Regardless of topic, from war, oyster bars, junk yards, to fluency, the reader never finds a word out of place, over frilly phrases or rigid format. Instead, the poet offers clear language, with specificity of detail and style that meets the needs of the poem.
Voice, Piano, and More: Roberta Flack’s Let It Be, a tribute to the Beatles
Intimate, with advice to young love and what sounds like acoustic guitar, the durable quality of “Hey Jude” is proven, and durability has made it and other songs by the Beatles nearly public property (yet, they remain too lucrative to become public property). Flack performs the song “Hey Jude” with a confiding, childlike simplicity, and it is sweet, possibly too sweet. Flack told journalist Mike Ragogna of Huffington Post, posted February 6, 2012, that she approached the song as if it were a hymn; and she also said, “It’s about coming back to basics and simplicity.
Beauty, Pain, and Strength: Carolin Widmann and Alexander Lonquich perform a Fantasy, Rondo, and Sonata by Franz Schubert
Widmann, born in Munich, studied in Cologne, Boston, and London, and has performed with orchestras in several of the world’s great cities, such as Paris, Rome, and Vienna; and with Alexander Lonquich, who was born in Trier, a prodigy who has become an international performer and conductor, Widmann has chosen to explore Schubert music of beauty, emotion, technique, and thought. The “Rondo h-Moll” has an exalted, even extreme beauty, and the “Sonate A-Dur” (or “Sonata”) creates in the listener an alternative consciousness.
A Young Woman Reflects, Sorrow as Treasured Gold: Adele at 21
There are few artists with the skill or substance to bring people together; and Adele is one of the special ones. Her album 21 is full of good songs, particularly “Rolling in the Deep,” “Rumour Has It,” “Don’t You Remember,” “Set Fire to the Rain,” and “He Won’t Go.” May time and grace be on her side.
Nostalgia for the Impossible: All Our Reasons by the Billy Hart Quartet
Billy Hart, a musician and a teacher, the kind of talented and developing journeyman without which jazz could not exist, periodically works with saxophonist Mark Turner, pianist Ethan Iverson, double-bassist Ben Street as part of a quartet, beginning almost a decade ago. The quartet’s saxophonist Mark Turner also works with a trio called Fly, and pianist Ethan Iverson with The Bad Plus, and bassist Ben Street with Danilo Perez, Sam Rivers, and James Moody; and with Billy Hart they get to play with someone whose history is deep in jazz.
Source and Resource (Papa Don’t Take No Mess): James Brown’s 20 All Time Greatest Hits!
James Brown is said to have added something unique to a popular music tradition that includes musicians and performers such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ethel Waters, Lena Horne, John Coltrane, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Smokey, Marvin, Diana, and Stevie, Curtis Mayfield, Sly Stone, Roberta Flack, Donna Summer, Minnie Riperton, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Beyonce Knowles. Yet, Brown’s work was not always popular; it was done first for a minority of people and its appeal gained force and range.
A review of Real Writing: Word Models of the Modern World by Michael Lydon
Throughout Real Writing Michael Lydon creates a solid thesis for the power of realism. Though each of these writers are products of their own times, with settings and themes determined by the key concerns of the day, there is a timelessness to their themes and characters.
A review of Thru the Fire by Vincent Ware
In Thru the Fire Vincent Ware has written poetry that is erotic and hypnotic with vivid imagery. The author’s absolutely sensual descriptions can make you blush and smile in understanding. The pulse quickens and the pupils widen as you read Thru the Fire. I felt as though I stepped into a portion of Mr. Ware’s world – the past and the present.
A review of Acid Indigestion Eyes by Wayne Lockwood
Lockwood’s writing is just the right mix of snark, sarcasm, and cynical observational humor to make it universally relatable to readers. He’s the type of writer that points out the common everyday occurrences that happen to all of us, and as you read you find yourself slowly realizing, “Hey…that happened to me, too!”
A review of One Moment, One Morning by Sarah Rayner
One Moment, One Morning gives readers the chance to do something few novels do—take a step back and really think of how delicate life is, and how quickly it can change from moment to moment. Rayner writes realistic, relatable characters who are simply trying to deal with the overwhelming feelings sudden change can bring, and she writes them well.