Topic: Duke Ellington

Top galleries, list articles, quizzes

Holiday gift guide 2010: Top 5 music picks

Music is appreciated throughout the year and makes a great holiday gift for family and friends. Here are some suggestions – ranging from Ken Burns' 'Baseball' soundtrack to Dave Brubeck – recommended by the Monitor staff. Click on the link at the end of each item to purchase on amazon.com, and a small percentage will go to support the Monitor.

A plucky revival

The mandolin is breaking out of bluegrass and becoming hip and versatile.
The Chitlin’ Circuit and the Road to Rock ‘n’ Roll, by Preston Lauterbach.

A groundbreaking history of the black juke joints that birthed rock 'n' roll.
Jazz classics that were lost and found

Recently discovered jazz music recordings show improvisation in its heyday.
Perennially cool Dave Brubeck

Jazz legend Dave Brubeck roars into his 90th year like a young lion.
Holiday gift guide 2010: Top 5 music picks

Music is appreciated throughout the year and makes a great holiday gift for family and friends. Here are some suggestions – ranging from Ken Burns' 'Baseball' soundtrack to Dave Brubeck – recommended by the Monitor staff. Click on the link at the end of each item to purchase on amazon.com, and a small percentage will go to support the Monitor.
Listen to This

From Radiohead to Brahms, New Yorker music critic Alex Ross writes gracefully and thoughtfully about music.
Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original

This affectionate biography of Theolonius Monk fills in the backstory of an artist the world has long wished to know better.
How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ‘n’ Roll

A catchy title for an alternative history of American popular music.