Category Archives: Music

Good Blues at the White House for Once

By Roger Catlin | Published: February 21, 2012
I love the fact that just down a couple miles down street from my house tonight, Mick Jagger will be jamming with B.B. King, Booker T. Jones, Jeff Beck, Keb Mo and Trombone Shorty. Gary Clark Jr., Shemekia Copeland, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks will also be there. And with any luck, Barak Obama will [...]
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TV as Votive Candle: The Funeral of Whitney Houston

By Roger Catlin | Published: February 19, 2012
Mourning is an odd thing these days, especially for celebrities. Especially if the death is sudden, the cable news networks go into overdrive, interviewing anybody who had a remote connection to the deceased and even those who didn’t. They cover the public displays of balloons and flowers and teddy bears. If there’s old videos, they [...]
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Do the Grammys Really Take Care of Their Own?

By Roger Catlin | Published: February 13, 2012
There was a silly notion online that Bruce Springsteen shouldn’t have begun his performance with the E Street Band kicking off the 54th Annual Grammy Awards Sunday by asking “America, are you alive tonight?” That was supposed to be in poor taste, since some thought the Grammys should somehow turn into a 3 1/2 hour [...]
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Jennifer Hudson to Sing Whitney Tribute at Grammys

By Roger Catlin | Published: February 12, 2012
Jennifer Hudson will sing a tribute to Whitney Houston at The 54th Annual Grammy Awards (CBS, 8 p.m.) in hastily-planned salute put together after Houston’s death Saturday at 48. It’s one of a number of tributes already planned for the show including one for Etta James by Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt and another for [...]
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Whitney Houston, 1963-2012

By Roger Catlin | Published: February 12, 2012
Whitney Houston, who was found dead Saturday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel at 48 of unknown causes, set a standard in pop singing few could ever hope to reach. After a brilliant start, signed to a recording contract before she was of voting age, releasing a string of seven consecutive No. 1 singles and one [...]
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Beyond ‘Extreme Chopin’

By Roger Catlin | Published: February 11, 2012
It’s not so much “Extreme Chopin” that pianist Brian Ganz is dedicating himself to. That would seemingly involve performing the Polish master’s repertoire while riding a motorcycle or perhaps playing while the keyboard is on fire, Jerry Lee Lewis style. By “Extreme,” Ganz, the accomplished musician and artist in residence at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, [...]
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The Chamber Music of Thurston Moore

By Roger Catlin | Published: February 8, 2012
Thurston Moore in a suit is almost as disarming as Thurston Moore going acoustic. But his solo tour for his album “Demolished Thoughts” that played a sold out show at the 9:30 Club in Washington Monday had more than that: He was surrounded by a violin, harp, another acoustic guitar and a drummer who seemed [...]
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Bloom is Off the Biff Rose

By Roger Catlin | Published: February 5, 2012
Speaking of poor uses for the internet, I was sitting around with a friend the other night just spouting names of ancient TV actors (Louis Nye! Gene Barry!) when the name of some old singer songwriters popped up too. Biff Rose was a guy who sort of dressed like Marcel Marceau – striped shirt, rose [...]
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On Tonight: Elton John, Leon Russell Forge ‘The Union’

By Roger Catlin | Published: February 2, 2012
In the great tradition of rock stars resurrecting heroes of the past (Bruce Springsteen and Gary U.S. Bonds, Tom Petty and Del Shannon), Elton John went back to find Leon Russell, one of his original inspirations, to make an album called “The Union” (HBO, 9 p.m.) T-Bone Burnett was enlisted to produce and Cameron Crowe [...]
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Remembering Don Cornelius, ‘Soul Train’ Conductor

By Roger Catlin | Published: February 2, 2012
Sad to hear of the death at 75 of Don Cornelius, the host and creator of “Soul Train,” a show so cool and lasting, it was still playing this evening on a local station opposite national newscasts’ attempts to explain its legacy. Cornelius was the opposite of Dick Clark – laconic, elegant, cool. It was [...]
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