Pan Alley

Born in New York City, I spent most of my adolescent years in a suburb of Detroit. When the Beatles hit the scene in the early 60s, my chums and I took turns emulating the Fab Four with the help of vinyl recordings and broom stick instruments. This was truly an exciting time. It wasn't long before I saved up and bought myself a solid-body electric guitar adn a cheap amp, teamed up with some chums and started my first rock band…

It has been said that Antonio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim was the George Gershwin of Brazil, and there is a solid ring of truth in that, for both contributed large bodies of songs to the jazz repertoire, both expanded their reach into the concert hall, and both tend to symbolize their countries in the eyes of the rest of the world. With their gracefully urbane, sensuously aching melodies and harmonies, Jobim's songs gave jazz musicians in the 1960s a quiet, strikingly original alternative to their traditional Tin Pan Alley source.

Simon Schama explores the history of the Jewish experience from ancient times to the present day.

You're presently reading about what may be the best album of 2007, hands down, by the most under-accorded American musical genius. Real murmurs, believable ones, came with Josh Ritter's 2006 album, Animal Year, suggesting that the Idahoan is today's Bruce Springsteen, today's Bob Dylan. He's never sounded more the part than on Historical Conquests, the follow-up to Animal. Ritter's tripping over his syllables and allusions on the opener, "To the Dogs or Whoever", dropping biblical and historical images like a fresh-faced Dylan. Except here, Ritter throws in an organ-fueled, ride-cymbal-crashing, drum-hefty clatter. It's majestic, and it's only the first three minutes. Recorded between stints on a never-ending tour, Historical reflects Ritter on the road, quick witted, a master of phraseology and of imagery. Horns show up as color, giving Ritter a soulful vibe on "Right Moves", a raucous funkiness on "Rumors," and a doleful cloudiness on "The Temptation of Adam".

Give my regards to Broadway… . Is it possible to read those lyrics, let alone hear them, without mentally filling in: Remember me to Herald Square? Have you begun to hum or sing it to yourself, with the words and notes carrying you back in time to the Broadway of George M. Cohan and the heyday of Tin Pan Alley?