Bowie’s Changes – the Many Lives of a Rock Artist: David Bowie IS, the Brooklyn Museum

Bowie’s Changes – the Many Lives of a Rock Artist: David Bowie IS, the Brooklyn Museum

When it comes to approach of identity-definition, there are two kinds of artists.

The first kind develops his/her craft and his idiom as far as they can go, and then, once sensing that the craft and idiom have within themselves some kind of success-potential for communication of ideas and sentiments, settles upon them. The artist decides to perfect his/her selected approach - and perform it and publish it - again and again and again. And it works well. Audiences who dig it do dig it and don’t ask questions.

The second kind possesses and revels in his/her craft and his idiom as parts of him/herself, and then, once sensing their abilities and limitations in terms of potential for artistic achievement, rejects them. The artist decides that s/he will reinvent the selected craft - and dress it in different fabrics and colors and styles - again and again and again. And it works well. Audiences who dig it do dig it, mostly, and ask an ongoing plethora of ever-changing questions as they bear witness to the eternal evolution of the artist’s craft.

The Storyteller’s Story: Testimony: A Memoir by Robbie Robertson

The Storyteller’s Story: Testimony: A Memoir by Robbie Robertson

“He got what he wanted but he lost what he had.” Rock writer Greil Marcus, aficionado-scholar of American music, cultural history, and of The Band, uses this Little Richard quote as a jumping off point to tell the story of American rock ‘n’ roll music in his 1975 work Mystery Train.

Little Richard’s line is the quintessential punishment that often seems to accompany American success stories, like those of Jay Gatsby or Charles Foster Kane. It doesn’t seem to apply to that of Robbie Robertson however, co-founder, main songwriter, and lead guitarist of The Band. (Robertson is Canadian after all.) From a reading of his recently released autobiographical work Testimony: A Memoir, one can conclude that Robertson got a great deal of what he worked for and managed to not lose everything that he began with.

Top Four Working Jazz Guitarists of 2015

The closing track on Donald Fagen’s 2012 solo album Sunken Condos is a gem called “Planet D’Rhonda.” It tells the story of a crazy-thus-attractive chick named Rhonda who the narrator is fascinated by; the most fascinating element of the track however, is Kurt Rosenwinkel’s guitar solo.

Six Must-Haves of Newly Released Albums

The popularity and artistic success of American tenor Bryan Hymel has been steadily increasing over the past few years. His debut at the Metropolitan Opera was in 2012, when he portrayed the role of Enee in Berlioz’ Les Troyens, and he was the winner of the highly coveted Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera in 2013. Now, Hymel gives us his first album release through Warner Classics – Héroïque: French Opera Arias.