Aural Robert

Pittsburgh has played a very meaningful if largely ignored role in the history of jazz. Known more for steel and sports teams than for musical innovation, Pittsburgh is the birthplace and first musical incubator or home to bandleader-vocalist Billy Eckstine; pianists Erroll Garner, Earl "Fatha" Hines, and Ahmad Jamal; drummers Art Blakey, Kenny Clarke, and Jeff "Tain" Watts; and bassist Ray Brown.

Over the past 40 years, R.E.M.'s 1983 full-length debut, Murmur, has come to seem ever more timeless. "There's something very special about that record that you can't put into words exactly," mused Don Dixon, who coproduced Murmur and its follow-up, Reckoning, in a recent interview.

All "serious" music fans know pop music is kid's stuff: too simple, too accessible, the embodiment of that cringeworthy moniker "disposable." But pop music is also what keeps the lights on in the music business, selling gobs of streams, merchandise, and concert tickets. And hasn't that always been the case?

Just before Christmas 2025, American music suffered two irreplaceable losses with the passings of Raul Malo (December 8) and Joe Ely (December 15). While a lot of musicians exist on the artistic and commercial fringes, Malo and Ely were foundational artists, gifted creators and performers who refused to be confined by artistic boundaries.

Opinions vary, but like everything connected to The Beatles, charged arguments over Giles Martin's ongoing remastering of, and sonic tinkering with, the band's hallowed recording catalog are unending.

Her life became a whirlwind. Taking the train in from Brooklyn to Manhattan to pitch songs and experience the East Village scene, she landed a song-publishing deal at age 14. In 1968, at 18, after a chance meeting in an elevator, a legendary songwriter/record producer was interested in assisting her in making her debut album.

Women have undeniably become the most dynamic and vital creative force in music today. Without their good energies and ideas, music, which in the digital age has become more background than art, would be much less interesting and inspiring.