Category: Musical Instruments

Mike Beigel, Whose Devices Shaped the Sound of the 70s, Has Died

The New York Times – Music:
Have a listen. He’s responsible for a funky texture in the 1970s that defined hit songs by Stevie Wonder, the Grateful Dead and many others.
How to Land a $30 Million Viola? Find a Matchmaker With Deep Pockets.

The New York Times – Music:
Whether through open-ended loans or “musical mortgages,” philanthropists and investors are helping get the best instruments into talented musicians’ hands.
Tariffs Are Making Instruments So Expensive, School Music Programs Are at Risk

The New York Times – Business:
When a single cello can cost $1,000 and a tuba $9,000, tariffs are straining meager band and orchestra budgets.
Patrick Gleeson, Who Made Synthesizers Part of Jazz, Dies at 91

The New York Times – Music:
He abandoned a job teaching college English in the 1960s to become a pioneer of the instrument, playing onstage with Herbie Hancock’s jazz band.
Patrick Gleeson, Who Made Synthesizers Part of Jazz, Dies at 91

The New York Times – Music:
He abandoned a job teaching college English in the 1960s to become a pioneer of the instrument, playing onstage with Herbie Hancock’s jazz band.
Ellis Ludwig-Leone’s ‘Quiet Hours’ Highlights the Home Piano

The New York Times – Music:
Ellis Ludwig-Leone composed an album of nocturnes, each for a pianist friend to play on a home piano — or a piano that feels like home.
Domi and JD Beck Return With ‘Who Asked?’

The New York Times – Music:
With their second album, “Who Asked?,” the virtuoso jazz-and-beyond duo Domi and JD Beck re-emerges with ever more intricate songs.
Can the American Oboe Sing Again?

Building the instrument is hard enough. Turning a profit is a killer. But Jim Phelan is bent on reviving one of the great names in classical music.
In the Path of a Raging Wildfire, a Luthier’s Precious Wood

Mario Miralles spent decades acquiring the spruce and maple for string instruments worthy of Yo-Yo Ma and Gustavo Dudamel. Then he was forced to evacuate.
Gary Graffman, Piano Virtuoso and Renowned Teacher, Dies at 97

Mr. Graffman was a onetime child prodigy whose career was curtailed by a neurological condition that restricted him to his left hand.
The Beguiling, Misunderstood Theremin

Invented by accident in the 1920s, the unusual electronic instrument is hard to master but offers an enticing reward: freedom.
Anthony Jackson, Master of the Electric Bass, Is Dead at 73

Besides his work with pop stars and jazz greats, he is credited with helping to invent the six-string contrabass guitar.