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Courtney Bryan is a composer from New Orleans, born in 1982, who is currently a professor of music at Tulane University. She holds a doctorate and was a 2023 MacArthur Fellow. She is also, by the evidence of the piece featured here today, an amazing composer with a thrilling approach of mixing Gospel, jazz, and soundscapes to create something modern and new. Sanctum is meditative and haunting, which is almost certainly exactly what Dr. Bryan was attempting to achieve. The following is from her website: Sanctum, for orchestra and recorded sound, explores the sound of improvisation in Holiness-preaching traditions. IDown the rabbit hole….

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OK, I’m a bit behind on my posting this week because I usually write at least some of my posts ahead of time on the weekend, especially Sunday, and this week we went to Rochester for a day of fun and buying stuff at Trader Joe’s. (Yes, we have a Trader Joe’s in Buffalo. We actually have two Trader Joe’s, but we don’t like the main one (actually the store itself is fine, but its location on Niagara Falls Boulevard is really a pain to get to) and we haven’t been to the new one that opened a few months ago yet.) SoDown the rabbit hole….

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The other day, someone posed an interesting question over on the Threads platform: Dear white people, It’s Black History Month. Who made you see us? Who was your first Black celebrity crush? It didn’t take me long to figure out my answer, because it was Donna Summer. What follows is the post I wrote when Donna Summer died. I remember that day very well, and when I learned she was gone, I had to go outside and…well, here’s the post. Donna Summer was my Whitney Houston. I never realized that, until earlier today, when I went outside toward the endDown the rabbit hole….

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I kind of screwed up my calendar this year, which means that I missed the start of Black History Month when posting last week’s selection. For the last bunch of years I’ve been using this month to feature Black music in this space, and I’ll be doing that for the balance of February here (and probably into March). As is often the case, I’ll be featuring composers I’m not familiar with but should be. I’m starting with a work that is featured on an album that was suggested to me by the YouTube Music algorithm, and now, reading about theDown the rabbit hole….

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Sunday Stealing has a quiz that imposes a rule: One word answers only. Well, I’m going to ignore that: Five-word answers only. Every answer will be five words (and yes, I use the hyphen to cheat a little). Got it? Here we go! 1. Where is your cell phone? It’s sitting right here. Why? 2. Tell us about your hair.  I wish it was thicker. 3. What’s your favorite thing?  Nesting-doll of a sailor’s family. 4. What room are you in? Dining, I guess? Near kitchen. 5. Where did you grow up? All over. Mostly Allegany, NY. 6. What aren’tDown the rabbit hole….

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FYI!!! I’ve relocated my newsletter to Ghost, and just yesterday I issued a new installment! I’ve started a series over there (probably monthly) called “Albums Of My Life”, in which I write about…the albums of my life. Which one do I start with? Well, here’s a question: why can’t this be love? Check it out! Subscribe! Do it now!!! Share This PostDown the rabbit hole….

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John Williams, who turns 94 on Sunday (and I’ll have more to say about him, believe me), is an example of a curious phenomenon: he has been so prolific, and so many of his amazing themes have become part of our popular culture, that I have to remind myself that even I haven’t heard everything he’s written. This is a good example: he scored the movie The Long Goodbye, a noir thriller starring Elliott Gould as private eye Philip Marlowe, in 1973, two years before JAWS and four before Star Wars: A New Hope. This is a live performance of a new version ofDown the rabbit hole….

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Today we conclude the exploration of Music Inspired By Water, with a gigantic work by English master Ralph Vaughan Williams. From what I’ve learned, I could keep doing Music Inspired By Water for months! But I think it’s time to move on for now, and we’ve heard a pretty solid selection during this focus period. So, Vaughan Williams: what a wonderful composer he was! He lived a long life, from 1872 to 1958, dying at age 85. He lived through the end of Romanticism in music and well into the rise of Modernism and the avant garde; he also livedDown the rabbit hole….