Saxophonist Tom Scott.By Bill MeredithVeteran saxophonist Tom Scott has what amounts to a nice problem when he puts together set lists for his concerts. With 29 solo albums and more than 500 recording sessions, plus a vast array of compositions for TV and film, he has way more than enough material to choose from."I have most of it on my computer, so it's pretty easy to run down … [Read more...]
Music feature: Mancini legacy has new home in South Florida
Henry Mancini and friend.(Illustration by Pat Crowley)By Bill MeredithLocation, location, location. It's the well-known rule of real estate, but it also applies to musical institutions of higher learning.Witness the case of the Henry Mancini Institute. Founded by composer/conductor Jack Elliot in 1997 to honor its namesake Grammy-and-Oscar-winning composer (who died in 1994 of … [Read more...]
Music review: Allman Brothers cook up blues-rock perfection
Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks play under the watchful eyeof the band's long-dead founder, Duane Allman, seen on the screen behind them.(Photo by Tom Craig/Seminole Hard Rock) By Thom Smith The night belonged to Gregg Allman. He sits at his Hammond B-3 as if he's riding a chopped Harley, sometimes hunched over the keyboard as if he's looking for cops, sometimes … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Oct. 15-21
Andrea McArdle.Theater: The girl who gave the world the indelible foghorn version of Tomorrow as the star of Annie back in 1977 is a 45-year-old theater veteran now, and tonight in Jupiter she takes on the world premiere of a new musical, Love Is Love, written by Annie lyricist Martin Charnin and composer Richard Gray. Charnin also directs the show, which has been in … [Read more...]
ArtsPreview 2009-10: The season in pop music
Brad Paisley, who plays the Cruzan on Oct. 17.By Thom SmithThe Allman Brothers Band, Steve Miller, Roger Daltrey, Miley Cyrus, Leonard Cohen, and Lady Gaga.Those are some of the pop acts that will grace South Florida before the new year. Only one problem: All are playing in Broward County or way down in Miami.By comparison, the musical calendar in Palm Beach County is dotted … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Oct. 2-6
A photo of New York City by Andreas Feininger.Art: Opening Saturday at the Norton Museum of Art is New York, New York: The 20th Century, an exhibition from the West Palm Beach museum’s collection of New York scenes, depicted in paintings, photographs, sculptures and works on paper. Among those artists represented are painters Stuart Davis, Edward Hopper and Reginald Marsh, and … [Read more...]
ArtsPreview 2009-10: The season in jazz
Jazz vocalist Sophie Milman. (Illustration by Pat Crowley) Editor's note: This is one in a series of 10 stories previewing the Palm Beach County and regional arts season for 2009-10.By Bill Meredith As is often the case, the South Florida jazz season for 2009-2010 involves more quality than quantity. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, and the coming season even includes a few … [Read more...]
Music feature: Boca club owner hangs on, testifying for the blues
Blues entrepreneur John Yurt.(Photo by Skip Sheffield)By Skip Sheffield It’s never been easy playing and singing the blues, especially here in South Florida, at the extreme southern end of America.The last couple years have been unkind to area blues fans. First, Musicians Exchange co-founder and blues champion Don Cohen died. Then the Bamboo Room in Lake Worth, the finest blues … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Sept. 10-13
Dogluver I, by Nancy Spielman.Art: The South Florida Cultural Consortium Media and Visual Arts Fellowship offers stipends of $7,500 and $15,000 to its winning fellows, and the $15,000 awards are the largest such awards given to individual artists by any local arts agency in the United States. Tomorrow night at Florida Atlantic University's Boca Raton campus, an exhibition of … [Read more...]
Music feature: Jazz educators keep the beat alive
Bassist Chuck Bergeron.(Illustration by Pat Crowley) By Bill Meredith"Jazz is not dead," Frank Zappa said in 1973, "it just smells funny."It's documented on the song Be-Bop Tango (Of the Old Jazzmen's Church), from the 1974 live album Roxy & Elsewhere. And the master satirist was playing with one of his jazziest ensembles, which included keyboard-and-vocal icon George Duke … [Read more...]