‘I wanted Kid ’n Play but the studio said, “Who are these guys?” I replied, “They’ve got platinum records.” I had no idea if they did’
Black music videos weren’t played on MTV in the late 80s. So while I was still at Harvard, I’d make music videos in my head. One day, while listening to Bad Boy/Having a Party by Luther Vandross, I thought: “This could be a great music video or movie.” And I sat down that night and wrote a script for a short film that ended up not only being made but shown at festivals and becoming a big hit in the world of student films. Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It had piqued interest in up-and-coming black film-makers. New Line Cinema saw my short and brought me in for a meeting. I pitched an expanded version of my idea and they said: “Let’s do it.”
Musicians, theater groups and others from overseas are facing visa challenges and rising costs, posing a looming crisis for the performing arts sector.
Tinariwen canceled an American tour when the Trump administration announced travel restrictions on 19 countries, including Mali, where most of its members are from.
A composer and pianist as well, he was a prolific recording artist who integrated jazz, classical and world music traditions in a career that spanned seven decades.
Mr. Towner in about 1976. He took up the guitar after seeing a fellow student playing a Bach piece on it. He later moved to Vienna, where he studied with a renowned Austrian guitarist and teacher.
Dragging his hand across the piano keys, Nick Cave leaps into the air and charges towards the crowd like a preacher breaking from the pulpit. “Bring your spirit down!” he cries repeatedly, arms flung wide as the choir roars behind him.
It’s barely 10 minutes into their set at Fremantle Park in Perth, and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds have the audience in the palm of their hands. Touring their 2024 album Wild God in Australia for the first time, they open with the brooding track Frogs and the eponymous Wild God, an explosive crescendo of high-pitched strings, soaring vocals and pounding percussion.
Connexion
The Independent
The Guardian
