By Dave Austin, “Music Professor” In an interview, trombonist J.J. Johnson observed, “Jazz is restless. It won’t stay put and it never will.” Jazz, in its various incarnations, now spans over 100 years – from ragtime to the present day, making it nigh impossible to define. Music scholars spend hours trying to succinctly define jazz…
by Dave Austin, “Music Professor” When I decided to write this article about folk music, I was thinking only of the folk music that came on the scene back in the late 1940s, 50s’ and 60s. You know, “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore,” “Puff the Magic Dragon,” and so on. It had not occurred to…
by Dave Austin – “Music Professor” Punk rock, which came on the scene back in 1974 in the U.S, Britain and Australia, is deeply rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now called protopunk music. Without getting overly academic, the punksters, determined to be aggressively modern, turned away from what they perceived…
by Dave Austin – “Music Professor” Ask someone what first comes to mind at the mention of Philadelphia and you may hear about the Declaration of Independence, the Liberty Bell or the Phillies. But, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is also home to a well-documented musical heritage dating back to colonial times. Innovations in classical, opera, jazz, R&B…
by Dave Austin I overheard a veteran DJ ask for a definition of dubstep, and like many of us who are predominately wedding DJs, he’s heard the term but doesn’t really know what actually defines a dubstep music track. As with many musical genres, it’s sometimes difficult to clearly identify an evolving, moving target, but…
by Dave Austin When it comes to weddings, nothing establishes an elegant and sophisticated mood quite like classical music. It can be restrained and soothing, grandiose and inspiring, or joyous and celebratory. Any DJ who does weddings should have a library of both traditional and contemporary classical selections. Most of these works have been around…
by Dave Austin Ask someone to name some music from New Orleans, and you’ll likely get “When the Saints Go Marching In.” However, the Crescent City’s contribution to popular music runs as deep and wide as the Mississippi River and spans as many generations and genres as the number of ingredients in a gumbo. Many…
by Dave Austin Dating back to the 1950s, rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock & roll music. Earlier, it was simply referred to as hillbilly music before Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Bill Haley, Johnny Cash, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran and other young country artist started kicking out revved-up versions of songs, primarily…
by Dave Austin Back in the 1960s, amid the “British Invasion” and the other revolutionary changes going on in the pop music scene, a new form was evolving in Jamaica. First called “ska” or “rocksteady,” it quickly evolved and became known as “reggae” – a word meaning “ragged” or “ragged clothing.” However, Bob Marley is…
by Dave Austin You’ve Got To Have “Soul,” a word that has many meanings. In the world of pop R&B it usually means an intensely dramatic performance by a singer, delivered with such feeling that it reaches out and visibly moves the listener. The singer is saying something – often more than the lyrics convey….
