Pinchas Zukerman and Yefim Bronfman at the Folly Theater

Pianist Yefim Bronfman disobeyed doctor's orders to play a duo recital with Pinchas Zukerman Nov. 19. Cynthia Siebert, director of the Friends of Chamber Music, which presented the concert, announced that there was a private plane waiting for Mr. Bronfman to fly him to New York after the concert so that he would make his doctor's appointment the next morning. Siebert also said the duo's Kansas City stop was one of five concerts on its itinerary. We should all be so lucky.
And now a link to my review for The Kansas City Star: Violinist Zukerman, pianist Bronfman in perfect harmony at Folly

Imagination underscores NewEar season opener

Kansas City contemporary chamber ensemble NewEar opens it 18th season with a diverse program

Eldar plays NYC's Highline Ballroom tonight

Eldar Djangirov, 23-year-old Sony Masterworks artist, Grammy nominee and critically acclaimed pianist, is appearing in a special solo piano performance at the Highline Ballroom at 8 tonight as part of the Highline Piano Series. Eldar -- he prefers the one name -- has just finished recording his new Sony Masterworks album, Three Stories. It's Eldar’s fifth album for Sony, but it's his long-anticipated first solo piano album covering jazz, classical and his own works.

Michael Bublé gives a 21-song salute to pop music

KANSAS CITY | MICHAEL BUBLÉ AT SPRINT CENTER

Ani DiFranco at the Beaumont Club

KANSAS CITY — A career-spanning set lacked the attitude her lyrics suggest: Ani DiFranco at the Beaumont Club.

Sly Dog label releases six albums by late Kenny Rankin

Street date: February 16

Six albums by the late singer-songwriter Kenny Rankin were released today by Mack Avenue Records' imprint Sly Dog. The albums:

Mind-Dusters
Family
Like a Seed
Silver Morning
Inside
The Kenny Rankin Album

Rankin's easy tenor voice over his nylon-stringed guitar was such a soothing sound that it endeared him to folk and pop music enthusiasts. Besides penning such hits as "Haven't We Met" (recorded by Mel Tormé) and "Peaceful" (a Helen Reddy hit that made it to the top 10 in 1973), Rankin was also a sublime interpreter of others' songs. The Beatles' "Blackbird" is a prime example. Paul McCartney so enjoyed Rankin's version that he invited Kenny to perform it when John Lennon and McCartney were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
On a production note, Chris Rankin, Kenny's son and a longtime music industry professional, oversaw the remastering of Like a Seed, Silver Morning, Inside and The Kenny Rankin Album. Because these albums were recorded in the '70s, they were recorded using the Dolby noise reduction system of the time. That meant finding reconditioned '70s vintage Dolby machines to play back the master tapes. Talk about a labor of love.
But it's all worth it to Rankin's fans.
Available on iTunes and from the Kenny Rankin artist page at Mack Avenue Records.
Kenny Rankin died from complications of lung cancer at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles on June 7, 2009. He was 69.

The Bradbury Report

MAY 4:
The Bradbury Report
Steven Polansky
(Weinstein Books)

Premise: In 2071, the United States has an answer to health care: clones. Sick? Injured? What you need is taken from your confined copy. But what happens when you meet your copy?

Thumbs down for Rhino's new website

Robert Folsom Writes likes free stuff as much as the next blogger, so when an e-mail arrived from Rhino records saying it had a new website and it was offering a free download of a single track, RFW fell for it.
The single wasn't free. It was supposed to be. Just enter the promo code, and Rhino would subtract the cost of the track at checkout.
Didn't happen.
But Rhino decided to set up a hoop to jump through before that: You have to create a new account, even if you already had one, to access its new, shiny website, which offers high-def digital music.
Then, to download your free track, Rhino encourages you to install its download manager. Great. Just what the Internet needs, another download manager. This one came with a Java download and update. Yet more waiting for Java Sun Systems to update. With a Microsoft Bing (But It's Not Google) toolbar. Definitely took the check mark out of that box.
Rhino's download manager says its preference is to download your supposedly free song to iTunes. That was as successful as getting the free song at checkout. Opened iTunes. The song wasn't there, even though the file handling preferences on Rhino's download manager had iTunes as the download directory. Had to go looking for it in the newly installed Rhino folder. That's a favorite pastime of computer users: to go searching for a download because it isn't where it should be.
Rhino knows it has some bugs to work out. It has a link on its home page that says, "We’re still polishing the new site, so if you have any comments & suggestions, please email them to us." We're supposed to help Rhino? Rhino is the business. It should have its act together before launching a new, improved website.
An auto-response from Rhino said it would respond within five days. Five days. This isn't the unemployment office. A response time of five days is more than enough time to lose a customer.
Like it just did.

The Gift Card

On January 4th, I received a gift card for the grocery store in the mail. There was a card with it, but it didn't say who it was from. Looked at the front. Whoever sent it had typed my name and address. No handwriting anywhere. Oh, I asked around but not too much.
Because someone wanted to remain anonymous, and I wanted to respect that.
Had to go to the store that night. Was starting school the next day, the 5th. I thought, "I'll wait until everything is on sale to use it." But then I thought, "No, someone sent this to me to use," so the night of the 4th, I started to use it.
And I got this feeling at the store, a feeling that, well, someone was thinking of me but also a feeling of momentum, like I was heading in the right direction, what with starting classes the next day for web design.
Nudged. That's it. Like someone was giving me a little nudge, a little push.
I used the last of the card tonight. When I mentioned the story of the gift card to the cashier, she said that happened to her once. And she had a story, too, about her gift card coming when she needed it most. She got a little teary-eyed recalling it.
Then she said, "You know what? I pray that they get it back tenfold." And I said, yeah, so do I.
Someone wants to remain anonymous, and so someone shall. But I did, and do, say a prayer of thanks and blessings for that person. And I felt a fullness as I said my prayer because I know that it reached that person. How do I know?
Well, it's kind of like asking, How does aspirin know where to go?
It goes everywhere.