By: JJ Sechan Have you ever listened to a piece of music that struck you as so off-putting that you had to leave the room, or worse, so overstimulating that you were ready to scream? You wouldn’t be alone! As Parisian audiences flooded into the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on May 29, 1913, to hear Stravinsky’s…
By: JJ Sechan Sadly, October saw the loss of several legendary musicians who have shaped the fabric of American music, including bassist Anthony Jackson and singer/multi-instrumentalist D’Angelo. However, today I want to mark the passing of Jack DeJohnette, whose inimitable drumming kicked off the fusion genre and redefined the role of a drummer as an…
By: JJ Sechan From Impressionist works to Tone Poems and Serial pieces, there are a lot of nitpicky words used to describe classical music, and today we dive into the nitpicky-est one, Neoclassicism. As with many 20th century musical innovations, we have Igor Stravinsky to thank for this multi-syllabic monstrosity. After attaining celebrity status with the…