Articles tagged with music

Musician Ray Manzarek, keyboard player of The Doors, died today in a hospital in Germany. He was 74.
Manzarek’s chance meeting with Jim Morrison at Venice Beach in 1965 led to the band’s formation.  Manzarek, a Chicago native, moved to Los Angeles to study film at UCLA.  He met Morrison on the Westwood campus while the future Doors frontman was briefly studying there.
“[Manzarek] was the …

Al Walser is a DJ who lives in Encino and may or may not be an heir to the Rothschild banking dynasty and the grandson of Congolese music superstar Franco Luambo. He’s also up for the best dance recording Grammy at this Sunday’s awards. Before the nomination, nobody in the electronic dance music world had heard of Walser. So how did this previously unknown, …

When you think of live music, you might think of a concert or a nightclub. But one of the hottest markets for live-performance equipment is about as far away from a nightclub as you can get: Church.
Susan Valot found out when she stopped by the National Association of Music Merchants trade show, or NAMM Show. The annual music product convention was held in Anaheim …

The Sundance Film Festival starts Thursday in Park City, Utah. The annual gathering of actors, directors and producers is a fairly good indicator of the most buzzworthy movies soon to hit theaters. But it’s not just the images that matter – the music in a film can set the mood and even make or break a scene.
This year’s festival will see an increase in …

We asked eleven of our sharpest local observers what they thought were the most important stories and trends of the year. From politics and music to faith, literature and film, they weigh in on the one thing that shaped 2012.
“The one thing that I really feel became more apparent than ever is the idea that people are interested in all kinds of music and …

Ravi Shankar, the sitar legend who brought Indian music to the West died yesterday at age 92. KCRW’s own Tom Schnabel spoke with the musician many times. Below, he recalls how Shankar was the first guest he interviewed on “Morning Becomes Eclectic,” where Shankar told the story of how he gave up the glitz and glamour of the West to study the sitar with …

The election’s been all about the economy, but a surprising amount of airtime has been devoted to the standoff between Iran and Israel over Iran’s nuclear program. All that tension makes it an especially interesting time for Rita Jahanforuz, a mega pop star from Israel, to be touring across the US right now.
Her fans know her simply as Rita, and she’s Israel’s biggest-selling pop …

After a nearly 40 year career as one of the greatest and most successful pop songwriters on earth, Carole Bayer Sager could sit back and do whatever she wanted. Like, relax. But this woman who’s written for everyone from Michael Jackson to Stevie Wonder to Barbara Streisand says that isn’t in her constitution. What she wants to do at this point is to paint. …

On Thursday at the Santa Monica Pier, you can get a slice of the usually pricey Cirque du Soleil…for free. The catch? There won’t be an acrobat contorting anywhere near by (at least not one employed by the famous performance group.)
It’s an evening showcasing musicians from various Cirque shows. There are seven of those shows on at the moment in Vegas alone, and Cirque’s …

Sunset Boulevard is home to dozens of guitar shops. Most of them are clustered around the 7500 block of Hollywood, which is often called Guitar Row. Reporter David Weinberg brings us the story of one of L.A.’s best kept secrets on the block: The Valdez Guitar Shop.
Across the street from The Guitar Center on Sunset is a little guitar shop that is in many …

Once upon a time, not very long ago, it didn’t matter if you could speak another language. You probably wouldn’t ever meet someone who spoke one other than your own. On the other hand, in the vast interconnected universe in which we dwell today,  it couldn’t hurt to be trilingual.
Jose-Luis Orozco, who’s been singing on stage since he was a little boy in Mexico, …

Which song will you turn to in remembrance of the Queen of Disco, Donna Summer, who died today at 63? A quick guide to a few of her hits:
If you know one Donna Summer song, it’s probably “Last Dance.” The song debuted in the 1978 disco movie “Thank God It’s Friday,” which has since faded into cinematic obscurity. But “Last Dance” lives on as …

Ozomatli may be known as a party band, but they say they are a “direct product of the LA Riots.” KCRW DJ Raul Campos talks with Ozomatli band members, Will Abers and Justin Poree about Los Angeles, their music and the LA rebellion. Here’s the full tracklist of the LA Riots as told through music — listen to the interview below.
“White Riot” by the Clash… …

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Woody Guthrie’s birth. The political folk singer who wrote “This Land Is Your Land” is getting lots of respect here in Los Angeles.
Tomorrow morning City Councilwoman Jan Perry will name the intersection of Fifth and Main streets in downtown L.A. “Woody Guthrie Square.” This weekend USC will host a daylong symposium called “Woody Guthrie’s Los Angeles: A …

This weekend and next, thousands of people will descend on Indio, California for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, a desert happening that’s become one of the most important and respected live music events in the world.
I talked to music journalist Charley Rogulewski about Coachella’s influence and the best way to have a good time if it’s your first time. She also shares …

Tuesday was the first official day of the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas. For the next four days, the city is transformed, as music acts fill every venue. Bands play concert halls, alleyways, rooftops and backyards. They go to Austin in the hopes of making it big, while playing to music journalists, promoters, and fans from around the world.
KCRW music director …

Mouth watering music? Well-known cook and food writer Michael Ruhlman was on the bill with the acclaimed musical performance group, the LA Chamber Orchestra. Works by Rossini, Puccini, Schoenfield and de Falla were performed with introductions by Ruhlman about the influence of music on food, and vice versa.  We talked with the “maestro chef” before Thursday’s appearance.  He says cooking is just as much …

As digital music takes over the airwaves and our iPods, what keeps music lovers, KCRW fans and dedicated DJs going back to old fashioned record stores? Maybe it’s the striking artwork on the album covers, the feeling of resting a record ever so gently on a turntable, or that warm, vinyl sound. Producers Saul Gonzalez and Michael Garber took their cameras inside three record stores …

Antonio Villaraigosa will be chair of the Democratic National Convention when it re-nominates Barack Obama next September in North Carolina. The Latino Mayor, who needed black votes to be elected, will preside on behalf of the black President who needs all the Latino votes he can get. We hear about that as Barack Obama ties up LA traffic again on a visit to raise …