Archive

Barcelona, Spain Barcelona, it was the first time that we met. Barcelona, how can I forget? It’s the mix of the classic with the modern that gives Barcelona its flavour. The same way the operatic melodies of Montserrat Caballe combine with the stylised pop of Freddie Mercury’s voice in their song ‘Barcelona’. I don’t know ...

Maestro Luigi Tagliavini “I was born on October 7th, 1929,” Luigi Tagliavini tells me. It’s the start of one of his stories. “My pregnant mother had waited and waited and I didn’t arrive. Finally, on October 6th in a theatre in Bologna, Rossini’s opera Cinderella was played and my grandmother said to my mother ‘the ...

South American party song: Michel Telo As you travel around South America, you’ll hear music everywhere. Radios will be playing in shops, bars will have their carefully-chosen playlists and even on buses kids will be playing songs on the speakers of their phones. There’s been one song that has been a constant during the past ...

Gram’s Place at Tampa, Florida tribute |ˈtribyoōt| (noun) An act, statement, or gift that is intended to show gratitude, respect, or admiration It was exactly two decades ago that a young man built a tribute in Florida to a musician he revered. It was no statue, though – no lifeless representation of what had once ...

Crime in New Orleans Just a block or two from where I was out drinking one night, two people were shot dead and several more injured in altercations that escalated quickly. The next day the local newspaper had a big article about the murders, filled with the usual fist-shaking condemnations of police and politicians. Next ...

Graceland Too We had a forewarning about the man and the house we were about to visit. It was to the extent that my travelling companions and I agreed on a code word we would use when it was time to escape. It was a bit of a joke on the way to the house. ...

Visiting Graceland in Memphis Every day flowers and tributes arrive at Graceland, in the small city of Memphis. Sent from fans all over the world, they are placed around the gravesite of the man known by many simply as ‘The King’ and remain there until they wilt or are too weather-damaged to be on display. ...

All about Austin Texas Austin is a city that likes to remind everyone that it’s a little bit different from the rest of Texas. At the same time, the rest of state treats the city like the artistic nephew that it’s openly proud to have but secretly wishes would just keep to itself. For years, ...