Sara Paretsky
I don't read enough detective fiction to get passionate about the nuances that distinguish different writers. I read it for fun, and I'm comfortable with my stereotypes. I think of British detective fiction as being...
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Preston Woodward
When you listen to Preston Woodward, you quickly get the feeling that listeners should be sitting around him in a circle, outside in the dark woods, drinking ale from clay mugs and throwing logs on a fire. I guess you could call...
Read MoreFUBAR: Suddenly
Suddenly is an appropriate name for FUBAR’s debut CD only in this sense: You’re waiting around a long time for someone you expect. You give up hope. And then your visitor shows up, suddenly. Or maybe the title is...
Read MoreCorky Siegel’s Chamber Blues
Corky Siegel's Chamber Blues was born in 1966, when Chicago Symphony summer conductor Seiji Ozawa, his Beatlesque hairstyle then a distinct novelty in the orchestral world, announced a desire to bring classical music and...
Read MoreEastside-Westside
Western Michigan artists express a regional style distinct from eastern Michigan artists'. Maybe. That's the premise under exploration at the Gallery Project, on South Fourth Avenue, in its sparkling debut show,...
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Farm and Garden walk
Last year the Ann Arbor Farm and Garden Association’s annual garden walk was scheduled for a Saturday in mid-June when my husband and I were going to be in Stratford. So that I could write about the walk for the Observer,...
Read MoreGrievous Angel
Take four seasoned musicians; mix in acoustic and electric instruments; flavor with country, bluegrass, blues, and rock; serve with clear, lilting vocals and close harmonies. It’s a recipe for down-home, rootsy music, and...
Read MoreJohn Prine
The last time I saw John Prine was . . . well, let's see. He's been some kind of soundtrack throughout a whole lot of my life. I've sung his songs, played his songs, put my kids to sleep with his songs, cooked dinner...
Read MoreElizabeth Kostova
The quick way of summarizing Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian — a 650-page novel about vampires — does not come close to describing her accomplishment. Vampire books create expectations — prose perhaps a little overdone...
Read MoreSteve Amick
At the Michigan Songwriters' Festival at the Ark last January, Ann Arbor native Steve Amick sang "I'm Sorry for You (If You Don't Live Here)," his rousing and only slightly ironic chronicling of a few of...
Read MoreAndrew Bishop
There was a time when most jazz musicians concentrated on doing one thing really well. Some combined composition with instrumental prowess, and woodwind players may have doubled on a variety of saxophones, clarinets, and even...
Read MoreGeorge Bedard & the Kingpins
The music of George Bedard & the Kingpins is, by turns, as solid and dependable as a '57 Chevy and as flashy and flamboyant as a long-finned '59 Caddy convertible. It's American roots music — rockabilly,...
Read MoreKathryn Goodson – Charles Ives
For an accompanist, pianist Kathryn Goodson has an outsize personality. Her enthusiastic playing isn’t merely an accompaniment to the singer or instrumentalist but a full partner and then some. In her recent Kerrytown...
Read MoreCascadia Juggling Festival
It didn't take long for me to rule out attempting to juggle anything at the juggling festival. I generally duck when things are flying toward me. Besides, I went to the festival to people-watch. I wasn't disappointed....
Read MoreAnn Arbor Sacred Harp
My dad is not a singer, but without any apparent effort, he can sing a harmony to just about any song. Broadway show tunes, TV commercials, "Midnight at the Oasis" — he hears it once and somehow knows where to...
Read MoreAnn Arbor Symphony
What sort of "resurrection" is Mahler's Second Symphony? Well, the agony of its opening Funeral March, the charm of its Lndler, the irony of its Scherzo, and the simple faith of its Folk Song all lead to the...
Read MoreElvis Costello
It's impossible to love, or even keep up with, everything Elvis Costello has done lately. He's collaborated on albums with Brill Building pop songwriter Burt Bacharach and opera singer Anne Sofie von Otter. He's...
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