Friday Musical Interlude…Red Blue Again
I think I’ve posted this one before and I think this is the first time I’ve repeated an interlude–after all, there’s so much great music out there, why revisit anything? Because some stuff is simply worth coming back to–that’s why. Like this blues piece “Hey Now” by jazz pianist Red Garland. Every single note is effortlessly [...]
Friday Musical Interlude: Mozart!
I warned you that I was going to post a recording of this violin concerto–#3, first movement. Just a slice of perfection from Mozart, beautifully played. Stay tuned through the cadenza with all these amazing double stops and soaring scales. I wonder if she made that up or if it’s standard. It’s not on other [...]
Weekend Activities
Light posting for these reasons: –Crunching on testimony for a Senate Budget Committee hearing on inequality later this week–will post segments when ready. –Coaching young kids’ basketball, which is both deeply satisfying and challenging–one is reminded of a great analogy I once heard: “following the hearing, lobbyists swarmed the legislators like 8 year-olds chasing the [...]
Thurs AM Musical Interlude
I heard this song on the way in this AM and was reminded of what a great pop tune it is. You also gotta love the way Madonna sung back then—maybe she still does (I recall someone describing her voice as Minnie Mouse on helium). Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed hearing this again—see if you feel [...]
Music and Lit of a Sunday
One of my favorite writers is Isaac Bashevis Singer and I reread a great story last night that seemed germane to a lot of what I’ve been writing about of late. It’s called A Major Din Torah from the wonderful book—among his best, I think—In My Father’s Court. The story’s about how his scholarly and [...]
You Think You Know Someone…Friday Musical Interlude, Dance Mix
I know this man. This man is a friend of mine…a good friend. He is a policy wonk. He gets excited by estimates of behavioral responses to tax changes…by questions of how the CBO scores risk premiums…by a clever graphic explaining the distributional outcomes of a tax plan. Yet, it appears he has another side, [...]
Friday Musical Interlude: Mozartian
Pronounced Mozart-eeean. That’s how I’ve heard this initial movement of Schubert’s Fifth Symphony described. It’s extremely high praise, indeed, and should be used sparingly. But I have to say I agree. The thing about Mozart is that every note is perfectly chosen and there’s an efficiency to the writing that to devotees like myself equals perfection. [...]
In My House!
For some reason, I can’t this old but very funky song out of my head: The Mary Jane Girls singing In My House, an old Rick James jam. Music theory bugs might recognize the brilliant use of the Lydian scale in the hook (the part that goes “so when you need a little piece of [...]
The Funky Little Drummer Boy
A few days ago I helped you get your holiday season off to a swingin’ start with a little taste of Lou Rawls. Here’s another serving. It’s Lou’s funky rendition of the Little Drummer Boy. In my multidenominational house, this number always kicks off the holiday season. I love the sparse bass and harmonica in [...]
If This Doesn’t Get You in the Spirit, Nothing Will
Perhaps like me, you tend to get a touch Grinchy in the holiday season. Well then, do what I did last night and turn that frown upside down with this deep holiday groove carved by the master himself: Lou Rawls. On this one, he swings an old (roasted) chestnut, but I’ve got an even better [...]
It’s A Rainy Tuesday in DC…
…and a friend reminded me of these two jams by Jimi Hendrix, as great a musical genius as any who’ve lived. Do yourself a solid and “lay back and groove on a rainy day.”
TIA is AOK
I was reminded of this great song while sitting in Tampa International Airport. Solid, FREE wireless and lots of places to sit down and plug in…I’d have to say it’s my favorite airport right now. And pretty hip music. With a Buddhist theme to boot (the song, not the airport). BTW, that’s my old friend, [...]
Friday Musical Interlude, outsourced (HT:HS)
Jared is working to make the Friday Musical Interlude younger and trendier, so please don’t tell him that I jammed out to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors this morning on the metro (in my head, of course–I have the best interests of innocent bystanders in mind!), or that I listened to a very Neil Young-heavy playlist while [...]
Friday Musical Interlude: Music for All
Two entries this week. First, a friend turned me onto this song by the indie group Blind Pilot. I’d never heard them but I love the song, the singing, and the unusual sonority of their instrumentation. There’s also a real OWS spirit to this piece, both in the lyrics and the drum-circle drumming. Second, for [...]
Friday Musical Interlude
Two goodies this week. First, A Whiter Shade of Pale is a classic from my youth. And while Procol Harum’s original version still sounds as great as ever, this version by Annie Lenox is beautifully ethereal. Second, this one goes out to Herman Cain, who decided to drop the middle 9 (the income tax part) [...]
Friday Musical Interlude: My Favorite Fugue
It’s incredible to me that a human could write this music like this. But Bach did it all the time. I mean, the way subject of the fugue gets developed, built upon, passed around between the keyboards and the orchestra—it seems you’d need a supercomputer to put something so complex together, but only the human [...]
Musical Interlude: What’s Your Bassline?!
Well, well—I outsourced this week’s interlude to a youngin’ and he comes up with a tune me and my homies were shakin’ our booties to about 100 years ago. And an awesomely kickin’ version it is! I must admit I wasn’t familiar with these peeps but they definitely hittin’ it. Take it, BH: When Jared [...]
Drift Away…
Well, back to insourcing the Friday musical interlude, and I’m back to my ancient ways. Here’s a pop song from the back in the day that kept running through my head this week, maybe because it was a week in which facts just didn’t seem to matter (plus, it rained a ton!)…makes you wanna kinda [...]
Chant!
As I’ll be on the road tomorrow, I want to make sure all me OTE peeps Chant a Psalm along with Steel Pulse! So as that Jah him might look to me on me travels, mon. Moses he did…chant, chant Samson he did…chant, chant Elijah he did …chant, chant
Hangin’ with Clinton in the DC Mothership
Hey, check this out. I gave an economics presentation this morning downtown at the DC Conference Center and there was a famous Clinton in the audience. Was it Bill? No. Was it Hillary? No. Was it Chelsea? No. It was George! That’s right, George Clinton of Funkadelic fame was in the house to give some comments [...]
Friday Interlude: Electronic Soul
Outsourced to soul sister Sarah S: As the ambassador for all things cool and hip (for this blog at least), my mind would not allow me to escape the band I instinctually thought of when given the task of picking the musical interlude of the week. If you have turned on the radio or any [...]
Friday Musical Interlude: Outsourced!
Someone close to me pointed out that I’m kind of old, and that while my musical selections are fine, well…I’m just kind of old. It is true that my tastes run from around 1700-1975. She suggested that on occasion I outsource the Friday interlude, maybe to someone who wasn’t so…old. While the outsourcing thing can [...]
Rare Midweek Musical Interlude
I can’t get this song—You’re Everything, by Chick Corea–out of my head, so maybe this will help. Though it’s a such an amazingly beautiful melody, and so impeccably performed, I really don’t mind having it bouncing around the synapses for another few days.
Friday Musical Interlude–Danger Zone is Everywhere!
OK, OTEers, I’ve got a serious treat for you this week: the first commissioned Friday interlude in history. I’ve got this old friend, Victor Lesser, who is a deeply happening musician–a saxophonist in the traditional of funk, jazz, and R&B, and, as you’ll hear, a singer of great soulfulness. Now, I’ve always loved this Ray Charles song [...]
Jared Bernstein’s areas of expertise include federal and state economic and fiscal policies, income inequality and mobility, trends in employment and earnings, international comparisons, and the analysis of financial and housing markets.
