Misha Dichter is a man of many talents, though you probably know him as the gifted pianist who won the silver medal at 1966 Tchaikovsky Competition, spurring an international career that has lasted more than 40 years.
Jobs, jobs, jobs. Who needs them, who's going to get them and who might lose them? It's a hot topic on the campaign trail. With the addition of only about 80,000 jobs last month, the June unemployment rate remained at a stubborn 8.2 percent.
Pop music in the 21st century has been flush with precise re-creations of '60s and '70s American R&B — think of Sharon Jones, Adele, Raphael Saadiq and the late Amy Winehouse. Meanwhile, I've been waiting for a similar revival of Jamaica's R&B: ska, rocksteady, roots-reggae.
The jazz musician Ravi Coltrane, 47, didn't make his burden any lighter by choosing to play tenor and soprano saxophones — the same instruments his father, John Coltrane, indelibly stamped with his influence.
Ravi knew early he needed his own voice. On tenor, he has his own ways of bending and inflecting a note, applying flexible vibrato. Even when his noble sound bears witness to his heritage, Ravi Coltrane can draw on his father's language and make it his own.
Robin Ticciati is the principal conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the Bamberg Symphony in Germany. He's conducted at the Metropolitan Opera and just finished a run of Britten's Peter Grimes at La Scala. Ticciati has also been tapped to take over England's storied Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 2014. And did I mention he's under 30?
With their musical project Rimo Machine, Mixmaster Latin Bitman and Cypress Hill's Eric Bobo fired up the crowd for their 2012 Latin Alternative Music Conference showcase at the Prospect Park Bandshell during Celebrate Brooklyn. The guys slowly but surely built a wall of sound, layering Caribbean percussion, finely woven digital beats and the coarse-but-alluring rhymes of the Los Angeles rappers in Psycho Realm.
Tijoux's recent album, La Bala, has become part of the soundtrack to Chile's student protests and increasingly politically confrontational Mexican youth.
Credit Ryan Muir for NPR
Though the crowd waived Puerto Rican flags in anticipation of Calle 13, the Chilean rapper won over the crowd with calls to unite Latin Americans.
Credit Ryan Muir for NPR
Chilean MC Ana Tijoux opened for Calle 13 during the 2012 Latin Alternative Music Conference showcase at Celebrate Brooklyn.
Credit Ryan Muir for NPR
Tijoux took pictures of the crowd as it cheered. More than 7,000 people packed the Prospect Park Bandshell, while just as many were turned away outside.
Credit Ryan Muir for NPR
The showcase was a highlight of the annual Latin Alternative Music Conference in New York City.
Credit Ryan Muir for NPR
Tijoux is a lyrical machine gun, delivering verses rapidly and never missing her target. She raps about personal tales of growing up as a Chilean exile, among other topics both universal and political.
Originally published on Mon August 13, 2012 12:42 pm
Performing as part of the 2012 Latin Alternative Music Conference showcase at Celebrate Brooklyn, the Chilean rapper Ana Tijoux faced a daunting challenge in opening for Calle 13, whose fans are dedicated, impatient and often vocal. But when she hit the stage, her supporters were ecstatic, and newcomers to her music appeared thunderstruck.
