The Black Keys

In May, while on vacationing in Maine, we caught an episode of Jimmy Fallon with The Black Keys. I loved their sound, made a note in my notebook and proceeded to forget about it. That is of course until about 2 weeks ago and I decided I needed some new music to listen to. This may be one of my favorite albums of 2010, and the last few years. I love the soulful blues rock combination. I bought their current album Brothers and will be going back to buy previous albums. I introduced my sister-in-law to their music over Thanksgiving, she too fell in love with it. Then shared with me their video for Tighten Up (above), it’s fun to watch, if you don’t laugh you might need to pinch yourself.

2009 Tanglewood Season

We just got the 2009 Season brochure from the Tanglewood Music Center. Last year we never made it up, but the year prior we spent quite a bit of time up there. If you live in the area, I highly recommend getting tickets and spending the day or weekend up there. Tangelwood is the summer home for the Boston Symphony Orchestra and some main stream artists as well. This year this is what we’re looking forward to: July 4th – Diana Krall July 21st – Tony Bennett August 7th – Chris Botti and the Boston Pops Orchestra August 28th – James Taylor with Sheryl Crow and Yo-Yo Ma The grounds at Tanglewood are incredibly relaxing and allow for strolls while hearing music playing all around you. I’ve never seen a more well behaved crowd of people.

A Family Tradition – Evening Music

When I was growing up (right until my Dad passed away) on evenings when there was nothing he wanted to watch on TV, he’d pull out a CD or record. We’d sit on the couch and just listen to the music fill the house. The music choices for the evening fell into 3 categories; classical, electronic/new age and old country or bluegrass. Craig and I have decided to re-start this tradition. We imported all of my Dad’s new age collection along with most of the classical. Instead of watching TV until the wee hours, we’re relaxing to this wonderful music and reading. Tonight’s playlist includes (each artist linked to their profile on AllMusic.com): Tangerine Dream Penguin Cafe Orchestra Yanni Jean-Michel Jarre Adrian Legg Kitaro Vangelis Rob Whitesides-Woo

Not only can he play serious jazz, but he’s funny

Tonight we went to see Harry Connick Jr. at Tanglewood Music Center. If your not familiar with Tanglewood check out their website. The concert began at 8:00, and we got there at 5:30. The place wasn’t really packed yet. The whole weekend was the Tanglewood Jazz Festival. We were expecting there to be the big screens Tangelwood always has out so those on the lawn could see still. NOPE no screens, which I’m thinking is courtesy of SONY Music. But anyways, Harry Connick Jr. came on, and the music was great. His Dad made a surprise appearance and sang with him. He also had this funny thing going with one of the security guards, who I guess looked an awful lot like one of the Alman Brothers, then he asked if he was with the Doobie Brothers. It was really […]

Classical Music in the Berkshires

Last night we drove up to Tanglewood to see Beethoven’s 8th Symphony performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The weather held out wonderfully. The only bad thing was we forgot to bring bug spray. We set our blanket and chair and enjoyed a great show. For $16.00 a ticket you can’t beat it. You get to relax, listen to wonderful music in an absolutely beautiful setting.