John WatersRole Models (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)This sharp and witty memoir's most "shocking" statement occurs at the outset, when Waters declares: "I wish I were Johnny Mathis." Waters explains...
Nadine CohodasPrincess Noire: The Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone (Pantheon)Musician Weldon Irvine once told me about auditioning for Nina Simone's band. Apparently, he showed up an hour late, sat...
The members of Dru Hill have gathered at the Belvedere Hotel's Owl Bar to discuss the logistics of a forthcoming tour to promote their reunion album, InDRUpendence Day, the quartet's first new music...
How the Maryland film industry went from bustling to bust and its chances for a revival.
"Gooood morning, BAAAL-ti-more!" burbles Tracy Turnblad, the zaftig heroine of Hairspray, as she skips down a Highlandtown block in the opening song-and-dance number of the 2007 movie-musical. The...
SONiA & disappear fear, David Byrne & Fatboy Slim, and Thrushes
SONiA & disappear fearBlood, Bones & Baltimore (Disappear Records)A friend played me a recording of SONiA's 2009 Kerrville Folk Festival set, which included fan favorite "Biggest Baddest...
YeasayerOdd Blood (Secretly Canadian)The art-pop wing of indie rockdom has been incredibly fertile over the past year, and bands with Baltimore ties have been leading the charge. Folks like Dan...
Jack Zipes/John Barth, William L. Gresham, and Theodore Kornweibel, Jr.
Jack Zipes (adaptation)/John Barth (introduction)The Arabian Nights Volume II: More Marvels and Wonders of the Thousand and One Nights (Signet Classics)John Barth's introduction to this edition of...
A Little Italy restaurant turns an upstairs dining room into a popular cabaret.
It's a Sunday night up on the second floor at Germano's Trattoria, a Little Italy stalwart strung along the neighborhood's main drag. The pumpkin-colored walls are hung with vintage Art Nouveau...
Carl Grubbs/Lafayette Gilchrist, Michael Lawrence, and Lizz King
Carl Grubbs/Lafayette GilchristMaryland Traditions in Jazz (self-released)This collaboration between two of the city's finest jazz musicians grew out of their involvement in Maryland Traditions'...
Gail Stavitsky/Katherine Rothkopf and Laura Amy Schlitz
Gail Stavitsky/Katherine RothkopfCézanne and American Modernism (Montclair/BMA)The catalogue accompanying the BMA's Cézanne show, which opened last month, elegantly expands upon the premise that...
