Category: Music & Concert Specials
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On Music: My 10 Favorite Non-Star Wars Themes by John Williams
I have been a fan of composer/conductor John Williams since I first watched Star Wars in a crowded theater in October of 1977 at the Concord Mall in South Florida. I didn’t know it at the time – I was a 14-year-old at the time and rarely paid attention to the “Music by” credits in…
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On Music: My Top 10 Favorite John Denver Songs
I was born in the early 1960s; growing up in South Florida in the 1970s and ’80s, the music of singer/songwriter/environmental activist John Denver was (until 1982 or so) part of the soundtrack of my life. Like all great music superstars, Denver’s popularity had an arc, and he peaked around the time I was in…
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Musings & Thoughts for Sunday, December 27, 2020, or: A Few Words About ‘Pops in Love: John Williams & the Boston Pops’
Hi, there, Dear Reader. It’s Sunday, December 27, 2020, and it is early afternoon here in New Hometown, Florida. Currently, the temperature is 66˚F (19˚C) under partly sunny skies. With the wind blowing from the east at 9 MPH (15 KM/H) and humidity at 49%, the feels-like factor is 66˚F (19˚C). Today’s forecast calls for…
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Digital Music Album Review: ‘John Williams Live in Vienna: John Williams/Wiener Philharmoniker/Anne-Sophie Mutter’
On August 14, Berlin-based Deutsche Grammophon (DG) – now part of Universal Music Group – released John Williams – Live in Vienna in digital and physical media (compact disc, compact disc + Blu-ray, and vinyl LP). This new album – as well as the filmed concert – marks the first time that Maestro Williams conducts…
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Music Concert Video Review: ‘John Williams: Live in Vienna (Limited Deluxe Edition CD + Blu-ray)
John Williams/ Wiener Philharmoniker/ Anne-Sophie Mutter John Williams – Live in Vienna (Limited Deluxe Edition CD + Blu-ray) On August 14, 2020, Deutsche Grammophon (a Berlin-based subsidiary of Universal Music Group and the oldest surviving recording company in the world) released John Williams/ Wiener Philharmoniker/ Anne-Sophie Mutter John Williams – Live in Vienna (Limited Deluxe…
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More Musings, More Thoughts for Saturday, October 17, 2020: The Tale of the Forgotten Haircut, & Shopping as Therapy for the Blues
Hello again, Dear Reader. It’s mid-afternoon here in New Hometown, Florida. Currently, the temperature is 86˚F (30˚C) under sunny skies. With the wind blowing from the east-northeast at 14 MPH (22 KM/H) and humidity at 62%, the feels-like temperature is 91˚F (33˚C). No rain is in the forecast for the afternoon. After trying – and…
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Odds & Ends for July 24, 2020
Odds and Ends: July 24, 2020 Hi, there, Constant Reader. I hope you are safe, healthy, and practicing safe social distancing on this penultimate Friday of July 2020. As I sit down to write this in my little corner of Florida, it’s almost 2 PM Eastern (not that it matters, since I can’t publish this…
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Music Album Review: ‘John Denver: Definitive All-Time Greatest Hits’
John Denver: Definitive All-Time Greatest Hits is a two-CD compilation of the best songs written or performed by the late singer/songwriter/activist John Denver (1943-1997). Produced by Rob Santos and put together by Gary Pacheco for BMG Heritage and Denver’s original label RCA, this 24-track collection was dropped on October 4, 2004 – the 35th anniversary…
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Documentary/Music Special Review: ‘Great Voices Sing John Denver’
Great Voices Sing John Denver (2013) Written and Directed by: Kenneth R. Shapiro Produced by: Elisa Justice, Milton Okun, Rosemary Okun, Peter Primont, Kenneth R. Shapiro, Mark Shimmel Music Arranged and Directed by: Lee Holdridge Music and Lyrics: John Denver Starring: Danielle de Niesse, Placido Domingo, Placido Domingo Jr., Rodney Gilfry, Denyce Graves, Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Daniel Montenegro, Barbara Padilla,…
A Certain Point of View, Too 