Music Archive

Tift Merritt: Stitch of the World - In another century, a very young singer wrote a song called “Bramble Rose.” It put her on the map of singer-songwriters who happen to be women: Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt,

Tift Merritt: Traveling Alone - Because it’s fairly obvious I have a soft spot for female writers and musicians, I get more than my share of CDs by female singer-songwriters. Most seem doomed --- they’re

Time Without Consequence - Can you hear that crinkling sound? That's me, shredding through cumbersome cellophane wrap. And that other sound? That is my car's stereo swallowing my new CD. What do you hear

Tom Rush -

Toots Hibbert: The Otis Redding of Reggae - Toots Hibbert has died. The Times called him "a father of reggae." True, that. I saw it for myself. The year was 1973. The Harder They Come was a

Tous les Matins du Monde - It is 1660, and we are at the home of Sainte-Colombe, probably the greatest French musician and composer for strings of the 17th century. But no

Trumpet Concertos -     Trumpet Concertos Maurice Andre A great trumpet

Ultimate Collection -   I know. It is so corny, so

Umalali: The Garifuna Women’s Project - When my heart hardens and my armor needs piercing, I go to the music of women. And if they don't sing in English, the better --- it's the

Universal United House of Prayer - Music lovers who are familiar with Buddy Miller --- which is to say, each and every fan of the music known as “alternative country” --- will tell you

Unplugged: Bryan Adams -     Guilty Pleasures There's laundry

Van Morrison: Almost Independence Day - “Almost Independence Day" is the last song on Van Morrison’s 1972 release, “Saint Dominic’s Preview.” If you’re tired or restless or not willing to convert music to images in your

Van Morrison: Astral Weeks - In l968, I lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, just down the block from Van Morrison. Whenever we passed one another on the street, I would nod. Morrison would just stare. Or glare. "Unpleasant,"

Van Morrison: Veedon Fleece - For more years than most of you have been alive, I have believed that Astral Weeks is Van Morrison’s transcendent work. And for as long as I’ve been publishing Butler,

Venus Over Venice - Butler likes to work to music. Mostly classical, because it takes him far from this century's reality. But sometimes, when feeling frisky, Butler will set the radio dial to the

Vigilate! English polyphony in dangerous times - To “vigilate” is to monitor, watch over, or control. And that’s exactly what Catholic composers had to do in England during the reign of Elizabeth I. As you recall, she succeeded

Víkingur Ólafsson - Glenn Gould, move over. There’s a new kid on the block. Víkingur Ólafsson has been described as "Iceland's Glenn Gould,” which is both accurate and critical shorthand. But it’s not

Víkingur Ólafsson: Mozart & Contemporaries - When I wrote about Víkingur Ólafsson in 2021, it was to praise his recording of Philip Glass piano pieces. For Head Butler readers, who mostly had never heard of him,

Vittorio - Vittorio     Forget the killer good looks,

Vivaldi “Gloria” and Handel “Dixit Dominus” - Vivaldi's "Gloria" and Handel's "Dixit Dominus" on a single disc? That's the eighteenth century version of a concert with The Who doing “Tommy” and The Beatles performing “Sgt. Pepper.” That is,