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If ever a popular song cried out for orchestral treatment, it’s Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Boxer.”  The complex arrangement of the magnificent 1969 hit implicitly suggests a connection to the classical repertoire.

That’s one reason the collaboration between Art Garfunkel and the Kansas City Symphony seemed particularly promising.

Yet the symphony sat silently as Garfunkel and his four-piece band performed “The Boxer” for a capacity audience of about 3,200 Friday at the Church of the Resurrection.  The result was an exceedingly pleasing if occasionally frustrating evening. Читать далее »

Speakeasy is behind the scenes at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary show tonight. (Read our earlier interview with Rock & Roll Hall of Fame CEO Joel Peresman.) We’re camped backstage, with the rest of the press, at Madison Square Garden, and will reporting back on all the acts as they go on stage. Follow us throughout the night for updates!

6:45 p.m. — Tom Hanks takes the mic in the press room and addresses what he calls the most jaded group of writers in New York right now. He oh-so-eloquently calls the night’s line-up — which consists of Bruce Springsteen, Simon & Garfunkel, Stevie Wonder, and Crosby, Stills and Nash, plus many, many others — “the music of our generation, the soundtrack of our lives.” He adds that he’s not a massive music aficionado. “I did it for the all access pass,” he says. “I don’t know what to say to half these guys other than wow. I’m lucky to be here.” Читать далее »

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Having suffered more than 15 years of false starts, failures and musical disappointments, singer-songwriter Harper Simon admits he has hardly charted the ideal path to pop stardom like his father, Paul Simon.

The young Simon had always shown musical promise. At age 4 he sang with his dad on the “Sesame Street” children’s TV show. He also attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Now, at 37, the son of one of America’s best known singer-songwriters has finally released his first album. Читать далее »

Grace Patuwo/Contributing Photographer

Art Garfunkel visited Yale for a Master’s Tea on Wednesday afternoon. The beloved singer, one half of Simon and Garfunkel (as in “So here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson…”), fielded questions about his most successful songs, his artistic relationship with Paul, and his favorite “guilty pleasures.” The Tea had been very well-attended, with a line for seats stretching out the Swing Space door outside the office, fans mingled and waited for autographs.

Scene tried to interview the legendary singer — unfortunately, he was in quite a rush. Sitting in the Swing Space Master’s Office, we managed to fire off a couple of questions. Morse College Master Frank Keil looked on.

Scene: Did you expect the audience to be overflowing like that?

Art Garfunkel: No, I was very pleasantly surprised. I never know how well they know me or how much they’re curious about me. I assume I’m the … the unknown quiet guy behind Paul Simon. I don’t get to fill out what my nature is … very often. So I was very pleased that they cared. Читать далее »

Grace Patuwo/Contributing Photographer

Art Garfunkel addresses 120 lucky students and faculty at a Morse College Master’s Tea yesterday. Over 100 others were turned away. 

He’s read the dictionary cover-to-cover. He’s walked across both the United States and most of Europe (though not continuously). And, as part of the famed musical duo Simon and Garfunkel, he’s won five Grammys and recorded three number-one albums.

Students and faculty packed into the Swing Space Activity Room on Wednesday to hear Art Garfunkel speak about the importance of dedication and nuance in creating powerful music at a Morse College Master’s Tea. Turnout for the event was high — about 120 students and faculty crammed into the Tea, and more than 100 were turned away for lack of space, leaving many students irritated. Several students peeked in through an open window during the Tea, at which Garfunkel discussed the meaning behind many of his songs and the virtues he thinks led to his success. Читать далее »

In the late 1970s, when I first heard this song by Paul Simon (the lead voice of the famous duo: Simon & Garfunkel), I could not help smiling aloud. A few days ago when I heard it again, I could not help laughing aloud. So what is amazing about the lyrics?

To begin with, Paul is a good lyricist with poetic quality to his work. That both him and Bob Dylan (Robert Zimmerman) are Jewish, does not bother me one bit. What bothers me is Bob’s about-turn on the protest song movement of the 1960s and his recent revelation that he blew in the wind because that was the way things blew back then. Читать далее »

After buying Paul Simon’s last album “Surprise”, I realized that I had forgotten how much I loved his music and decided I had to update my old vinyl collection on CD. We stated out with “Still Crazy After All These Years”, which was my husband’s first choice. But I’m so glad I insisted on buying “Graceland” next, and here’s why.

First of all, “Graceland” marked a special turn in Simon’s musical style, by bringing African sounds into his music. While this may sound strange for little Jewish guy who started out singing folk music and dabbled in classic American rock with a touch of pop on the side. However, the combination is beautifully incorporated, and in several different ways. First of all, he includes some ethnic singers to round out his own vocals. This brings a dimension to his own sound that we never heard before. This isn’t to say that Simon sounded flat previous to this album, but rather that these new types of vocals added extra depth, sometimes with shriller female voices that shock the senses, and in others with deep, earthy bass sounds that make your heart vibrate. In addition, instrumentally, this album took full advantage of the African rhythms with many songs including drums of all sorts to punctuate this collection. Add that to a good measure of jazz bass guitar, a country-western sounding accordion or a penny whistle solo and there’s nothing in this album you could call boring. Читать далее »

A CAPACITY crowd yelled for more from Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel but the singing legends had eyes for only one member of the audience last night.

It was the last concert of their hugely successful Australian tour and everyone knew there was something special going down.

Eight-year-old Jadzia Hunter sat enthralled in her $359 front row seat as the duo blew kisses and waved at her throughout their emotion-charged performance giving her a night she will probably remember forever. Читать далее »

Ordinary Joe … Paul Simon stroll Sydney / The Daily Telegraph

HE’S one of the biggest names in popular music history but Paul Simon had the air of an absolutely ordinary Joe when he went for a stroll around The Rocks yesterday.

Fresh from his first Sydney concert with Art Garfunkel since 1983, the New York-based songwriter and performer left his hotel with a minder at noon.

But he went unnoticed by other camera toting tourists as he walked along Circular Quay before entering the Museum Of Contemporary Art - apparently on the advice of the hotel concierge.

Simon spent 40 minutes taking in exhibitions, before emerging and making his way back to his nearby hotel.

Two fans - one old, one young - were waiting with original vinyl records of Simon and Garfunkel, and he happily signed them.

The pair performed their second Sydney concert last night, and will play one more on Tuesday.

A SIMON and Garfunkel concert feels like one big nostalgic sigh.

It’s that comfortable feeling you get from being with two guys who, throughout the course of their long careers, have created songs that have become the soundtracks to our lives.

Fans had been holding their collective breaths for 26 years, since the duo last performed in this country. Читать далее »