Tales of the Tarantula

If you're a fan of Big Band swing music, especially bands like Benny Goodman's, you owe some thanks to a master arranger named Fletcher Hend

What do the states of Alabama, Georgia, Texas and California have in common? They are among only 10 states left that do not permit online sp

We continue our tribute to great arrangers with Don Costa.

I wrote last time about Irwin Kostal and the important behind-the-scenes job of an orchestrator. As I said then, it is the job of orchestrat

When a song sounds great, composers tend to get all the credit. But that is only justified when the composer acts as orchestrator as well. B

Recently I traveled to Abilene, Kansas to tour the Presidential Library and Museum of General Dwight D. Eisenhower. I knew well that he was

She was born Lesley Sue Goldstein on May 2, 1946, in Brooklyn, New York. Her father was Leo Goldstein, the owner of the successful Peter Pan

George Seaton began the 1930s as a playwright. His plays were not very successful, but they were good enough for him to be offered a contrac

I did not grow up with country music. There was no country music station in the New York market back then. So the sound of a steel guitar wa

Robert Kennedy Jr. may be accused of having a lot of off-the-wall ideas, but there's one area where Kennedy agrees with left wing leader Ber

Neil Sedaka's death a few weeks ago at the age of 86 was an occasion to revisit his vast catalog of songs. And one of his big hits from 50 y

When John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was writing what was to become the Lord of the Rings trilogy in 1937, the world was on the brink of World War

James Taylor celebrates his 78th birthday this week. The six-time Grammy-award winner first came to the attention of many fans in 1970 with

Should the President of the United States have the power to send the U.S. military into another country without consulting Congress? Should

He was born Enrico Nicola Mancini in Cleveland, Ohio in 1924. At the age of 11, Henry Mancini heard Rudolph G. Kopp's score in the 1935 Ceci

Together, they wrote "A Teenager in Love", "Save the Last Dance for Me", "Hushabye", "This Magic Moment", "Turn Me Loose", "Sweets For My Sw