Van Morrison, “the only gazillionaire rock star to be a pandemic-denier besides Eric Clapton”
The pandemic seems to have deprived Van Morrison of his karma. Or maybe he already was running low.
Musically, the new album isn't unpleasant at...
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...
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...
Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, et al (Part One)
A Duke Named Ellington was a two-part "American Masters" film on PBS in 1988.
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (1899-1974) was a musician and orchestra leader...
“Funeral,” by Tigercub
This might seem an odd admission, but I pay too little attention to song lyrics or song titles, until I finally do, which often...
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...
Roger’s year in music, 2025
Yes, this is 2026, and I’m supposed to be recapping my year in music in 2025. To get there, we must begin by stumbling...
40 Years in Beer (Book II, Part 43): Facing the music at Rich O’s...
Previously: 40 Years in Beer (Book II, Part 42): Barr built the bar, and the Guinness began pouring.
Music?
That's right, music.
After all, this series is...
Roger’s year in music, 2021
Music does something to me, and I’ve never been able to explain exactly why. It just happens. Sometimes when I walk into a supermarket,...
Still failing to reincarnate Keith Moon
47 years ago this month, I was 18 years old, dipping a disinterested toe into college, and utterly devastated that Keith Moon, drummer for...
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40 Years in Beer (Book III), Part 92: Pentecostal pews, beer judging exams and...
Previously: 40 Years in Beer (Book III), Part 91: New Albany’s brewing history, prior to NABC resuming it.
It would be perfectly reasonable of the...
40 Years of Sidebars: Hugo Claus, Frans Masereel & NABC’s one-off Silent Oath Oud...
This Belgian cultural excursion didn’t slot handily into the “40 Years in Beer” narrative, and so I've declared it suitable as a “sidebar.” The...
40 Years in Beer (Book III), Part 91: New Albany’s brewing history, prior to...
Previously: 40 Years in Beer (Book III), Part 90: A brewery for the New Albanian in all of us, Lite-free NABC debuts in 2002.
In...
