By: Robert Bruce I love zoos. I have traveled to other cities in the United States just to visit top-rated zoos in the country. And whenever I am observing the fauna on display – be it big cats, feathered friends, African ungulates, cold-blooded reptiles, or even six-legged crawly critters – I invariably recall music describing…
By: Dave Carty For the past few weeks, I’ve had one of my favorite symphonies buzzing around in my head: the Symphony No. 4 in E minor by Johannes Brahms. In his day people tended to fall into one of two groups: either a claque that admired Brahms’ music as the stalwart defender of the…
By: Jeff Peckham Melba Liston (1926–1999) was a titan of jazz whose contributions as a trombonist, composer, and arranger fundamentally reshaped the sound of the big band era and beyond. As the first woman to hold a chair in several of the world’s most prestigious jazz orchestras, she broke formidable gender and racial barriers, proving…