Cream drummer Ginger Baker critically ill in hospital

Family of Baker, who has also performed with Fela Kuti and Public Image Ltd, ask fans to ‘keep him in your prayers’

Ginger Baker, the jazz and blues drummer who co-founded the rock band Cream, has been reported critically ill.

A tweet posted from his official account reads: “The Baker family are sad to announce that Ginger is critically ill in hospital. Please keep him in your prayers tonight.”

Continue reading...

An evening with João Gilberto, the bright wallflower of bossa nova

A rare concert in 1998 was a chance to see the great musical pioneer emerge from hiding – and why his glorious talent lifted him beyond pop fads

In 1998, I had the rare experience of seeing bossa nova pioneer João Gilberto live in concert in San Francisco. Gilberto, who died on Saturday at age 88, was a famous recluse known both for his magical music-making as well as his stage fright. If you had the chance to watch him perform live, you seized the opportunity because it might never happen again. This is my account of that memorable evening.

Related: Brazilian musician João Gilberto dies aged 88

Continue reading...

Almanac for Monday, March 12, 2018

Those born on this date are under the sign of Pisces. They include pioneer automaker Clement Studebaker in 1831; New York Times publisher Adolph Ochs in 1858; artist Elaine de Kooning in 1918; novelist Jack Kerouac in 1922; Mercury astronaut Wally Schirra in 1923; playwright Edward Albee in 1928; Southwest Airlines co-founder Herb Kelleher in 1931 ; former U.N. Ambassador/Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young in 1932 ; actor Barbara Feldon in 1933 ; Hall of Fame basketball Coach Eddie Sutton in 1936 ; singer/songwriter Al Jarreau in 1940; singer/actor Liza Minnelli in 1946 ; former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in 1947 ; singer/songwriter James Taylor in 1948 ; Jackson 5 member Marlon Jackson in 1957 ; former baseball player Darryl Strawberry in 1962 ; actor Aaron Eckhart in 1968 ; musician Pete Doherty in 1979 ; actor Jaimie Alexander in 1984 ; singer Elly Jackson in 1988 ; pop singer Christina ... (more)

Today In History, Jan. 21: Women’s March

One year ago: A day after Donald Trump's inauguration, more than 1 million people rallied at women's marches in the nation's capital and cities around the world to send the new president an emphatic message that they wouldn't let his agenda go unchallenged. In 1937, Count Basie and his band recorded "One O'Clock Jump" for Decca Records .

Harry & Ida’s Luncheonette: A Trendy Throwback

By what alchemical process do things in the United States become frozen at specific temporal junctions? Who, for example, decided that diners up and down the country should remain locked somewhere in the nineteen-fifties? The luncheonette, a subspecies of diner, harkens back to the interwar period, to Dos Passos's "Manhattan Transfer" and men scarfing meaty sandwiches and pickles before loping off into the growing metropolis to find honest work. Several originals from this era remain; the best of them is probably the Lexington Candy Shop, which dates from 1925 and serves thick hamburgers and hot tuna melts to Upper East Siders in a hurry.

Havana named as host city for 2017 International Jazz Day

Herbie Hancock has twice before visited Havana to perform intimate solo-duet concerts with his Cuban counterpart Chucho Valdes, but at the end of April the two renowned jazz pianists will be collaborating on a grander scale. Hancock and Valdes will be serving as artistic directors for the 6th International Jazz Day.

The Obamas Made Sure Black Art Was Celebrated In The White House

Even before Barack Obama was officially sworn in as president in January 2009, he set the tone for his presidency with "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial." What the president seemed to be saying with the star-studded event was that Black arts and culture would take center stage during his administration.

Track of the Day: ‘Killing an Arab’ by The Cure

I only noticed this particular Track of the Day theme today, and I immediately went back through the previous entries to make sure you hadn't run this one already. The Cure's reference to Camus's The Stranger is made pretty explicit in the refrain , but back in high school-when I both heard the song and read the book for the first time within a month of each other-I thought the song was a pretty good distillation of the novel's central themes.