This choice collection of 1920s-era piano pieces by Zez Confrey, Rube Bloom, and Eastwood Lane maybe doesn’t capture *all* the moods of a New Yorker, as its title might promise, but its alternately capering and contemplative sounds are a balm. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/3XSmt5Ud…

I mostly think of The Go Team!’s music as festive and upbeat—then I hear something like this minor-key banger about vigilance against mysterious forces (“blood stripe falcons”?) and I remember: the sound of a crowd is not always reassuring. #dailysong open.spotify.com/track/48yyAHXb…

Tonight’s show (at Townsend Harris High School)

I adored this Strong Songs Podcast episode on 'Águas de Março (The Waters of March),' a song I must confess I first heard on an Art Garfunkel record. So much going on here, both musically and lyrically; I especially love the ending of the Jobim/Regina rendition. strongsongspodcast.com/episode/aguas-…

Hem’s first record, released in 2002, still enchants with its blend of chamber folk, old-time songcraft, and sad-lullaby mood. “Lazy Eye” remains the bittersweet high point for me, but the whole thing casts quite a spell. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/2hgEPSWj…

Austin artist Kevin Russell lays the country twang on a bit thick in this cover of Elvis Costello’s “Indoor Fireworks,” but he also brings real ache and conviction to it, so on balance I approve. #dailysong open.spotify.com/track/0cEcbn7B…

The film “Alexander Nevsky” is not a favorite of mine, but its surging Prokofiev score definitely is. Try to imagine Bernard Herrmann’s or John Williams’s career without this iconic template. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/0XKuH9zG…

I never tire of the bracing string ornament Prince added over the “1999”-ish groove of this ode to escape. The main key is A but that 7-note figure (first heard at 1:09) is in B (and intro is in F). No wonder the tune has a feeling of liftoff. #dailysong open.spotify.com/track/765k9tDI…

#tbt Happy (almost) 10-year anniversary to this piece I wrote for Vanity Fair to correct the impression that there's no theatre in L.A., which also serves as a handy autobiography of my formative theatregoing in the city where I caught the theatre bug. vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014…

#tbt 10 years and about a month ago, ALADDIN opened on Broadway and I profiled director/choreographer Casey Nicholaw for the Times. (It was also my only chance to talk to Mike Nichols, who gave me a perfect quote.) nytimes.com/2014/03/09/the…

this is going to be good

I never tire of the bracing string ornament Prince added over the “1999”-ish groove of this ode to escape. The main key is A but that 7-note figure (first heard at 1:09) is in B (and intro is in F). No wonder the tune has a feeling of liftoff. #dailysong open.spotify.com/track/765k9tDI…

The film “Alexander Nevsky” is not a favorite of mine, but its surging Prokofiev score definitely is. Try to imagine Bernard Herrmann’s or John Williams’s career without this iconic template. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/0XKuH9zG…

Just saw DEAD OUTLAW. Loved it. The kind of show that inspires you to write something just as good. Proves once again that David Yazbek (here working w/ Erik Della Penna & Itamar Moses) is a special talent. It's closing soon, but whatever its future, look out for it.

TIL that Ayub Ogada’s nyatiti—the 8-string African lyre he played on the mournful “Kothbiro,” as on this entire must-spin 1993 album—was strung with fishing wire and 1 cello string. No wonder this music sounds both delicate and grounded. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/7kVFZYCV…

Nearly 20 years ago at an open mic in Williamsburg, can’t remember the place, I exchanged my self-released CD with one made by another singer-songwriter, Pete Searby. It’s all good but this crackerjack ragtime original is my fave cut. #dailysong open.spotify.com/track/2kiQSpDq…

I made a playlist of all of Elvis’s Dylan covers, “Tomorrow” being the only official studio release. It’s not a long list, alas, but Elvis’s approach to these reminds of Bryan Ferry’s great album DYLANESQUE. Just imagine a whole record like this open.spotify.com/playlist/2bVuX…

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