A pint of bitter, please, because it’s The Dubliners at the The Wheeltappers and...
In which three fascinating Anglo-Irish topics collide amid my frequent references to the adjective "elegiac."
It's the mid-1970s lineup of the Irish folk band The...
Killer diller, or thinking about big band music and my father’s WWII musical reveries
As introduction, during my 1990s salad days at the Public House, I maintained a collection of swing, big band and jazz CDs behind the...
Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington, et al (Part Two)
You'll notice I reversed their names in the title for the second installment. This 2007 film by Robert Levi helps provide context to the...
Quadrophenia: “Ain’t it funny how we all seem to look the same?”
Emerging from the shadows of The Dolphin pub in Plymouth’s Barbican, we began walking toward the stunningly perfect natural harbor, the open sea a...
Speaking of epitaphs, a wonderful song called “Get Out and Stay Out”
"Get Out and Stay Out" was recorded for the 1979 Quadrophenia film soundtrack and wasn't part of the original album in 1973. That's Kenney...
Roger’s year in music, 2023
Music does something to me, and I’ve never been able to explain exactly why. It just happens.
My molecules are somehow rearranged when I walk...
On the late James Levine
The conductor and pianist James Levine died earlier this month, and yesterday's obituary in the The New York Times is here. Levine was renowned,...
Big bands: A book about Bunny Berigan, his life and times
Originally this was an "ON THE AVENUES" column from July 25, 2017. It has been lightly updated.
I was born in 1960, and grew up...
Roger’s year in music, 2022
It never hurts to repeat fundamental truths.
Music does something to me, and I’ve never been able to explain exactly why. It just happens. Sometimes...
Absent Ian Gillan, it’s less of a Jesus Christ Superstar to me
Recounts the last days of Jesus Christ from the perspective of Judas Iscariot, his betrayer. As Jesus’ following increases, Judas begins to worry that...
Latest article
The Songs for a (P&u) Departure (1): “These cameras never lie”
We're told that Nov. 15 will be the last day for Pints&union in New Albany prior to the pub decamping for the Highlands: Here’s the...
Speaking of epitaphs, a wonderful song called “Get Out and Stay Out”
"Get Out and Stay Out" was recorded for the 1979 Quadrophenia film soundtrack and wasn't part of the original album in 1973. That's Kenney...
Here’s the epitaph: “In the end, Pints&union didn’t deserve New Albany”
It usually surprises people to learn that I’ve lived in Floyd County, Indiana my entire life, and in New Albany since the early 1990s....
