Writers, scholars, radio hosts and musicians, including the bassist Ron Carter, share songs that shine a light on an instrument that lays the foundation of jazz.
Category: Musical Instruments
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Mike Pinder, Founding Keyboardist of the Moody Blues, Dies at 82
His expertise on the electromechanical Mellotron helped define the band’s progressive sound in the 1960s and ’70s on albums like “Days of Future Passed.”
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Casey Benjamin, Free-Spirited Saxophonist, Dies at 45
A musical voyager who wouldn’t be limited by genre, style or even instrument, he brought exuberance to the Robert Glasper Experiment and other groups.
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How a Violin Maker’s Dreams Came True in Cremona, Italy
As a teenager, Ayoung An decided to become a violin maker. Her journey eventually took her to Cremona, Italy, a famed hub for masters like Antonio Stradivari.
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‘The Tuba Thieves’ Review: The Real Meaning of Listening
In this film, the artist Alison O’Daniel uses the theft of tubas from Southern California high schools as a central hub in a wheel with many spokes.
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How Paul McCartney’s Lost Bass Guitar Was Found Five Decades Later
The Höfner violin bass that accompanied the Beatles to fame went missing more than 50 years ago. Two journalists and a Höfner expert were determined to find it.
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Aston Barrett, 77, Bass-Playing Force With Bob Marley and Wailers, Dies
Known by his nickname, Family Man, he was the group’s musical director, crafting the hypnotic rhythms and melodies that elevated reggae to global acclaim.
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These Keyboard Musicians Are Thinking Beyond the Piano
Modern pianos are central to classical music. But some musicians are learning other keyboard instruments, and feel like better artists for it.
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I Started Playing My Sax Outdoors. Then the Fans Came.
When your rehearsal space is the bank of the Hudson, the audience is a bit unconventional.
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A 12,000-Year-Old Bird Call, Made of Bird Bones
A collection of small flutes carved from waterfowl bones may have been used as hunting aids, a new study suggests.
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Thomas Stacy, Master of the English Horn, Dies at 84
Through his decades with the New York Philharmonic and his busy touring schedule, he helped make an unfamiliar instrument much less so.
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David Lindley, ‘Musician’s Musician’ to the Rock Elite, Dies at 78
The New York Times – Music:He worked with a wide range of luminaries, most notably Jackson Browne, and there was seemingly no stringed instrument he couldn’t play.