Brand from Home | February 24, 2022

Music Animated

On Saturday March 19 at 10:30am Music Animated is back! USC Kazan Taiko will perform an estimated 45-minute concert. The performance will be outside on the Brand Library Plaza. Seating is first come, first served. We encourage you to arrive early. Admission is free.

Music Playlists

Listen to a streaming playlist from Freegal Music, Naxos Music Library,Naxos Jazz Music Library, Hoopla or Music Online from Alexander Street free with your library card. Alexander Street will ask for an academic institution, use Glendale Public Library.

Here are some new CDs we have received in February.

Here are some new music books

Here are some new music books for kids.

Explore Storytelling Art Online

Pass the Ball by Nathan Boey is a collaborative stop motion animated film in which 40 different artists from around the world provide their own interpretation of a red ball for three seconds. The result is a beautiful representation of each artist’s individual style within the whole of the theme. Boey stated that he was inspired by music when he got the idea for the video. "I always liked how rappers were able to collaborate with other rappers by featuring them on their songs. That doesn’t exist the same way in the film world."

Who first wrote down the fairy tales we hear as children? When you make up your own fairy tale, who lives in the imaginary place you create, and how do they cope with the scary things they might face? What magic lives there? And what warnings or lessons might you cook up for your own fairy tale?

In this video from The British Library, with animated illustrations by Allen Fatimaharan, author Michael Rosen discusses the ingredients of a fairy tale.

Try it out yourself with an online class and contest!

From the Art Institute of Chicago check out episodes of the Art Institute Essentials Tour, start with a closer look at Safety Patrol, created by Bisa Butler. The artist creates intricate and vibrant quilts that capture personal and historical narratives of black life. This work was based on a photograph by Charles "Teenie" Harris, Butler considers the potential of seven children as future caretakers of the world. Learn more about this work!

Explore our collections to learn more in celebration of Black History Month!

Can't find it at the library? Try out Link+ our network of 70 public and academic libraries from across California and Nevada. Just click on the link from the catalog or watch a tutorial to learn more.

Brand Library Staff Reviews

Danny Gregory was an advertising executive living comfortably in New York City in the 1990s with his young family when his wife Patti was in a tragic accident that changed their ideas about the happiness that life provides. Gregory had kept journals and been artistically inclined before the accident, but two years after it he needed a creative outlet for their story and struggles, and he taught himself to draw. Everyday Matters: A Memoir is a combination of journaling and sketching, a perfect sketchbook memoir that begins with the difficult first days of his wife’s recovery and allows us to see talent and healing in process. Gregory started by sketching the world around him (admittedly not very well) until he slowed himself down and found the beauty in the exceedingly mundane: trash cans, shelves, knick-knacks, light poles, and street signs we often don’t give more than a passing glance. His drawings are often wobbly and askew; in these pages, there are days when he’s more inspired, when a single study is exuberant and fills the page, and days when he’s less inspired and there’s disjointedness. As it turned out, these preliminary studies were only the beginning—Gregory would ultimately become a popular blogger, artist, teacher and author of another memoir and several books on creativity. Everyday Matters will make you want to pull out your sketchbooks and start to sketch the world as you see it! You can find more of his work through Link+ -SB

1989's Comic Book Confidential is a perfect time capsule about the state of comic books and comix in the late eighties, starring some of the greatest artists and cartoonists narrating a small slice of their work. As a lifelong fan of paneled narratives, this is the holy grail. From Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and Will Eisner to new artists (at the time) like Lynda Barry, Jaime Hernandez and Frank Miller. Through this playful documentary by Ron Mann (director of another playful documentary TALES OF THE RATFINK), you really understand the evolution of the narrative form through the cultural shakes of the decades. This is a gem for comix fans, and if you need a crash course in the comic book history, look no further than this documentary. -GG

Florence Price – Symphonies 1 & 3: Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Florence Price (1887-1953) was an excellent composer and her music receives a lot of well-deserved attention. Price was an African-American composer, pianist, organist and music teacher who was born in Arkansas but spent much of her life in Chicago. The two symphonies are colorful and accessible with excellent orchestration. Symphony No.1 (1931-32) has a variety of African-American musical influences, particularly spirituals and dance music, but is firmly rooted in European tradition. The work reminds me of Dvorak’s New World Symphony which also makes use of American themes. The symphony was the first large scale orchestral piece by a black female composer to be performed by a major American orchestra. It was premiered by the Chicago Symphony under Frederick Stock in 1932. Symphony No. 3 (1938) doesn’t make use of any recognizable African-American themes but Price’s style is distinctive. Price used a Juba, an African-American dance, as the third movement of both symphonies instead of a Minuet or Scherzo that was traditionally used. Otherwise both symphonies are in traditional four-movement symphonic form with a substantial sonata form first movement, slow second movement and fourth movement finale. Exciting performances and an excellent recording, certainly a good place to start if you are unfamiliar with Price’s music. Unfortunately, Naxos Music Library doesn’t include the booklet but the CD is currently on order if you would like to place a hold. -BW

Covid-19 Resources

Reliable information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) is available from the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the California Department of Public Health, Los Angeles County Public Health Department, City of Glendale and the Library, Arts & Culture department.