Burt Bacharach

Latest Articles

The top 10 jazz events in town this fall

Starting with the Beantown Jazz Festival, ensembles large and small mix it up
As usual, there's too much to choose from. Here are some highlights.
By JON GARELICK | September 14, 2011

The articulate melodic eloquence of Bill Frisell

Rolling with the changes
Many of us have embarrassing moments in our past, but when one of the hippest jazz dudes around admits to donning a leisure suit and playing in a show band, you prepare for a wince on the seismic level.
By JIM MACNIE | June 14, 2011

Jew note

First Annual Boston Jewish Music Festival, plus the Klezmatics
Defining "Jewish" music is pretty much a fool's task — not much easier than defining jazz.
By JON GARELICK | February 25, 2010

Diana Krall | Quiet Nights

Verve (2009)
Jazz as the language of love is the theme of this hitmaker's 12th album, an achingly pretty tribute to the spirit, pace, and sound of the bossa nova.
By TED DROZDOWSKI | March 23, 2009

Guilty pleasure

A.C. [Carl] Newman talks pop and the making of his new album
A.C. Newman is on fire. One of indie rock's most prolific songwriters and performers, Newman has six albums to his credit this decade...
By MICHAEL ATCHISON | March 10, 2009

Marion Maerz | Burt Bacharach Songbook

Bureau B (2009)
Marion was a minor German pop star in the 1960s, one of a crowd of yé-yé girls who sprang up all over Europe as the ingénue counterparts to macho belters.
By GUSTAVO TURNER | March 10, 2009

What's up?

Bates Fest choreographers know the difference
For trend seekers, Different Voices, a showcase for this year’s Bates Dance Festival’s visiting choreographers, hinted at several directions for contemporary dance.
By JUNE VAIL | August 12, 2008

Kevin Ayers

Unfairground | Gigantic
His philosophizing is rarely twee, and his fine-oaked voice gives new authority to his pastis-and-mushroom-fueled musings.
By GUSTAVO TURNER | April 07, 2008

PJ Harvey

White Chalk | Island
As the next 10 songs in this cryptic gothic fairy tale unreel, she experiences a drug-induced nightmare, a moon tide of guilt, and, seemingly, death.
By TED DROZDOWSKI | September 24, 2007

Magic Numbers

Those the Brokes | Capitol
The Magic Numbers are throwbacks to a time when pop was lighter than air.
By WERNER TRIESCHMANN | August 14, 2007

After Dark: Chapter One

An excerpt from Haruki Murakami's After Dark
Eyes mark the shape of the city.
By HARUKI MURAKAMI | May 16, 2007

Longing for a Reminder

Feist's inevitable breakthrough
The Reminder is a soundtrack for watching your lover walk out the door.
By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | April 25, 2007

Field Music

Tones of Town | Memphis Industries
Field Music frontman Peter Brewis loves a good pop song as much as the next chap.
By MIKAEL WOOD | March 19, 2007

Caetano Veloso

CÊ | Nonesuch
Caetano Veloso is Brazil’s Bob Dylan, Burt Bacharach, and Paul Simon all rolled into one.
By BANNING EYRE | March 12, 2007

Diamond in the rough

Jackie De Shannon’s eternal promise
If today’s pop-music business is, as it was in the ’60s, driven largely by songwriters and producers who choose singers to put across their latest concoctions hoping for a hit, why does so much current pop feel so utterly charmless? Jackie DeShannon live in London (YouTube)
By CHARLES TAYLOR | August 01, 2006

Pop Master

Tommy Keene at T.T. the Bear's
As last night’s show at T.T. the Bear’s Place proved, Keene is still a masterful songwriter, singer, and guitarist in love with his craft after 22 years in the trenches.
By TED DROZDOWSKI | June 15, 2006

Screening sounds

Great music moments at the movies -- from Portland and beyond
Great moments in film have always relied upon great music — and often Hollywood’s most memorable scenes are birthed from that perfect juxtaposition of song and image.
By HOOTIE GIANGRECO | February 23, 2006

Flaming out

Has Elvis Costello become Yes?
Elvis Costello’s My Flame Burns Blue (Deutsche Grammophon) disappoints me. I don’t mean critically as much as personally.
By TED DROZDOWSKI | February 21, 2006