Terrance McKnight

If you ever want to hear a piano laugh, listen to Bud Powell. And when you want to hear that same piano get deeply sentimental or sound like its catching fire, stick with Bud Powell.

An acquaintance recently said to me, "Terrance, I think you might be too square for her" (referring to a friend of hers). That comment got me thinking about the degree to which one's personality is shaped by vocation.

Monday night I played a recording of J.S.Bach's Capriccio on the Departure of his Beloved Brother. It's one of those pieces that at times sounds easy enough for a novice. Bach was in his teens when he composed it.

How many of us could've predicted this pairing, Aretha Franklin and Condoleezza Rice singing and playing the classics. Neither of these women is a stranger to classical music. Dr. Rice has performed at the White House with Yo Yo Ma and Ms. Franklin stepped in and covered for Pavarotti at the Grammy Awards in 1998.

This week we celebrated the 150 anniversary of Gustav Mahler’s birth. Throughout the week, I heard several commentators and hosts quoting Mahler. One quote that kept coming up was “My time will come.”

Musicians and music lovers have been known to go to extremes for their love of the art form.

Finding one’s own voice is a journey that every artist takes. And in most cases the very successful ones are those who are able to cast an artistic shadow that is unmistakably their own.

Just like I expected Lebron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers to knock off the Boston Celtics, I was hopeful that Gustavo Dudamel and his Los Angeles Philharmonic would knock Bernstein out of the park during their East Coast tour last week. Over consecutive weeks, both superstars appeared mortal.

Dogs enjoy many of the things that we enjoy: table food, water, beer and surprises. But what about music? Some seem to, but perhaps their pleasure is derived from the enjoyment they sense from their owners as they listen. 

A few weeks ago I got a text message from a friend saying she was listening to me on air at a bodega in Brooklyn. Just last week I listened to my colleague Midge Woolsey while at my doctor’s office in Manhattan.

Nominations for theater's Tony awards have been announced, and three productions have taken the majority of the nominations. The revival of August Wilson’s “Fences” received 10 nominations, the musical version of the classic drag comedy “La Cage aux Folles” snapped up 11: the same number as “Fela!” It's a depiction of the life of Nigerian composer and political activist Fela Kuti.