L.A. Times - Music News

The Caltech-Occidental Concert Band prepares for fall concert

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The Caltech- Occidental Concert Band abounds in enthusiastic amateurs from age 18 to 88.

Chemistry textbooks, calculators and instrument cases littered the stage at Caltech's Ramo Auditorium early one warm autumn evening. Squawks and blats from the assembled musicians filled the air, and as Bill Bing raised his baton to start the music, a stray trumpeter rushed onstage.

Outrage over wall blocking free U2 Berlin concert?

Thu, 5 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Fans hoping to catch a glimpse Thursday of U2's free concert celebrating 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall will have to "scale these city walls" after organizers threw up a barrier to block the view for those without tickets.

Artists try to cope with the loss of Amy Farris -- and honor her -- in a tribute concert

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Dave Alvin hosts the event in remembrance of the late singer-violinist, who died in September at age 40.

"When we lose a member of our tribe, we don't mourn, we celebrate, and we make a lot of racket," Dave Alvin said at the outset of a 3½-hour tribute to the late violinist, singer and songwriter Amy Farris on Sunday night at McCabe's in Santa Monica.

Live: Jay-Z at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The rap superstar is generous with sharing the spotlight -- OMG, was that Rihanna? -- in a show that also included sets by N.E.R.D., J.Cole and Wale.

It's not easy to upstage Jay-Z, especially at his own show. But during a performance Sunday at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion, one special guest managed to do just that -- and it wasn't the rap superstar's wife, Beyoncé.

Best Buy prepares for a shift to downloads

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The retailer is aggressively positioning itself to sell Internet-connected televisions, Blu-ray disc players, computers and phones as sales of CDs and DVDs fall.

Walking between rows of DVDs at the Best Buy store in West Hollywood, Brandy Moore admits that she doesn't always buy the shiny discs anymore since she started downloading movies and TV shows from Apple's iTunes Store. There's just one problem: She hasn't figured out how to watch them on her TV.

Chris Hillman at Edwards Barn in Nipomo, Calif.

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

At a church fundraiser in Central California on Saturday night, the musician who made a name for himself in the 1960s with the Byrds shows he still has a lot of good music in him.

Just a week after several of the highest-profile members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame gathered in New York for the hall's 25th anniversary blowout concerts at Madison Square Garden, another member of that elite pack was setting up in a very different environment.

Gustavo Dudamel and Alan Gilbert: a maestro mano a mano

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Critic's notebook: Comparing the Los Angeles Philharmonic and New York Philharmonic music directors is irresistible and entertaining. They share a common influence: Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Last month, New York's public radio station WNYC hosted what it billed as a Los Angeles-versus-New York conductor "smackdown."

West and East: Gustavo Dudamel and Alan Gilbert

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Of West and East GUSTAVO DUDAMEL Music director, Los Angeles Philharmonic, since October "I need music, like air, like water, like food. . . . When I'm conducting, I like to give every part of my energy. Even if people say it's too much. It's the way that my soul, that my body, is expressing what I want to."

Adam Lambert: Cool, calm and eclectic

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The singer's genre-busting major label debut, 'For Your Entertainment,' drops Nov. 23, and it just might make him an American idol all over again.

Kicking off another typical seven-day work week in the offices of his management company 19 Entertainment, Adam Lambert fixed his gaze on his own pretty face. Scattered across his publicist's desk were proof sheets from a photo session with the singer, who will release his debut album on RCA Records, "For Your Entertainment," Nov. 23. The shots captured Lambert in typical glam-god poses: peacock, street tough, space oddity, freaky adventurer in the boudoir of the damned.

A fourth film for 4 huge film franchises?

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The 'Lord of the Rings,' 'Spider-Man,' 'X-Men' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean' trilogies were big box office draws. But what about a fourth film for each?

Four film franchises. One decade. More than $10 billion worth of theater tickets sold.