The Alt-Right’s Roots Go Deep in Co-Opting Pop Music
As with the Nazis and Goebbels and the Ku Klux Klan, the alt-right’s desire to co-opt pop music for their purposes requires ideological and ethical gymnastics.
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Louis Jordan Straddled Two Epochs in American Popular Music
Louis Jordan’s style and innovation helped American popular music transition from one global sound juggernaut to the next, moving from big-band swing jazz to rock ‘n’ roll.
Bob Stanley’s Book on the Birth of Pop Music Spins One Helluva Playlist
Bob Stanley provides an utterly comprehensive and much-appreciated reference guide for the world of pre-rock pop music. We just need to carve out a million hours to stream the music.
In Bob Stanley’s Let’s Do It ‘The Winds Grow Colder’ for Judy Garland and Billie Holiday
In this excerpt from Bob Stanley’s history of pop music, Let’s Do It, the music and stories of iconic singers Judy Garland and Billie Holiday are forever intertwined.
Ella Fitzgerald Live at the Hollywood Bowl in 1958 Rediscovered
Ella Fitzgerald mixed styles in a unique way while sticking to the work of one songwriter at a time. This recording shows how she could masterfully do this with a live orchestra.
Ruben Blades Melds Salsa and Swing on ‘Salswing’
Iconic Latin musician and actor Ruben Blades has fun breaking boundaries on his latest LP, Salswing, where he makes salsa really swing.
Guitarist John Pizzarelli Goes Solo on the Music of Pat Metheny
John Pizzarelli’s pandemic record comes after helping James Taylor with a set of old standards but it’s a departure: solo guitar treatments of Pat Metheny.
Finding Joe Castro’s ‘Passion Flower’
Jazz's Joe Castro is always in the groove and the other players in the pocket. There's a uniformity of taste on these records despite their different sources, styles, and periods from which they originally emerged.
Monte Warden and the Dangerous Few Play It Cool
Austin's Monte Warden and the Dangerous Few perform sophisticatedly unsophisticated jazz/Americana that's perfect for these times
The Ruthie Foster Big Band Swings the Best Live Record of the Year So Far
Featuring several originals paired with timeless covers, Live at the Paramount finds the Ruthie Foster Big Band bringing the house down.
Pokey LaFarge Hits ‘Rock Bottom’ on His Way Up
Americana's Pokey LaFarge performs music in front of an audience as a way of conquering his personal demons on Rock Bottom.
‘Piano Duets’ Asserts Ella Fitzgerald’s Interpretive Greatness
Though called "The First Lady of Song", Ella Fitzgerald is more lauded for her spectacular vocal sound than for her interpretations of lyrics, but a new reissue should help correct that understanding of her art.