Gary Lucas still tingles at the memory. It was the spring of 1991, and at St Ann’s Church in New York, the former Captain Beefheart guitarist was packing up his gear when a stranger approached. “He ...

Alexander Hamilton, who died Jan. 28 at age 77, was a conductor and arranger who was able to add “movie star” to his credits in the last years of his life. His work on Aretha Franklin‘s 1972 “Amazing ...

Fifty years ago this week, Aretha Franklin went into a Missionary Baptist church in Los Angeles and recorded a transcendent two-LP album that became a landmark of American music. “Amazing Grace” went ...

Amazing Grace. By James Walvin. University of California Press; 216 pages; $19.95 and £16.99 A short but fascinating book by James Walvin, a professor at the University of York and an expert on ...

Born on August 4, 1725, Newton grew up without any specific religious convictions. Forced into the naval service at age 18, he attempted to desert his ship. After being severely beaten on board, at ...

Until the discovery of the film of “Amazing Grace,” the genius of the work of Alexander Hamilton was not as well known as it is now. For those familiar, Hamilton’s co-starring role conducting the ...