Sondheim’s Confessions
A recently published book casts doubt on the composer’s insistence that his enduring musicals were never autobiographical.
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Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Bernard Gotfryd / Library of Congress; Jim Smeal/ Ron Galella Collection / Getty; Michael Hardy / Express / Getty. Why Randy Newman Is Least Loved for His Best Work
The musician’s greatest songs are dramatic, psychologically complex, and often very bleak.
Illustration by Paul Spella / The Atlantic. Sources: Dick Barnatt / Redferns / Getty; David Livingston / Getty. Bruce Springsteen’s Misguided Homage
Only the Strong Survive, his new album of soul covers, isn’t wrong. It’s just pointless.
Danny Clinch / Columbia Records Bob Dylan Reveals Himself Through 66 Songs
And it’s the closest we’re probably going to get.
Erik Carter / The Atlantic; Getty Chameleon With a Toupee
Bobby Darin was so determined to be somebody that he tried to be everybody
Wynton's Blues
For two decades Wynton Marsalis ruled the jazz universe, enjoying virtually unqualified admiration as a musician and unsurpassed influence as the music's leading promoter and definer. But after a series of sour notes—he parted from his record label, has been caught up in controversy at Jazz at Lincoln Center; and has been drawing increasing fire from critics and fellow musicians alike for his narrow neotraditionalism—perhaps the biggest name in jazz faces an uncertain future. Just like jazz itself
