INSIDE MUSIC: A day in the life of a working musician
Most kids today go to University to prepare for a professional career. After a music major has played his senior recital and graduated…where are the jobs?
published on 08/21/2017
INSIDE MUSIC: Faerie Elaine of the Silver Stream
I met Elaine Silver in the early 80s, when she was being lauded as Queen of the New Jersey Folk Singers. I was the Clubdate Queen. And the man who introduced us was The Jazz Poet (The late, esteemed Charlie Mosler.) We were a mixed bag of established performers…and simpatico…busy at work in traditional and non-traditional spaces and events.
published on 07/22/2017
INSIDE MUSIC: The Art Of Accompanying
Every pianist or guitarist is not an accompanist. Accompanying is a whole other thing. I’ve sung with piano players who comp beautifully, supporting what I sing and leaving me room to improvise. I’ve got to have room to be adventurous if I’m singing jazz. I’ve sung with others who fill every part of a beat that I’m not singing with a flourish that crowds me, rendering my singing almost superfluous!
published on 06/22/2017
INSIDE MUSIC: The Medicare Symphony
I received a CD in the mail from my friend Derwyn Holder, who lives in Califon, NJ. I read the CD title and thought it was a joke. It wasn’t. And when I played it, I got to know my friend a lot better.
published on 05/22/2017
INSIDE MUSIC: There’s Music in Everything!
Say I’m crazy, but my kitchen can opener whirrs to Bb and might change pitches with each new can. My Betty Crocker blender is a more independent and versatile player in that it whirrs in several keys. My Epson printer emits vocal tones and word phrases with each new document it prints. And don’t get me started on my auto windshield wipers which have kept me in the creative flow as well as the traffic flow through many long rides home from gigs.
published on 04/24/2017
Inside Music: My phone buddy is a famous jazz violinist! Who knew?
Rosemary talks about her fried Al Duffy, a man who was played jazz violin with many of the greats...
published on 03/25/2017
Colossal Street Jam Takin’ it to the Roof With Their first CD in 20 Years!
Gene Potts was a talented 13-year old when I met him. I could see he had the makings of a fine singer. Gene was dedicated to his lessons, grew confident, and by age 19 he was lead singer in a band we know today as Colossal Street Jam.
published on 02/27/2017
INSIDE MUSIC: Love & Music - It’s Complicated
Often in a relationship with a musician, the “other woman,” or the “other man” is a musician’s muse; his guitar; her flute; the drug that is creative flow in the inspired minds and hearts of the people who write, sing, and play music.
published on 02/22/2017
INSIDE MUSIC: Ride, Sally, Ride!
Why do some musicians dislike and refuse to play ‘Mustang Sally’ on gigs?
published on 01/21/2017
INSIDE MUSIC: Music & Miracles
I notice that miracles get more press around Christmas and Hanukkah. After all, both these events celebrate biblical miracles. And you can find old and new holiday movies in theaters and on TV that depict miraculous transformation in people’s lives.
published on 12/20/2016
INSIDE MUSIC: It’s all in your head!, Cold-weather tips to keep your voice strong
New Jersey’s cold winters can threaten the performance of people whose voices are the tools of their trade, including teachers, hypnotists, radio talk-show hosts and people who love to sing. Some simple measures can prevent loss of voice from “face freeze.” Singers, particularly, must protect their sinuses from the cold, because singing high notes depends upon them.
published on 11/23/2016
INSIDE MUSIC: Somers Dream Orchestra no ordinary big band
Given the darkness of U.S. news lately, and that I am a media freak, the column I was writing began to sound dreary, too. I started to write about great musicians with no fame to cash in on, who live in poverty, and how some with other skills need to have a fulltime “day job,” so they can afford to have a music career. I complained that some clubs and booking offices still pay players and singers (singers are musicians, too) what they might have been paid 35 years ago; and how a privileged few make it to stardom. (The column started to sound pathetic and getting worse by the paragraph.)
published on 10/23/2016
INSIDE MUSIC: Two extremely “pitchy” singers sold a lot of records!
Florence Foster Jenkins is a new film about the famous singer starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant. I expect both to be Academy Award nominees for their performances here. It’s an engaging story with a lot of singing. With singing so bad that it’s good!
published on 09/26/2016
Destiny’s Bridge 2016
Jack Ballo is an award-winning “alternative” filmmaker. His artistic style is “truth cinema”A.K.A. Cinéma Vérité—the French technique of filmmaking originated by Jean Rouch that became popular in the 1960s.
published on 07/21/2016
INSIDE MUSIC: Outdoor Summer Gigs Can Be Dangerous
Musicians will have memories of weather extremes. There’s the ideal: The evening in concert, singing under the stars, my hair blowing in the balmy breeze. Ever the romantic, a perfect memory doing what I was born to do.
published on 07/21/2016
Inside Music: What's In A Band Name?
When HAM radio was a craze, I wondered what inspired operators’ handles. When Email appeared, I wondered the same, but found addresses a bit more transparent. Like the guy I knew who was devastated by his recent divorce and was LostAtSeaatetc.
published on 06/20/2016
INSIDE MUSIC: Ed Maier: A Man Behind-the-Scenes and Loving It!
Today’s concert and theater goers can fill up their senses at high-tech shows that bathe them in sophisticated light, sound, and set visuals. The skilled workers behind the scenes are responsible for the sound and "the look" of a show on which an artist’s image and business depends. Ed Maier is one of those people responsible for making it all work.
published on 05/19/2016
INSIDE MUSIC: Read This Before You Donate Money To Institutions & Arts Non-Profits
(Or, what I learned when I raised thousands of dollars to restore a local school band and music department, post-hurricane Sandy, only to discover the money had been hijacked by an independent non-profit organization!)
published on 04/20/2016
Inside Music: The ‘50s and What If...
There are parallels to be found in everything…in every age. When I was a kid, vinyl was 45 rpm discs, one or two songs on each side. And, there were LPs, 33 & 1/3 rpm; long playing records with, typically, several songs on each side.
published on 03/22/2016
Inside Music: The Roses You Got for Valentine Day...
In the Jazz Age, the 1920s, Jazz was called “the devil’s music.” And later, people would refer to Rock’s Heavy Metal sub-genre as “satanic.” Who started that talk? And where did people find evidence for such pronouncements?
published on 02/20/2016
Inside Music: Believe It Or Not
Shoot-‘em-up: Carlo Rossi, known as a “colorful character,” owned the Satellite Lounge in Cooktown, NJ from the 1960s through the ‘90s. When the band Foghat ignored Rossi’s repeated order to turn down the volume, local lore has it that he “emerged from his office enraged and brandishing a handgun which he used to shoot out the band’s amplifiers.” You can read more about this incident and others--- like the time Bruce Springsteen played the club in ‘74 under Rossi’s threat of “the kiss of death” if he didn’t, in Weird NJ Magazine, #45.
published on 01/21/2016
INSIDE MUSIC: Sinatra and Me
In this centennial year of Frank Sinatra’s birth, scholars and experts on his career have been showcased. I think it’s likely that if many of the experts witnessed his live performance, it may have been when he was past his vocal prime. By the way, as far as I know, the experts are all men, none of whom are pro singers having been directly influenced by Frank as he was growing as an artist.
published on 12/22/2015
Inside Music: NJ Holiday Parody
This month, Rosemary has created a NJ Holiday Parody (sung to the melody of “Makin’ Whoopee”)
published on 11/21/2015
INSIDE MUSIC: Rock is to Jazz, as Night is to Day! And How We Enjoy Both
With the proliferation of tribute bands from the Beatles to Frank Zappa, audiences in NJ and the Metro Area can be taken back in time any day of the week. Who doesn’t enjoy the mental re-living of youthful romantic moments and the sonic energy of “back in the day?”
published on 10/19/2015
A Marvelous Night: The Music of Van Morrison
Take two highly acclaimed NJ artists coming from different music genres, and two chance meetings---conduits to something that was meant to happen, and what do you get? An extraordinary, big-deal-of-a-show called A Fantabulous Night---The Music of Van Morrison on
Saturday October 24th at Monmouth University, 400 Cedar Avenue, West Long Branch, NJ)
published on 09/21/2015
INSIDE MUSIC: Bring Live Jazz & Local Jazz Artists Back to The Jersey Shore!
In recent years, arts presenters at the Jersey Shore have often misrepresented jazz in their programming. And in the rare times jazz is presented in large venues, musicians from Northern NJ, NY and Philly are most likely hired. World class jazz artists from Monmouth and Ocean Counties and surrounding areas go unacknowledged.
published on 09/20/2015
INSIDE MUSIC: New Asbury Park Music Exec Credits Music Industry Program
The music business is complicated, and a terrible way for unprepared artists to make a living. CD sales are in the basement as music consumers opt for streaming services like Pandora and Spotify. My friend did the math and told me he needs 7000 to 10,000 people to stream one of his songs to equal the $7 he makes from one CD sale. Another friend got a check for three cents for thousands of downloads from videos on YouTube. There is no transparency in the deals between record labels and streaming sites, so artists are in the dark as to where the money goes.
published on 08/20/2015
INSIDE MUSIC: The Writers Block Blues
Rosemary writes a song about writers block, dedicated to all writers, and sung to a 12-bar progression.
published on 07/18/2015
Jody Joseph’s “4 Common Threads, One Heartstring" Debuts at Pollack Auditorium, Monmouth University
Singer/songwriter Jody Joseph is an established musical artist and teacher on the Jersey Shore music scene. She’s a dynamo—a singer/songwriter who has produced, written and starred in several one woman shows; perhaps most notably, the one in which she acted as, and sang as Janice Joplin. Jody’s upcoming show at the Pollack pays homage to four singers whose voices and performance charisma have impacted Jody’s life and career. Here, she talks about her deep, musical connection to Joni Mitchell, Stevie Nicks, Bette Midler and Janice Joplin.
published on 06/18/2015
Inside Music: Could I Make It as a Standup Comic?
I’m thinking of retiring from music and trying standup. I’ll want a drummer with a snare and cymbal with me. Please be my drummer and click on the rimshot button if you like the joke.
published on 06/16/2015
INSIDE MUSIC: Frank Sinatra's Ghost
It’s been a long time since I was a teen singer and a rabid Sinatra fan studying every detail of his singing. And it’s been a long time since I reflected on what I learned from him. I’m glad I chose Frank as a vocal mentor. For 40 years I’ve taught to others what he taught me…just by listening to him sing.
published on 05/20/2015
INSIDE MUSIC: Did Bob Dylan Really Steal James Damiano’s Songs?
The copyright infringement case of James Damiano vs. Bob Dylan eclipses the conflict between Pharrell Williams, Robin Thicke and the Marvin Gaye Estate, which was settled relatively quickly. Bob Dylan’s alleged stealing of James Damiano’s songs and the law suit may be the most controversial story in the history of Rock ’n Roll. The Damiano camp says it’s been hidden from the public by the mainstream press for over 20 years.
published on 04/20/2015
Inside Music: Monmouth Songwriters Join Together
In Islam, one of the religious person’s duties is to make a pilgrimage to the Holy City of Mecca at least once during his lifetime. I’ve observed a parallel in New Jersey’s diverse original music scene, where one of the basic tenets of devotion to songwriting is making the journey to Nashville---at least once in a writer’s lifetime.
published on 03/19/2015
Asbury Park's New Film Festival
I think of New Jersey as the Land of Festivals, and Asbury Park, the Queen City of Festivals. It's a renaissance city. And while music has been drawing people from around the world to Asbury Park, there is a growing presence of art galleries, as well as artisan and indie filmmaker studios there. In April, "the queen" will host a hybrid event called the Asbury Park Music In Film Festival.
published on 02/22/2015
Inside Music: Musician Jokes Serve Up More Than Laughs
Q: What do you call a pretty girl on a trombone player's arm? A: A Tattoo.
Q: What's the difference between a guitar player and a pizza? A: A pizza feeds a family of four. And then there's: Two guitar players walked by a bar...it COULD happen! Each of these funnies reveals a slice of life lived in music.
published on 01/18/2015
Inside Music:Tomatis "Earobics" to the Rescue of Musicians & Singers!
During the past few months, I've witnessed a flow of ideas, and factors coming together in what seems like a cosmically orchestrated dance creating positivity and healing in the lives of musicians and singers.
published on 12/19/2014
INSIDE MUSIC: 'Tis the Season to Generate Gigs for 2015
A long time ago, someone told me that I could survive in music if I followed the example of farmers. Farmers and musicians have down times that can be very productive.
published on 11/21/2014
Inside Music: Planting & Harvesting Music!
As a man soweth so shall he reap. What a person holds in his deeper mind powerfully influences his musical expression. In that subconscious storehouse lives fodder for melody and harmony, color and form; impressions based on everything you've experienced with your five senses as far back as the womb. From impressions come feelings--the ingredients of symphonies, hit songs, and great performances.
published on 10/19/2014
INSIDE MUSIC: Of Children, Singers & Lawyers!
Any career can benefit from referencing how it was done in the past—or, who else is doing it now. And so it, is in the development of a singer, as well as an attorney.
published on 09/20/2014
INSIDE MUSIC: Crowdfunding the Arts
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Zak Danger Brown, Columbus, Ohio, an Internet jokester, ran a Kickstarter campaign to raise $10 to make a bowl of potato salad. Four days into the month-long campaign, he had raised $32,000. It ended at $44,000! Another Kickstarter campaign was for promoting rape-based card game that has players rape their way through an all-girls school. It raised $30,000 before it was cancelled by Kickstarter for being too sexy.
published on 08/18/2014
INSIDE MUSIC - It's Like Identity Theft
Please, spell my name right! I'd be hard pressed to find a musician or singer who hasn't felt angry or embarrassed that his name was misspelled on a poster, a sign, CD or in a news story.
published on 07/18/2014
