Philip Clark

The Dude Ranch Above the Sea

Steely Dan conjured a sealed-in-amber studio perfection—a sound that could alienate listeners as easily as seduce them.

The Atonal Genie

Arnold Schoenberg’s music still challenges listeners, but his twelve-tone technique turns up in all sorts of unexpected places, from horror film scores to cartoons to jazz.

All the Stops

The harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani has spent much of his career in the crossfire between traditionalism and new directions.

Take Eight 

The saxophonist Jon De Lucia brings Dave Brubeck’s overlooked octet back to life.

The Bernstein Enigma

In narrowly focusing on Leonard Bernstein’s tortured personal life, Maestro fails to explore his tortured artistic life.

The Transgressor

RJ Smith’s biography of Chuck Berry examines his subject’s instinct for crossing the line musically, racially, and morally.