Cal Performances couldn’t have engineered a better season kickoff than a joyous collaboration between Beninese superstar singer Angélique Kidjo and cello maestro Yo-Yo Ma. "Sarabande Africaine" explores a whole new set of shapes. On “Lonlon,” Kidjo delivered her original lyrics for Maurice Ravel’s Bolero with the requisite dynamic calibration. She was at her Parisian best on “La Foule,” which set the chanson standard indelibly linked to Piaf to a galloping vals Peruano groove. And her Yoruban lyric for a theme from Bach’s Keyboard Concerto No. 5, recited by Ma in English beforehand, transformed the melody into a supplication for the safety of girls in conflict zones.

An eternal “it girl” — charismatic, original and ahead of every curve right up until she died this year aged 78 — British singer-songwriter-actor Marianne Faithfull receives a fulsome, loving tribute with sui generis cinematic whatsit Broken English.

U2 might have the reputation of putting too much religious iconography beside many of their hits, but it makes complete sense why Bono refers to many of their songs as such when listening to a track like this. Nothing about it is meant to be religious in any way, but in terms of human connection and how we all relate to each other in this thing called life, this is practically a hymn for anyone wanting to see the world turn into a better place.

Sari Schorr has embarked on The Unbreakable Tour 2025, marking a year of exciting firsts and highly anticipated returns.
The tour will see Schorr headlining her very first show in Ireland at the renowned Harvest Time Blues Festival, making her debut in Denmark at the prestigious Blues Heaven Festival, and performing for the first time in Croatia at Boogalooin Zagreb. Beyond these debuts, The Unbreakable Tour 2025 will take her extensively across Germany, with long-awaited returns to Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic, along with special stops in Budapest and Bratislava.With each performance, Schorr continues to build an international reputation for her powerful voice and commanding stage presence, promising audiences unforgettable moments on every stage she graces.

Carly Simon is regarded as one of the most celebrated female voices in pop music history, both for her pioneering work as a songwriter and for her slew of hit singles. While Simon hasn’t released a new album in more than 15 years, she remains a legend and is highly regarded, especially among fellow singer-songwriters. Thanks to an exciting recent re-release of one of her most popular tunes, Simon is back on the charts in the United Kingdom — not with something brand new, but rather with a decades-old cut that has found a second life.

Between the 1960s and ’70s, Kris Kristofferson and Roy Orbison moved within the same musical circles, crossed paths, and always had a mutual respect for one another. “Roy Orbison was one of the genuinely nicest persons I’ve ever known,” said Kristofferson.

By the mid-1970s, as Kristofferson’s career was thriving as a songwriter and actor, he wrote one song specifically for Orbison, a fellow—and newly returned—Monument Records artist, in 1976.

There’s something entirely contradictory about labelling Steely Dan’s music as ‘Yacht Rock’. The label embodies something carefree, devoid of the stresses and anxiety of dry land life that can only be soundtracked by jazz-infused melodies. There’s an ease to the entire genre that was non-existent in the career of Steely Dan.

U2 has always had something to say and has also always acted upon their wishes and desires for the world. It is no hidden secret that Bono and the rest of the band are deeply involved in philanthropic humanitarian efforts. Though before they became political, primarily through their actions, they did it mainly with their words.

The world still hasn’t recovered from the tragic loss of one of country and folk’s finest songwriters and musicians, Kris Kristofferson. He lived a full and incredible life, and his music will live on forever in our ears and hearts. Kris Kristofferson performed his final concert at Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday party at the Hollywood Bowl in April of 2023. And the whole thing was quite a star-studded affair.

Un retour tant attendu. Un peu plus de trois ans après avoir annoncé à ses fans être diagnostiqué d’un cancer du poumon, Florent Pagny prépare la sortie du 21e disque de sa carrière. Intitulé Grandeur nature et composé uniquement de chansons inédites, il sera dévoilé le 12 septembre prochain, précise le chanteur français.

On Oct. 23, 1984, Bob Geldof, the lead singer of the Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, sat down at home in London to watch the evening news. It changed his life — and saved the lives of millions more. The BBC ran a report on what it called a “biblical famine” in Ethiopia caused by drought and exacerbated by civil war. Geldof was incensed and horrified. How could this be happening in the 20th century? And what could he, an angry pop star, do about it?

The final episode of The Long Way Home is now streaming on Apple TV+. Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman spent the entire summer traveling across Europe on their bikes and they visited about 17 countries, from Scotland to Sweden, Austria, Finland and France. We often say that going on a trip with a friend can become a great friendship -and personality- test, especially when the trip in question might include perilous situations and weather hazards. McGregor and Boorman have been best friends since the 1990s, so I asked them if they had learned something new about each other and about themselves during this fourth trip together.