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      A Tax Day Jam Session

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      File your 1040 to tunes by Destiny’s Child, Dr. John, Big Tymers and more.Destiny’s Child onstage in 2005, giving a withering look to those bills in question.Rahav SegevDear listeners,Lindsay is still out, which means you’ve got me (an editor who focuses on pop culture) on a day where you may need a bit of good fortune: Tax Day.I don’t know what kind of anxiety April 15 provokes in you, but I’ve collected a playlist inspired by a bit of family lore. As the story goes, my newly married dad once griped to my grandfather about how quickly bills ate up a paycheck, down to the last dollar. Gramps’s response: “Be glad you had that dollar.”So in the spirit of celebrating having just enough, I’m sharing my Tax Day jams. Savvy reader, you do not need me to point out all the root-of-all-evil bangers, scrapin’ and scrappin’ classics or TV ad earworms that mention money, money, money. I am also not here to question the tax code. Instead, I’ve assembled a set of songs that bop in the face of financial constraints, because getting down is, for now, still free.I fly in any weather,ElenaListen along while you read.1. Ray Charles: “Busted”Harlan Howard’s lyrics are about as low as low gets (“my bills are all due and the baby needs shoes but I’m busted”) and suit the songwriter’s “three chords and the truth” approach to country classics. But under Ray Charles’s guidance, and with a blaring horn section, this 1963 single gains a “but who cares?” lilt that earned Charles the Grammy for best R&B recording.▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTubeWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Lincoln Center Summer Festival to Bring Back Some Classical Music

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      Summer for the City will feature a dozen productions by the American Modern Opera Company, a Sanskrit epic, a celebration of Brazil and more.Lincoln Center’s summer festival will highlight the city’s diverse cultural traditions, the center announced on Tuesday, including performances by an experimental collective; a celebration of Brazilian culture; and the staging of a Sanskrit epic.The collective, American Modern Opera Company, which is made up of musicians and dancers, will present a dozen productions, making its Lincoln Center debut. The festival, Summer for the City, will run June 11 through Aug. 9, and it will also include a six-performance engagement by the string quartet Brooklyn Rider to celebrate the group’s 20th anniversary.Since the festival began, in 2022, it has scaled back the classical music and opera programming that used to define summer events like the Lincoln Center Festival and the Mostly Mozart Festival. This edition is a restoration of some of those types of offerings.“This is a constantly evolving city and artist community and audience, and it’s our job to be in that conversation,” Shanta Thake, Lincoln Center’s chief artistic officer, said in an interview. “You will never see a summer that looks like the summer before.”Summer for the City is part of the center’s efforts to appeal to new audiences by promoting an array of genres, including classical music, comedy, pop and social dance. Last year, the festival attracted 442,000 people, up from 380,000 in 2023, the center said.In June, members of the American Modern Opera Company will perform the New York premiere of “The Comet/Poppea,” which pairs George Lewis’s adaptation of W.E.B. Du Bois’s story “The Comet” and Monteverdi’s “L’Incoronazione di Poppea.” Additional programming by the collective includes a staging of Messiaen’s song cycle “Harawi,” sung by the soprano Julia Bullock, and the staged premiere of Matthew Aucoin’s “Music for New Bodies,” directed by Peter Sellars. The lineup also features “Rome Is Falling,” written by the bass player Doug Balliett, and described as a “zany lesson on the absurdity of what can happen when influential people lose power.”Lincoln Center said it hoped this year’s festival would help shine a light on the city’s vibrant cultural communities. The lineup includes “Mahabharata,” a large-scale retelling of a Sanskrit epic by Why Not Theater, a Canadian group, and a weeklong celebration of Brazilian culture featuring the singer-songwriter Lenine and the rock band Os Mutantes.The Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center, under the baton of its music and artistic director Jonathon Heyward, will perform a mix of new and old. Each of its programs will feature at least one living composer. But the ensemble will also perform Robert Schumann’s Fourth Symphony, Clara Schumann’s Konzertsatz in F minor, Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony and other classic works.The giant disco ball that has become a staple of the festival will once again hang over a dance floor built on Lincoln Center’s main plaza. Clint Ramos, the Broadway costume and set designer, will return to decorate the center’s outdoor spaces, this year based on the theme of birds. More

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      The Harp Needs More Modern Music. That’s Easier Said Than Done.

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      Expanding my instrument’s repertoire takes months of practicing, experimentation and personal sacrifices. But it has made me believe in possibility.I once asked a colleague who runs a concert series what came to mind when he thought of harp music. “A nothingburger,” he replied. I laughed, not because I was shocked but because I agreed.Sure, I’m a professional harpist. So is my mother. Some of my earliest exposure to music was through classics of our repertoire, and while learning the instrument, I had my steady diet of Saint-Saëns, Debussy, Fauré and Ravel. Frankly, though, all those composers wrote more interesting works for the piano, which is better suited to quick modulations and coloristic variety.The harp has its hindrances, and a lot of composers are terrified of writing solo music for it. This instrument has 47 strings, each tuned like the white notes of a piano, with the player’s feet delegated the task of engaging flats and sharps using seven pedals. It’s an ingenious design, but only up to a point. Tuning is relatively unstable. The sound is boomy, with metal bass strings that are woofy and indistinct, like organ pedals.Why bother? Well, I can’t imagine playing the harp without interrogating its potential. If there’s anything I want for my instrument, it’s for there to be a new repertoire worthy of presenting to audiences like that of the piano or the violin. I want the harp to be a site of ingenuity. I don’t want Debussy or Ravel to be the latest composers to have written canonical works for it. Composers and harpists keep trying, but more work still has to be done for the story has to continue.The harpists who have inspired me traversed new paths. Andrew Lawrence King’s freakishly colorful and delicate recordings on period harps was a game changer in understanding the boundaries of expression in early repertoire. We owe a huge amount to Ursula Holliger, who was responsible for incredible commissions from the likes of Toru Takemitsu, Elliott Carter and Harrison Birtwistle. Take some time and listen to Zeena Parkins’s “Three Harps, Tuning Forks and Electronics,” in which a panoply of extended techniques (a flurry of scratches, fluxes and beatings on the soundboard) are organized into a beautiful and cohesive essay on form.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      13 Best Coachella Looks: Lady Gaga, Jennie, Bernie Sanders & More

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      Nearly naked gowns, glow-in-the-dark bodices, metal armor and more.In the decades since the first Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival took place in Southern California in 1999, its cultural footprint has grown to encompass way more than music. This year’s event, which kicked off over the weekend, reflected that evolution: It was a days-long concert, but also a “White Lotus” reunion, a political rally and, as in years past, a fashion spectacle.Sets by Jennie and Lisa, the Blackpink members turned solo acts, and Lady Gaga had people buzzing about the singers’ outfits almost as much as their musical performances. Lisa’s set also had people talking about its crowd, after some of her “White Lotus” Season 3 co-stars like Patrick Schwarzenegger and Tayme Thapthimthong were spotted in the audience. Other celebrities who mingled with the festival-going masses included Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner, as well as Justin and Hailey Bieber.While certain famous Coachella attendees tried their best to blend in, wearing anodyne T-shirts or trucker hats, there were plenty whose outfits glaringly stood out. Most times that came across as intentional, but in certain cases it did not — for example, when Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont took the stage to introduce the singer Clairo in his typical ensemble of blazer and button-down shirt. While usual for him, the look was atypical for the festival and one that, like the others on this list, will be hard to forget.Lady Gaga: Most Presto Changeo!Kevin Mazur/Getty ImagesThere were almost as many outfits as songs in the singer’s Coachella set. While not as over-the-top as her theatrical red costume involving the massive skirt, an ensemble incorporating metal crutches and armor made by Manuel Albarrán struck a chord with many viewers who saw it as a throwback to attire she wore in the video for her song “Paparazzi.”Lisa: Most Electric!Elia BerthoudWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Musicians Who Knew Amadou Bagayoko Pay Tribute With Their Songs

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      African music lost one of its titans last week with the death of Amadou Bagayoko, a guitarist who recorded with American rock stars, performed at the Nobel concert for Barack Obama, and became a national icon in his home, Mali.With his wife, the singer Mariam Doumbia, Mr. Bagayoko composed the duo Amadou & Mariam, which rose to international fame in the 2000s and 2010s with hits like “Beautiful Sundays.”Mr. Bagayoko was 70 when he died last week, of complications from a malaria infection. He and his wife, who is 66, were scheduled to perform across Europe next month. And while their fame has faded in the United States since the peak of their global success, they remained huge celebrities in Europe and in West Africa, where their music inspired generations of artists.We asked relatives and friends of Mr. Bagayoko for their favorite songs by Amadou & Mariam, and the significance of the guitarist and his music — a blend of blues riffs, guitar solos, and djembe — to them.‘Toubala Kono’Cheick Tidiane Seck, a keyboard player who knew Mr. Bagayoko since the guitarist was 14, was in neighboring Ivory Coast for a concert last week when Mr. Bagayoko died.Mr. Seck opened the concert with “Toubala Kono,” a song he wrote with Mr. Bagayoko, whom he called a “brother.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Incarcerated: Bed Checks, Monotony and Jailhouse Lasagna

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      Sean Combs’s hair and beard, once jet black, are gray now. Hair dye is not allowed at the Metropolitan Detention Center.Breakfast is at 7 a.m. The exercise room has yoga mats and a small basketball hoop. The communal space in the dorm-style housing he’s been assigned has pingpong and television. There is phone access that has allowed him to speak to the rapper Ye and also to his children who, on his 55th birthday, serenaded him on speakerphone.“Thank y’all for being strong and thank y’all for being by my side,” Mr. Combs said in a video released by his family.The Brooklyn jail has drawn complaints over the years as a place filled with mold, vermin and neglect, which the Federal Bureau of Prisons has pledged to address. For nearly seven months, its most famous tenant has been Mr. Combs, who is awaiting trial in circumstances far removed from the life of personal chefs and enormous mansions he once enjoyed.He is facing years in prison if convicted on the racketeering and sex trafficking charges he faces when his trial begins next month. His lawyers argued strenuously after his arrest last September that Mr. Combs should be free until trial.Motion after motion, and three hearings, were devoted to arguments over whether he posed too much of a threat to the community — and of witness tampering — to be released on bail.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Soulja Boy Is Ordered to Pay $4 Million in Sexual Assault Case

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      The rapper, known for songs like “Crank That (Soulja Boy),” was found liable of assaulting a woman who said she was his assistant over two years.A jury in Los Angeles found the rapper Soulja Boy liable for sexual battery and assault, ordering him to pay $4 million to a woman who said that he became violent toward her as their once-professional relationship turned romantic, the woman’s lawyer said.The decision on Thursday, which was also reported by The Associated Press, came after a nearly monthlong trial, in which the woman said that she had started as the rapper’s assistant.She accused him of physically and sexually assaulting her over two years. Soulja Boy — known for songs like “Crank That (Soulja Boy),” “Kiss Me Thru the Phone” and “Pretty Boy Swag” — denied the claims during the trial.“Our client is pleased with and vindicated by the verdict,” Neama Rahmani, a lawyer for the woman, whose name was not revealed in the proceedings, said in a statement. “Yesterday’s verdict is just the beginning of justice for Soulja Boy’s victims and a reckoning for the entire music industry.”Reading a statement on his phone, Soulja Boy, whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way, criticized the verdict outside the Superior Court in Los Angeles County after the verdict.“I believe this entire process has been tainted by a system that is not designed to protect the rights of the accused,” Mr. Way said. “I want to make it clear that I am innocent.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Alice Tan Ridley, Subway Singer Who Dazzled on ‘America’s Got Talent,’ Dies at 72

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      The mother of the actress Gabourey Sidibe, she spent decades singing full time as a busker in the New York City subways.Alice Tan Ridley, who rose to fame after decades singing for tips in the New York City subway with an unexpected run in the television show “America’s Got Talent,” died on March 25 in New York City. Ms. Ridley, who was the mother of the Oscar-nominated actress Gabourey Sidibe, was 72.Her family announced the death in an obituary published online. It did not cite a cause.Ms. Ridley’s public life as a singer began underground in the mid-1980s, and she spent decades belting out songs in New York City subway stations. At first, the subway busking was meant to supplement income from her day job in education. Eventually, she quit to sing full time.In her early days of busking, the performances were collaborations with her brother Roger Ridley and their cousin Jimmy McMillan, the political activist who would become famous for founding the Rent Is Too Damn High Party in New York.“We are not homeless,” she told “Good Morning America” in 2010, referring to buskers. “We are not beggars. And we’re not under drug influence, you know? There are traditional jobs, and there are nontraditional jobs.”She compared busking in New York to “being in a cathedral.”“It’s wonderful,” she said. “There’s just music all over this city, and especially down underground.”For Ms. Ridley, singing underground fulfilled a calling. In 2005, she appeared in the film “Heights,” directed by Chris Terrio, as a subway singer.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More