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The legendary Art Garfunkel sang, soothed, conquered. An overflowing Hilbert Circle Theatre audience of all ages enthusiastically responded to the now-familiar songs in updated settings for solo tenor (sans Paul Simon) for the iconic Simon & Garfunkel canon. For Act 1, with his combo, Garfunkel gave us “And So It Goes,” “The Boxer,” “Mrs. Robinson,” and “The Promise”; with the ISO he featured “Scarborough Fair,” “El Condor Pasa” and “American Tune.” For Act 2, the usually non-schmoozing Garfunkel shared some personal insights and his delightful poetry between songs. With the ISO we cheered a gorgeous arrangement of “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” Garfunkel closed with “Goodnight, My Love” and “Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep.” With a somewhat duskier voice than what this reviewer recalled from his earlier days, but with the same easy-going demeanor, you felt the honesty of his closing remarks as he applauded the ISO players and thanked the audience: “My entire life has been enhanced by your support.” He set out to bring us hopefulness and ease in troubled times, and he succeeded. The ISO opened the evening with a melodic overview of old and beloved tunes as “Broadway Tonight.”

If Bob Costas ever tires of his work as a sportscaster, he might want to give concert promotion a try. The top stars of music and comedy all seem to be in his Rolodex, and for more than 20 years, they’ve turned out when called upon — at least when it comes to playing a benefit for the Bob Costas Cancer Center at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center.Introducing this year’s headliner at the Fox Theatre on Saturday, Costas noted that Paul Simon isn’t just a great entertainer, but a man who’d provided the soundtrack for his life. Читать далее »

Photo by 77 square

After singing the iconic “Mrs. Robinson” on Thursday night at the Overture Center, Art Garfunkel announced that he had a disclaimer for the song.

It was for the verse, “Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon / Going to the candidates debate / Laugh about it, shout about it / When you’ve got to choose / Ev’ry way you look at it, you lose.” Читать далее »

Image: 77square.com

Art Garfunkel has eased into his late 60s like a philosophical marshmallow, softened around the edges by his family and full of poetic musing.

Best known as the golden-voiced partner of Paul Simon, Garfunkel has enjoyed a long singing career, supplemented by ventures into acting, poetry and cross-continental walking expeditions. His most recent album, “Some Enchanted Evening,” charts his love of old standards — Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and Rogers & Hammerstein. He’ll be performing these and other songs during a solo performance at the Overture Center on Thursday, April 9.

Art Garfunkel wasn’t the only one to pick up the phone in his New York City apartment when 77 Square called for an interview on a recent Sunday morning.

At first, we could only hear the shallow breathing of the mysterious eavesdropper. Then he made his presence loudly known.

“Mommy! Mommy, somebody’s on the phone! Mommy! Somebody’s on the phone, mommy! MOMMY!” And then to the caller, in a tiny voice, “Hello?”

“It’s my little 3-year-old,” Garfunkel said with a patient sigh, before heading downstairs to get his son Beau off the phone.

Art Garfunkel: There was a silver lining in that interruption: his adorability. It’s religious, this adoring business. I adore that little guy. At my advanced age, I’m in love with the baby experience. I write poems about him. I just wrote one just yesterday, and it went right through me. Читать далее »

The first was more than 20 years ago in Berkeley, Calif., when the South African a cappella group accompanied Paul Simon on his “Graceland” tour — a concert tour whose moniker of “historical” seems to be standing the test of time.”Oh yeah, I saw Ladysmith on the ‘Graceland’ tour,” I say, and many people my age seem to know what I’m talking about.

The significance of Paul Simon’s discovery and successful capitalization of Ladysmith Black Mambazo can’t be overstated when it comes to the realm of world music. The group has enjoyed phenomenal success, having recorded more than 30 albums and earning a dozen Grammy nominations. Читать далее »

A couple of weeks ago, I watched a Georgia Public Television special commemorating Paul Simon’s Gershwin Prize for Popular Song from the Library of Congress. It was a great show recorded back in 2007 at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C.

Simon teamed with Stevie Wonder, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Yolanda Adams, Marc Anthony, Dixie Hummingbirds, James Taylor, Buckwheat Zydeco and others. Читать далее »

Wait, was that really the Art Garfunkel on the March 1 episode of HBO’s Flight of the Conchords (Sundays at 10 pm/ET)? Yes! Conchords‘ Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie wrote the episode, titled “Prime Minister,” around him, and then prayed he’d say yes to a cameo. Garfunkel says he took “a leap a faith” and signed on without seeing a script.

In the episode, Jemaine and Bret book a gig as Simon and Garfunkel lookalikes, where they meet Karen (guest star Mary Lynn Rajskub, 24’s Chloe), a woman who asks Jemaine on a date. The catch: He has to wear his Garfunkel costume, even when they have sex — she calls it “Garfunkling.” We talked to its namesake about being immortalized by such weird comic geniuses, his recent reunion with Paul Simon and his quest for the perfect Simon and Garfunkel cover song. Читать далее »

Clockwise, from top left: Mike Batt, Art Garfunkel and Watership Down

Art Garfunkel’s Bright Eyes, the biggest UK hit of 1979, entered the singles chart for the first time 30 years ago on Tuesday.

Entering the lower reaches of the chart initially, the song, written by British composer Mike Batt for animated rabbit fantasy film Watership Down, eventually reached number one on 14 April. Читать далее »

Pop music loves its summer kisses, bemoans its winter tears and leaves the folkies to wax autumnal. The offshoot? Not too many pop songs about spring spring to mind. Sure, Igor Stravinsky once gave you “Rites of Spring,” and of course “Springtime for Hitler” pretty much owns the season. But not a whole lot of people have followed the Ballet Russes and the cast of “The Producers” up the primrose path.

Undaunted, we decided to search high and low for every song we could find that captures the sense of renewal offered by the second season and can be pinpointed definitively between the months of March and June. Читать далее »

Long Beach Arena rules made close-ups of the performances in 1969 challenging,
but the distant pair are easily recognizable to fans as the folk-rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. (Tom Shaw / File photo)

HOMEWARD SOUNDS: One of 2008’s more pleasant recordings slipped onto racks fairly unnoticed - not that much is noticed on record racks these days. Let’s say “Simon & Garfunkel: Live 1969″ tumbled through the pipes and conduits of the Internets with less fanfare than one might’ve expected from one of the most revered duos in folk-rock (or folk-roll as one of our “with-it” writers termed the genre way back before, even, 1969). Читать далее »