Jupiter, FL
Place: Auditorium, Lifelong Learning Complex, Jupiter Campus
Email: [email protected] Phone: 561-799-8547
Friedberg Auditorium
Osher/FAU Lifelong Learning
777 Glades Rd
Boca Raton, FL
561-297-3185 [email protected]
Music Americana:
A Lifetime Of Song
Instructor Rod MacDonald
Recipient of the LLS 2012 Distinguished Faculty Award
From sheer talent, breaking new ground, or outselling their rivals, a few artists are foremost practitioners of their art. Their work is legendary, their styles imitated, but never surpassed, their triumphs and losses brilliantly conveyed in their music. From the deep baritone of Paul Robeson to the crystalline harmonies of Crosby, Stills & Nash; from the Gulag-defying symphonies of Shostakovich to the rock operas of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody; from the intense lyricism of Bob Dylan to the lyric soul of Nina Simone, great artists rise above their peers and critics to tell our story.
This course will examine the work, biographies and enduring importance of these musical artists and attempt to sort myth from reality, using updated videos and excerpts from feature films, live performances and a few surprises.
1. More Than a Song - Paul Robeson, Dimitri Shostakovich
2. Historic Voices - Marian Anderson, Maria Callas
3. The Words Of Poets - Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan
4. The Great Story - “A Star Is Born,” “Bohemian Rhapsody”
5. The Great Story - Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder
6. The Sweetest Sound - Crosby, Stills & Nash, Rod Stewart
7. The New Broadway Musical - Bob Fosse/Gwen Verdon, Hadestown
8. No Time For Crying - Nina Simone, Mavis Staples
When the Beatles broke up in 1970, they were the top-selling band in history, and still are. The four members, not yet 30, then went on to successful solo careers, each topping the charts on his own. While George Harrison expressed his spiritual yearnings in “Isn’t It a Pity” and John Lennon tried to “Imagine” a different world, Paul McCartney became the biggest-selling songwriter of all time with such pop classics as “Live And Let Die,” and Ringo Starr led his All-Starr Band on “It Don’t Come Easy” tours.
Join Rod MacDonald & The Humdingers for a fun and low-decibel tour through the lives, music and genius of these unique artists, as told in their songs.
Rod MacDonald, guitar, has 12 CDs of his songs, including 2018’s Beginning Again, as heard on WLRN’s Folk and Acoustic Music. He performs frequently in South Florida and throughout North America and Europe, and is a lifelong devotee of popular song. He has been an instructor with LLS since 2006.
Bill Meredith, drums, is the backbone of several Palm Beach County rock and roll bands, including Big Brass Bed and Illumination. He has toured throughout the US and Canada, and appears on more than a dozen CDs.
Brad Keller, keyboards, has performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival and with Maynard Ferguson and the Ink Spots, is the jazz piano instructor at Palm Beach State College and has taught music in Palm Beach County public schools for twenty years. He is also the co-author of the “Jazz Cats” books used internationally to introduce young students to jazz.
Doug Lindsey, bass and vocals, has been playing in south Florida bands for 30 years.
John Smotherman, lead guitar, plays with Big Brass Bed, Illumination and several Palm Beach County bands. His exquisite solos caused the Palm Beach Post to label him one of the “Ten Magnificent Musicians of Palm Beach County.”
Breaking in as a Nashville songwriter with hits like “Nightlife” and “Crazy” (the most played song in the history of American jukeboxes), Willie Nelson rose to popularity by transcending country music with his jazz-inflected guitar and such classic songs as “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain,” “On The Road Again,” “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before” and “Mama Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys.” A sophisticated musician and gentle singer, his multi-platinum album of jazz standards, “Blue Skies,” is among the top collections of the Great American Songbook.
Join Rod MacDonald & The Humdingers for a fun and low-decibel tour through the life, music and genius of this legend of American music, as told in his songs.
Rod MacDonald, guitar, has 12 CDs of his songs, including 2018’s Beginning Again, as heard on WLRN’s Folk and Acoustic Music. He performs frequently in South Florida and throughout North America and Europe, and is a lifelong devotee of popular song. He has been an instructor with LLS since 2006.
Bill Meredith, drums, is the backbone of several Palm Beach County rock and roll bands, including Big Brass Bed and Illumination. He has toured throughout the US and Canada, and appears on more than a dozen CDs.
Brad Keller, keyboards, has performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival and with Maynard Ferguson and the Ink Spots, is the jazz piano instructor at Palm Beach State College and has taught music in Palm Beach County public schools for twenty years. He is also the co-author of the “Jazz Cats” books used internationally to introduce young students to jazz.
Doug Lindsey, bass and vocals, has been playing in south Florida bands for 30 years.
John Smotherman, lead guitar, plays with Big Brass Bed, Illumination and several Palm Beach County bands. His exquisite solos caused the Palm Beach Post to label him one of the “Ten Magnificent Musicians of Palm Beach County.”