Classical piano version of Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean Is Not My Girl ??…!!! Amazing - beyond creative. These guys, Anderson and Roe, are pushing the boundaries of classical music.

“Classically trained musicians Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Joy Roe met when they were students about 10 years ago at the Juilliard School in New York. They both just turned 30 this year, and they both grew up loving a huge range of music. They think Michael Jackson is a great musical genius; they think Mozart is a great musical genius. In fact, they’re side by side on this album. One of the things I love is their inventive arrangements, the way they choose to arrange the notes on the piano. They make it very much their own.”

http://www.npr.org/2011/12/12/143588379/from-michael-jackson-to-mozart-new-classical-albums

Iranian rock and roll

Rock from Iran has its beginnings in the 1970s with musicians such as Kourosh Yaghmaei. With the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini banned rock music, inspiring The Clash to write Rock the Casbah.

Today, Iran’s rock scene is largely produced in Europe and Tehran’s underground circles, and is rising to challenge “Tehrangeles pop”, which has dominated the popular music genre of Iran for decades.

Here’s Buddahead, an Iranian indie band that I like

Pianist / band leader Bennie Moten and his Kansas City Orchestra were a huge influence on jazz in the 1920s and 30s. Much of the ensemble, which included Count Basie, went on to form the Count Basie Orchestra. His most popular songs were very danceable. Moten never really got his due, maybe because he died fairly young (tonsillectomy gone awry), just before this type of music really blew up all over the country with Basie leading the way.

Mariachi el Bronx just got on my radar. These guys were punk, to the core. Then one day they discovered that punk works with Mariachi. I love their music. I hear that they’re touring with Foo Fighters. Would love to catch the show.