The Big Bands - 1925 - 1945 - The Popular Music of a Generation

The Big Bands dominated the radio waves and dance halls beginning in the mid 1920's and reached their zenith during the height of World War II and culminated in 1945.  The lecture looks at the origins of the Big Band era, and many of it's progenitors like Duke Ellington, Glen Miller, Count Basie and Benny Goodman and the rise of star vocalists who began their careers singing with the Big Bands.

After the Big Bands - 1945 - 1970  - A five part lecture series​

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• Part I - The Rise of the Crooners and Popular Vocalists

 
This lecture takes a closer look at the vocalists who began to rise to stardom after the demise of the Big Band era.  In the post war era, most of the leading male crooners like Frank Sinatra, Billy Eckstine, Mel Torme, Nat King Cole and their female counterparts like Rosemary Clooney, Sarah Vaughn, Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald began their careers in the Big Bands.   In the post war era, they dominate the music industry and become the star attraction as soloists and amazing improvisers.  Many of them crossover to mainstream "popular" music as well and make hugely successful forays into television and film.

 

• Part II - BeBop and the Art of Improvisation- The New Jazz after the Big Bands

 

As the era of Big Bands begins to dwindle, jazz ensembles are now much smaller and jazz breaks away from being dance hall music to serious art music.  The innovators of BeBop - Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gilespie and others, radically depart from easy listening dance hall music to jazz that requires virtuoso mastery of advanced complex harmonies and the instantaneous ability to improvise on their instruments.  This lecture looks at the progenitors of BeBop and the socio-political statement they made that is still relevant today.

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• Part III - The Latin and Caribbean Influence in the United States

 

During the Big Band era, music from Latin America was always a part of the vibrancy of the Big Bands.  After the Big Bands became less economically viable, music from the Latin American countries, notably Cuba, enjoyed a tremendous growth in popularity.  A variety of dance styles like the mambo, bolero, samba, cha-cha-cha and the music that accompanied them spawned dance "crazes" across ballrooms throughout the United States.  In this lecture we look and listen to the infectious music that the bandleaders from Latin American popularized upon immigrating to the United States.

 

• Part IV - The Country Western swing influence in the United States

 

This lecture takes a look at how Country Western musicians adopted the Big Band swing sound into their own vocabulary and created a swing style of country music filled with traditional instruments and horn sections from a big band.  It is a very interesting look at a small but popular musical hybrid that formed between an unlikely pairing of swing and country music.  The progenitors include Bill Higgins, Spade Cooley, master guitarist, inventor and innovator Les Paul and his partner vocalist Mary Ford and others.

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• Part V - The Birth of Rock and Roll

As the Big Band era dissipated, the advent of rock and roll began to encompass the music landscape.  The radio was hugely influential towards introducing white teen agers across the country to the rhythm and blues music that was previously the domain of African American audiences.  In this lecture we look and listen to the pioneers of rhythm and blues like Big Joe Turner, Chuck Berry and James Brown and the crossover country musicians like Bill Haley, Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly who contributed to the very beginnings of rock and roll.

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Classical Music - (500 - Present - A four part lecture series

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• Part I - Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque and Classical Music

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We examine the Medieval, Renaissance Baroque and Classical eras of European music.  We look at key elements such as musical characteristics, instruments, and composers.  The lecture also looks at the political, scientific, and visual art developments within each period.

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• Part II - The Romantic Period

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This lecture looks at the Romantic era, which spanned the 19th century.  Vienna was the music capitol of the world and music virtuosos such as Frederic Chopin and Franz Liszt composed and performed highly technical and emotionally expressive piano repertoire.  Others like Richard Wagner and Gustav Mahler composed expansive symphonies which were previously unmatched in size.

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• Part III - Impressionism, Expressionism and Neo-Classical Music

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The lecture begins with a review of the previous lectures, covering the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods.  We look at the transition between late Romanticism into Impressionism and Modernism in music which takes a radical departure from tonality.  We look at highly influential composers such as Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel and the Viennesse school led by Arnold Schoenberg who introduces the twelve tone composition process and completely rejects the notion of beauty in art music.

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• Part IV - 20th Century Modern and Contemporary Music

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The lecture begins with a review of the previous lectures covering Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionism and 20th Century music.  We now continue with looking at Contemporary classical music which includes electronic music composers like Edgard Varese and Karlheinz Stockhausen and composers George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, and Aaron Copland who infused their work with jazz and other popular styles unique to the United States.

The Women In Jazz

This lecture features many of the talented female jazz musicians whose contributions and accomplishments to jazz have often been overlooked.​  It features the great jazz vocalists Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday in addition to three women jazz instrumentalists: Valaida Snow, Marian McPartland and Mary Lou Williams.  The lecture also looks at the curious patronage of Baroness Pannonia de Koenigswarter.  

Famous Christmas Songs by Jewish Composers

 

This lecture takes a close look at famous Jewish American composers who wrote many of the popular and most well-known Christmas holiday songs throughout the 20th century.  These include Irving Berlin, Mel Torme, Robert Wells, Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn and many others who were the first generation children turn of the century Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe.  We look at many of the popular holiday Christmas songs which have become classics for largely Christian audiences and we explore the interesting backgrounds of the song writing teams who composed and set lyrics to them.

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African-American Music in the United States (Celebrating Black History Month)

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This special lecture celebrates the music of African-Americans and the monumental contributions they have made.  In this presentation we take a high-level overview of African American music by tracing its origins to the original "slavery songs" from the south  and their evolution into "the Blues, "Jazz", Rock and Roll", Hip-Hop and Rap. All of these genres have had an enormous musical, sociological and cultural impact on black experience in the United States and have enjoyed worldwide popularity.

Irish Music - Lecture for St. Patrick's Day

A special lecture in celebration of St. Patricks Day.  In this music appreciation lecture we look at Irish music and its Celtic origins.  We look at some of the unique instruments like the Uilleann Pipes, the Harp, the Bodhran and explore their unique nationalist and cultural importance.  We also look at how historical events have been enshrined in Irish songs and ballads.  These traditional songs were used as a method of spreading the news in the Irish countryside and as a means of communication during invasions, famine, oppression, social activism and protest and emigration to the United States and other countries and captures the "soul of the Irish people".

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The Women of Country

This lecture explores the lives of Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Wanda Jackson and Dolly Parton.  Their musical achievements brought what was considered “hillbilly” music to mainstream, popular audiences.  All of them paved the way for the later generations of female country music stars with pioneering efforts in a male dominated music industry.

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Motown

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A three part series on the origin of the famous record label.  We look at the musicians, songwriters and producers who coordinated together in an "assembly line" process to create such a distinctive sound in music.

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• Part I - Motown - Assembly Line Hits - An interactive and engaging lecture that provides an overview of the very beginning of Motown.  We look at the founder, Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson the principal songwriter, producer and performer who helped in the formation of the company.   We also look at several other early Motown musicians and the changes in fashion, creative control and political activism they helped shaped throughout the 1960's and early 70's.

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• Part II - The Men of Motown - In another engaging lecture we look and listen to some of the most popular male artists and groups from Motown - Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and The Temptations.

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• Part II - The Women of Motown - In the third series we look and listen to many of Motown's female artists and groups - Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Diana Ross and the Supremes, The Marvlettes, Mary Wells and other lesser known artists who made great contributions to the Motown label and sound.

 

Duke Ellington and Glenn Miller

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A fascinating lecture featuring the lives of two of the big band era's leading icons, Duke Ellington and Glenn Miller.  We take a closer look at their early musical roots and influences.  They both developed into excellent instrumentalists but even greater composers and arrangers whose new musical vocabulary would lay the ground work for post WW II jazz. The two most popular bandleaders of the 1930's - 1940's had radically different styles and their music reflected their often complicated and creative personalities.

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Frank Sinatra 

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In this engaging lecture we explore the life of Frank Sinatra in music, acting and activism.  Sinatra led an interesting life from his early beginnings as a rising star vocalist in the big band era to his undisputed domination as the "greatest American singer of the 20th century".  He was launched into stardom as a teen idol crooning romantic love songs set to lush orchestral arrangements and went on to became one of the most recognizable icons in popular music culture.

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Dave Brubeck

 

A captivating lecture featuring the life of West Coast Jazz pioneer Dave Brubeck and his highly commercially successful original compositions​.  Brubeck was a pianist, composer and band leader who eschewed the edgy language of bebop jazz, instead opting for a hybrid of cool jazz coupled with his classical roots.  He broke new ground in the language of jazz with his famous "Time Out" album that featured odd meter time signatures and lyrical improvisation.

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Glen Campbell

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This lecture is on the life and times of Glen Campbell.  Glen was a hugely gifted child musician who went on to become an outstanding studio musician and a member of the famed "wrecking crew" studio team.  He then successfully launched into a solo career.  His virtuoso guitar playing along with his "smooth, sweet" voice made him a huge country musician and his ability to play any style from jazz, classical to pop/rock made him a rare, exceptional musician.  

 

​​​Johnny Cash​

 

A fascinating lecture featuring the life of Johnny Cash in music and activism.  Cash's music and life was a testament to his deeply held religious convictions.  His songs spoke of moral tribulation, redemption and forgiveness.  He rejected country music traditions, often rebellious, standing on the side of the oppressed and leading a hard life that was the inspiration for his music often told in parables.

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Benny Goodman 

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An engrossing and interesting look at the life of jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman.  Goodman grew up extremely poor in Chicago's Maxwell neighborhood and from a young age showed immense promise as a musician and performer. By fourteen years old, he was working as a professional musician on Lake Michigan excursion boat tours.  He matured as a virtuoso clarinetist during the big band era and brought the music to staggering heights of dance hall entertainment that electrified the young audiences known as the "bobby sockers".  He become the first to cross the racial divide in the big bands and in the height of his popularity, was the undisputed "King of Swing".

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Elvis Presley

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This lecture explores Elvis’ personal life and professional career from his humble beginnings in Mississippi to his mansion in Graceland.  Elvis was hugely influenced by African American blues and gospel music and country music. He successfully fused them to create the earliest form of Rock and Roll: Rockabilly.

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Barbra Streisand

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This lecture explores the early life of Barbra Streisand and her jazz and broadway influences (1960 - 1980).​​​​​​​​​ At fourteen years old Streisand initially set her sights on becoming an actress.  But her voice and Brooklyn based humor stole the show on many of her early appearance and she quickly became known for her brash dead pan humor and quick witted singing style which dove tailed into her first major acting role as Fannie May in Funny Girl and won her critical acclaim.  Streisand is another great American music icon whose contributions to singing, film, and activism have been enormous.  In this lecture, we look at her childhood, formative teen years and then her launch into stardom.

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Joan, Joni and Judy 

 

This lecture explores the lives of three very strong and influential women who began their careers as folk musicians - Joan Baez, Judy Collins and Joni Mitchell.  We take an engaging exploration into their lives as versatile singers, songwriters and performers along with their social activism and their experiences as women in the music industry.  

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Liberace

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This lecture explores the life and times of Liberace, the son of immigrants raised during the depression.   He was a child prodigy who established himself as a gifted concert pianist by his teen years and simultaneously supported his family by playing jazz and popular music in jazz bands, dances, gambling houses and strip clubs.  His natural skills for music, showmanship, and flair along with a lifestyle and dress which was often extravagant, created his iconic status in the history of 20th century music and earned him the title “Mr.  Showmanship”. 

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Burt Bacharach

We look at the life and time of one of the greatest songwriters of post World War II era.  Upon his recent passing, this lecture will focus on his lifetime and the great contributions his songs made to many genres of popular music.

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Tony Bennett

This lecture will explore the life and times of recently passed icon Tony Bennett.  Like many of the great crooners from a bygone big band era Bennett reached his zenith in the 1940's and 50's.  Throughout the 1960’s and 70’s his career took a deep plunge and he wrestled with shaking off his “Vegas” image.  He made an incredible comeback in the 1980's when the Generation X and Millennials rediscovered Bennett. He was successfully paired with country and pop vocalist k.d. laing and rock artist Elvis Costello singing jazz standards.  He went on to enjoy huge success reaching national and international audiences while staying true to maintaining his music, voice, style and charisma.

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James Taylor and Carole King

The lecture explores Taylor's childhood devolvement both personally and musically.  He was a very successful song writer and performer early in his youth and simultaneously struggled with difficult mental health problems -  often self-treated with herion.  The lecture also explores the dynamic music partnership he and Carole King (a successful songwriter and performer in her own right) created.  We trace both of their careers and explore the songwriting hits each of them contributed to the "Folk-Rock music of the the 60's and 70's.

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