Music Americana: Legends of American Music is a weekly series of eight lectures at Florida Atlantic University's Lifelong Learning Program. Rod MacDonald is the instructor. Below is a course description. The series begins Tuesday January 12 at 3:45 pm at FAU's Abacoa (Jupiter) campus, and Thursday January 14 at 3:45 pm at FAU's Boca campus. For Port Ste Lucie click here.

Locations and registration information are below, after the course descriptions.

For further information, please see FAU's Lifelong Learning website for Jupiter or Boca Raton. Please do not contact Rod for registration information.

Course Description

Great musical artists acquire their legendary status through talent, style, timing, personality and especially through the songs that remain after they’ve left town. The historic combination of the right voice or instrument with the song or tune creates the soundtracks of our lives, the accompaniment for times we remember. From the vocalese of Ella Fitzgerald to the teen drama of Carole King, from Streisand’s poignant romances to the word from Motown streets, the story told by these brilliant artists is the evolution of our popular music, the mirror of who we are.

This course will examine the work, biographies and enduring importance of legendary musical artists of our time, and attempt to sort myth from reality through cds, videos, and excerpts from feature films, live performances and a few surprises.

1. Making Jazz From Blues: Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Ella Fitzgerald

2. The Hot Stuff: Benny Goodman, Charlie “Bird” Parker, Louis Prima

3. The Old Heartland: Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams, Dolly Parton

4. Teenagers In Love: The Ronettes, Sonny & Cher, Carole King

5. Dueling Divas: Barbara Streisand, Bette Midler, Whitney Houston

6. The Great American Hero: Pete Seeger, Jimmy Buffett, Bob Marley

7. The Rise Of Pop Classical Music: Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, The Tenors

8. Woodstock Redux: The Who, Creedence Clearwater, Richie Havens

Rod MacDonald is a professional singer/songwriter of more than thirty years’ experience in Greenwich Village, NY and since 1995 in Florida. He has 21 songs in the Smithsonian Folkways collection and 9 solo cds, including “After The War” released in 2009, and “A Few Dylan Songs” with Big Brass Bed. He performs in festivals, clubs and concert venues locally and throughout North America and Europe, and was named “Best Local Acoustic Performer” by New Times, and one of “Ten magnificent musicians of Palm Beach County” by the Palm Beach Post. He is an instructor with Lifelong Learning since 2006.

   

      
         
Location

      		
      
         
Course ##, Date, Time

      		
   

   

      
         
Jupiter Campus
Florida Atlantic University/Lifelong Learning Society
5353 Parkside Drive, PA-134, Jupiter, FL 33458
Phone: 561-799-8547 Fax: 561-799-8563 or 561-799-8815

      		
      Course # W8T7  –  Eight Week Course

Time:    3:45 - 5:30 pm

Dates:    Tuesdays, January 12, 19, 26;  February 9, 16, 23;  March 2, 9    NO CLASS FEBRUARY 2

Place:    Lifelong Learning Complex, Jupiter Campus

Fee:   $68 / member;  $88 / non-member

         


      		
   

   
   

      
         
Boca Raton Campus
777 Glades Road, CEH 31D
Boca Raton, FL 33431-0991
Phone 561-297-3171, Fax (561-297-3481 OR 561-297-1028)

      		
      
COURSE
            NO. W404

    		
  

  
 
     
      

    		
    
Time:
     
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3:45–5:30
        p.m.

    Thursdays, January 14, 21, 28; February 4, 11, 18, 25; March 4

    Barry and Florence Friedberg Auditorium, Boca Raton Campus

    $55 per member/$75 per non-member

   

   


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