the snare drum
The drummer had been trying to learn meditation for nearly two years. He owned several books on mindfulness, subscribed briefly to an app featuring reassuring voices from California, and attended […]
The drummer had been trying to learn meditation for nearly two years. He owned several books on mindfulness, subscribed briefly to an app featuring reassuring voices from California, and attended […]
I was very pleased with the salad. Chickpeas, which I soaked and later boiled, with mint, parsley, apple, currants, red onion and cinnamon, turmeric, berbre, salt, white pepper, olive oil, […]
Marianne knew the touring schedule better than she knew her own dental appointments. Long before official announcements appeared, she could predict where the band might go next by studying venue […]
Orwell’s line from Nineteen Eighty-Four is often understood politically, but it also has musical resonance: The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was […]
Rose, a violinist, first noticed the pain during a Mahler rehearsal. Small sharpness in her left foot, insignificant enough to ignore and yet impossible to forget once discovered. By the […]
There is a story that Stalin requested a recording of a Mozart concerto which Maria Yudina had performed live, only to discover none existed. The orchestra and technicians were summoned […]
Part of being a musician is periodically lobbing your little paper airplane over impossible fences just to see where it lands. Sometimes it drops immediately into a decorative fountain. Sometimes […]
A week before the concert, the promoter called. Ticket sales were soft. The promoter explained the numbers. Rent. Advertising. Staffing. Guarantees. The possibility of losing money hovered over the conversation […]
He became a janitor gradually, reluctantly, and after exhausting all fantasies involving sudden recognition. For years he had assembled a life from coffeehouse gigs, teaching lessons, wedding receptions, and the […]
I’ve counted you infor the last time. Not out of anger.Not because the songs were bad.Not because the miles were too longor the hotel carpets too ugly. Something quieter happened. […]