Singing on the drums
When jazz drummer Sylvia Cuenca tried to explain her first musical love, a sparkly drum kit she got before she was in her teens, her voice sounded like a sweet lick on a high hat.
By LAWRENCE COSENTINO's Latest Articles
Glockenspiel orgasm
The vernal joys, swan-roasting pathos, rock ‘n’ roll energy and sexual undertow of Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana” will push the stage of the Wharton Center’s Cobb Great Hall to the limit Friday (Nov. 10).
Jewel boxes in the dark
In natural objects like apples and planets, the core comes first. The MSU Broad Art Museum, an unnatural object if ever there was one, has a CORE — Center for Object Research and Engagement — that defies the laws of time and space.
I hear a timpani
Student musicians at Michigan State University — and music lovers of all kinds — are about to sit down to a rich and colorful banquet.
Geoffrey Keezer brings eclectic musical spirit to MSU
Pianist Geoffrey Keezer, the first guest of Michigan State University Jazz Studies’ 2023-’24 Jazz Artist in Residence program, has been compared to the greatest piano virtuosi in the world, from Vladimir Horowitz to Art Tatum.
From the swing to the rocking chair
Life goes by fast. One minute, you’re a 9-year-old girl, squinting at the sun, swinging on a tire and trying hard to avoid the old lady who yells at you when you walk past her garden.
Old masters of Old Town: MICA exhibit recalls rough-and-ready times on Turner Street
A lively and varied sampling of art shines from the walls of Old Town’s MICA Gallery this month, like shells and stones deposited decades ago by the tide of time, still wet with life from the passionate hands that created them.
Champions on and off the field
Antsy types who usually skip the video art at Michigan State University’s Broad Art Museum might want to slow down, sit on a bench for six minutes and lose themselves in a deeply moving video by South African-American artist Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi.
Smooth new world: Armory Jazz Fête showcases stars of contemporary jazz
The siren song of smooth jazz will sail over Lansing’s east side again Saturday (Aug. 12). Lansing-based saxophonist Phil Denny’s Armory Smooth Jazz Fête is back on its grooving feet with a full slate of top national artists after the pandemic stopped the show in 2021 and a relentless deluge swamped the grounds in 2022.
Flames and honey: Sax virtuoso James Carter energizes Michigan JazzFest
Growing up in Detroit, saxophonist James Carter loved when his mom played records by great jazz vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan...