foreboding notes in Jaws, a nursery rhyme often repeated by kids, and of course,”Für Elise,” with this straightforward diagram from Christoph Niemann. In his riff...
A Monochrome Dystopian World Holds an Eerie Beauty in New Animated Music Video for...
Saad Moosajee shows the richness and emotional power that can be found in grey-scale animation with his new music video for Thom Yorke. “Last I heard (…He Was Circling the Drain)” brings Yorke’s single to...
Manami Ito Performs a Violin Solo With a Customized Prosthetic Bow Arm
Manami Ito is not only a talented musician, but also a Paralympian swimmer and the first nurse in Japan to have a prosthetic arm. She represented Japan at the 2008 and 2012 Paralympics, receiving 4th...
Japanese Musician Creates Unique Drum Beats by Tapping on Vintage Tape Recorders
Japanese musicians Ei Wada, Haruka Yoshida, and Masaru Yoshida create reverberating drum beats on the outstretched tape of cracked open reel-to-reel tape recorders from the 1970s and 1980s. The group, appropriately named Open Reel Ensemble, produces an...
Synesthetic Artist Melissa McCracken Paints Abstracted Depictions of Jazz, Funk and Pop Songs
“Wasn’t It Kind of Wonderful” (2017), oil on canvas, 48” x 48”Melissa McCracken paints what she hears, titling each of her abstract oil paintings after the songs that inspired the work’s expressive gestures and bright...
Home Listening: Virtuosic Violin Discs from Zhi-Jong Wang and Roman Simovic
Two great 20th-century works are united on a powerful new disc from Accentus: Jean Sibelius’s Violin Concerto in D minor and Igor Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto in D, played by the Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted with cogent...