music

  • It might surprise some of you that Rock N Roll and science can be, and indeed often are good bedfellows. Below are just a few examples. Eels. Eels an American rock band, formed in California in 1995 by singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mark Oliver Everett, known by the stage name E. It is the father of…

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  • Although he was born as Alexander Zwaap, for most of his life he would be known as Lex van Delden. He was a truly remarkable man, despite hardships he never gave up. He was born  in Amsterdam on September 10, 1919, as the only child of Wolf Zwaap, a school-teacher, and his wife Sara Olivier-Zwaap,…

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  • The Train Violin.

    The following story may not seem like much for anyone who is not a musician, but a musician will understand the significance of it and can identify with the sense of loss and sacrifice. A musician’s instrument is more then a tool it becomes part of him or her, nearly a member of the family.…

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  • Music soothes the savage beast—that is what Eric Vogel must have thought when he sent a petition to the Commander of the Theresienstadt camp on 8 January 1943. It was to start a jazz band named the Ghetto Swingers. The band would include the following members: Dr Brammer (piano), Dr Kurt Bauer (percussion), Fr. Goldschmidt…

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  • Record Store day

    This is a small deviation from my usual more dramatic historical blogs, but since today is marked as Record Store day I felt compelled to do a blog celebrating this day. Record Store day is a bi-annual event inaugurated in 2008 and held on one Saturday every April and every “Black Friday” in November to…

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  • An instrument is not just a thing used to create music. Anyone who owns and plays an instrument knows that at some stage it becomes a part of you. It is no longer just a physical entity but it becomes filled with a bit of your soul. I do not know who owned this violin…

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  • Beat it- The guitar solo

    The guitar solo on Michael Jackson’s “Beat it” could have sounded completely different and perhaps it would not have become the massive hit it was if it wasn’t for Quincy Jones’s persistence. Eddie van Halen was  relaxing at home one day in the summer of 1982, where he suddenly received a call, The caller claimed…

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  • This is slight deviation from my usual heavier history blogs. Every once in a while something lighthearted is needed. The Netherlands, a small country in the Northwest of Europe. Known for great painters and footballers and for Tulips and windmills and a lot of other things. It is however not so much known for its…

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  • January 8, 1947 probably has not much of a historical significance,however it is the day which saw the birth of a truly musical genius,David Robert Jones, aka David Bowie. But in order to   become this musical icon he had to make a few odd detours. Before Space Oddity,Ziggy Strdust,Life on Mars, Let’s dance, etc, he…

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  • 2018 has been a year where we had to say goodbye to a great number of musicians. Here are just some of them and some of their music. May they all rest in peace. 7 January:France Gall   February 1: Dennis Edwards   March 12: Craig Mack   April 20: Tim Bergling  aka Avicii  …

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