Jan 11 Tonight on PBS, Sam Cooke Brings It Home Tonight on PBS, a look at the velvet-voiced star who helped break the pop music color barrier with his gospel-infused R&B in "Sam Cooke: Crossing Over". Continue reading
Dec 29 Conversation: Patti Smith By Arts Desk When fashion photographer Steven Sebring began shooting footage of the daily life of poet and performer Patti Smith -- what Smith describes as high-aesthetic home movies -- neither fully anticipated the project becoming a feature length film. Continue reading
Dec 09 Wednesday on the NewsHour: Pianist Richard Glazier Is 'Crazy for' Gershwin By Arts Desk Movie musicals led a young Richard Glazier to the piano, first for classical training and then to develop a devotion to the music of a golden period of American songs, particularly the George and Ira Gershwin. Continue reading
Dec 02 Photos from the Beijing Underground Capturing the faces of an ever expanding and changing youth movement in China, photographer Matthew Niederhauser's ongoing project, "Sound Kapital," documents the emerging underground punk, indie rock, electronic and folk music scenes of Beijing. Continue reading
Nov 19 Conversation: Robert Kimball, Author of 'Complete Lyrics of Johnny Mercer' By Arts Desk On Wednesday, prolific songwriter and singer Johnny Mercer would have turned 100. In his lifetime, he worked with more than 200 collaborators and churned out lyrics for more than 1,500 songs for both Broadway and the silver screen, which were… Continue reading
Oct 15 Conversation: Joan Baez By Arts Desk Last night on PBS's American Masters, viewers got an intimate portrait of one of America's most famous singers. Joan Baez began performing with her guitar in coffee shops at just 17, but went on to help define the sound and… Continue reading