Sting is the rarest of artists. In 1978 – the year he first visited New York, “Roxanne” established him as one of the great voices in music and a formidable songwriter who would go on to pen the most played song on the radio ever. (Which one is revealed in the video) While his commercial success is unsurpassed, his artistic integrity is unquestioned. He plays a mean bass too!

The Police were the most popular band in the world when he walked away from them in the mid 80s. He started his solo career with two albums that immediately established an identity for him apart from his ex-trio: The Dream of the Blue Turtles in 1985 and Nothing Like the Sun in 1987. On both he was backed by the likes of Branford Marsalis and Kenny Kirkland who had built their reputations in the world of jazz. In the decades that followed, he’s explored myriad aspects of that identity as he’s collaborated with the Algerian Raï singer Cheb Mami, the Bosnian lutenist Edin Karamazov, the Jamaican-American reggae singer Shaggy, and The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra among many others.

In this chat, Sting offers insights into the themes explored on his album The Bridge that comes out this Friday. He reveals details of the recording process and uses a fishing metaphor for the creative process. He also expresses his love for his adopted home of New York and explains how he ended up in the TV show Only Murders In The Building. Plus he names his favorite three Police songs as well as his favorite three songs recorded as a solo artist.

This Zoom chat video has been enhanced with fun facts for your amusement. Special thanks to WFUV’s student Sports Manager Alexander Wolz who skillfully edited the video.

Marshall Crenshaw is one of my all time favorite songwriters. The singer/multi-instrumentalist is a tunesmith of the first order and an artist I continually go back to when I’m choosing songs for a radio show or an album for the living room. Listen to a recent live Q&A interview on WFUV where we discuss his documentary film about famed record producer Tom Wilson, and other topics.

Sylvan Esso are a wildly crafty and inventive musical duo made up of the golden-throated Amelia Meath and mad sonic scientist Nick Sanborn. They’ve created music that’s long on hooks and not short on style since they got together seven years ago. Along with unleashing their new album — their third — Free Love, they recorded a handful of songs especially for WFUV Live, including a couple of past favorites. Hear the interview and see the live performances here.

The Go-Go’s have released their first new song in almost two decades and “Club Zero” will likely make you realize how much you missed them. If you weren’t around in the Eighties, when they helped to define the sound of that decade, it may introduce you to this band whose body of work is very much worth diving into. The new song coincides with the appearance of a documentary simply called “The Go-Go’s,” directed by Alison Ellwood, that recalls the quintet’s significant place on the continuum of music and role in the culture while celebrating the eternally infectious quality of their songs. Listen to my new interview with guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter Charlotte Caffey here.

Antibalas will be the house band and twenty artists will perform the songs of Aretha Franklin on Monday, March 6th at Carnegie Hall in the 14th annual tribute concert to benefit music education programs.  Here’s the lineup: Melissa Etheridge, Kenny Loggins, Ann Wilson, Todd Rundgren, Sarah Dash, Glen Hansard, Rhiannon Giddens, Taj Mahal with his daughter Deva Mahal, Living Colour, Allen Stone, Bettye Lavette, Ceelo Green, Naomi Shelton, G. Love, Richard Thompson, Ruthie Foster, Ron Pope, Don Bryant, Sam Moore, and Ledisi.

Tickets are available.

As is the tradition, a live rehearsal show will happen at City Winery the night before.  The concert on Sunday night is sold out but you can add your name to a wait list.

The concert has produced some memorable moments in the past.  David Byrne and Talking Heads, Paul Simon, Prince, The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Simon and Garfunkel, The Who, REM, Elton John and Bernie Taupin, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and Joni Mitchell have all been feted and a handful of the honorees have turned up at the shows.  As Michael Dorf recalled while I was chatting with the Knitting Factory and City Winery founder last week, Elton John and Bernie Taupin enjoyed their songs while sitting together in a box overlooking the stage but did not perform. Bruce Springsteen not only made a cameo but did two songs for an encore after his music was  presented in 2007.  David Byrne showed his characteristic flair by appearing in a white tux leading a marching band down the center aisle before taking the stage to put a punctuation mark on the 2015 show.  Last year’s concert for David Bowie expanded to two nights, with a second show at Radio City Music Hall, following the artist’s death in January.  It was an emotional celebration of his legacy that gave artists and fans alike an opportunity to gather and share the loss while immersed in the music that endures.  

Will Aretha put in an appearance?  Who can tell!  In any case, Carnegie Hall is the place to be next Monday and these music education programs will all benefit: Grammy in the Schools, Young Audiences New York, Church Street School of Music and Art, The Orchestra Now, The Center for Arts Education, Little Kids Rock, D’Addario Foundation, Sonic Arts For All, and Midori & Friends.

Bieber & Grande Lead Charge At 2016 Jingle Ball – Friday December 9th, 2016 at Madison Square Garden

Radio station Z100 started presenting the Jingle Ball in New York about the time a certain Canadian hotshot was being born.  In that same general timeframe of the mid nineties, a Floridian who would become known to young adults as Cat Valentine in the Nickelodeon sitcom Victorious, also came into the world as did an Irish lad destined to find fame in a juggernaut of a boy band named One Direction.

In 2016, Jingle Ball is a veritable holiday season institution here in NYC.  It reliably presents lineups stacked with some of the biggest names in pop and is part of a tour that hits big U.S. markets throughout December.  This year Bieber, Grande, and Horan are certainly among the biggest names in pop: JB is truly a phenomenon,  AG is clearly a dangerous woman, and NH is threatening to parlay the success of his band into potent solo stardom.  All can boast of gaudy sales statistics and the ability to drive fans insane with a single smile.  The Chainsmokers, Ellie Goulding, Diplo, Charlie Puth, Lukas Graham, and Daya were also on the bill.  Meghan Trainor had to bow out as she wasn’t feeling well.  Fifth Harmony, who spoke to me briefly when I crossed paths with them at Jingle Ball three years ago, were also part of the festivities.  Unfortunately Lauren Jauregui of the group suffered some ganja related embarrassment at the Washington airport a few days later.

Horan will be performing from the Billboard Hollywood party on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve while Grande will be back at MSG on February 23rd and 24th.  Bieber will be back this way next summer for a pair of shows at MetLife Stadium in August.

Video seen here courtesy of the good eggs at iHeartRadio.

Jojo Makes Triumphant Return With Mad Love – Her First Album As An Adult & Her First In A Decade

It was a delight to meet Jojo whose Massachusetts/New Hampshire roots are close to mine. She takes pride in being from New England and both states are represented among her tattoos; the latter in the form of the ‘Live Free Or Die’ motto. The artist, who was the youngest solo singer to have a number-one single in the United States, doesn’t have any kind of child star hangover on her adult personality. That’s not to say she didn’t go through something of a horror show to make it to this point. She did. However, in speaking with her, it was impossible to detect any self-absorption or (certainly not) self-pity due to the record company machinations that derailed her music career for many years. She stressed that she had a brilliant time in the first phase of her career while her self-titled debut from 2004 and the follow up The High Road made her a star.

As far as the business aspects that slowed her down, Jojo is eager to put them all behind her but patiently explained having to sue her record company twice before being able to seize control of her own future. As she said to me during our chat at NY1 Studios in Chelsea, ‘we choose how we react to things.” The process was painful as she looked upon her original label as a family but she did what she needed to do and it was part of her experience of growing up. The now 25 year old has a strong and resilient spirit that may be, even more than her phenomenal voice, the most important element to her vitality as an artist. As the melodies and song-craft on the new album make plain, she also has an exquisite ear. Mad Love came out on Friday, October 14th, 2016.

Jojo is planning a full-on tour but is doing an intimate record release party tonight in the Meatpacking District at 837NYC.

5th Annual Global Citizen Festival 9-24-16

Saturday was a mad scene in Central Park as 60,000 turned up to see, by any standard, an impressive lineup of talent. The musical parade in the early going in the afternoon included Demi Lovato, Ellie Goulding, and Major Lazer as well as special guest Usher. Speakers included Queen Rania, Nancy Pelosi, Salma Hayek Pinault, and Jada Pinkett Smith. Chelsea Handler, Neil Patrick Harris, and Seth Meyers added their personalities. The event unfolded, as in past years, with about a 4:1 mixture of music and politics. It makes for a long day but the crew and talent were on it and the weather was fine. Individual issues were seized upon within the broad Global Citizen framework of ending extreme poverty by 2030. Those watching the concert on MSNBC were urged to take specific actions primarily by using social media advocating a handful of issues such as empowering girls and women and aiding millions of refugees from war-torn regions around the world.

Chris Martin who, as Eddie Vedder pointed out, has done more for the organization than anybody [who isn’t aco-founder] was charming when he improvised lines about Rihanna and turned in a fine Crowded House cover with Eddie Vedder. EV spoke about the antiquated values of Trump making a last gasp and also shared the stage with Yusuf/Cat Stevens for an excellent reading of Father and Son. The men of peace spoke briefly about the times we are experiencing. Meanwhile, Kendrick Lamar killed it, Metallica crushed it, and Yandel sexed it right up. Rihanna found a new level of sex and it was over.

CeeLo Parties Aboard Circle Line In New York Harbor; June 7, 2016

A hootenanny with CeeLo on a boat was a brilliant way to usher in the summer of ’16! It was a beautiful night to take in the skyline views and shake bones to the sounds of the Atlanta native who first achieved notoriety with Goodie Mob and tattooed himself forever on to pop’s collective brain via his work with Danger Mouse in Gnarls Barkley. His most recent album is about six months in the rearview mirror. Heart Blanche featured CeeLo sharing songwriting credits with everyone from Elton John and Bernie Taupin to Solomon Burke and included a tribute to great comedians including John Belushi and Richard Pryor and named for Robin Williams.

This was the inaugural voyage of the Circle Live Concert Series aboard the Circle Line. It continues tonight – June 14, 2016 – with none other than Maceo Parker who inducted Prince on to the Apollo Walk Of Fame yesterday.

CeeLo has gone on the record as saying he’s keen to do another Gnarls Barkley record. In his immediate future, he’ll continue his Love Train, part two, tour. He’s got a date in Brooklyn as part of a pretty amazing lineup at this year’s Afropunk Festival in late August.

CeeLo’s resume includes one of the most memorable episodes of the long running American Dad animated sitcom in which he was the voice of a strong-willed hot tub so I had to ask him if he was planning on dipping a toe in The Hudson River…

The man born Prince Rogers Nelson in 1958 and known around the world simply as Prince has died in his Paisley Park home.

A native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Prince is a gigantic figure in popular music. He was a wildly expressive singer with astonishing range and an electrifying performer. His gifts as a vocalist and a showman were equaled by those as a a multi-instrumentalist and a songwriter.

Prince released his debut album two months shy of his 20th birthday. A string of hit albums followed through the eighties including Sign o’ The Times, 1999, and Purple Rain populated by undeniable songs like Little Red Corvette, Delirious, Raspberry Beret, When Doves Cry and Let’s Go Crazy. From track to track and from album to album, he was dangerous, adventurous and unpredictable: funk and pop and R&B and rock all were in his purview while his lyrics ranged from the sexually explicit to the socially conscious.

As his prolific, multi-faceted, and sometimes sprawling output didn’t conform to record company directed cycles of marketing and touring, Prince became dissatisfied with the business side of his affairs. This frustration as well as his eccentricity manifested itself in his refusal to use his name for most of the 90’s and insisting on being referred to as an unpronounceable symbol.

Prince was inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2004. His death came as a shock as he played his last concert in Atlanta just one week ago. His body of work includes 39 studio albums including four released in the last two years. He also starred in 4 films, 3 of which he directed.

Maybe the best quote about him came from Johnny Guitar Watson many years ago. He said, “It’s like seeing Sly, James Brown, and Jimi Hendrix all at once.” The incomparable Prince is dead at the age of 57.