MUSEYON BOOKS Smart City Guides for Travel, History, Art and Film Lovers

  Looks like we missed a big one last month when we forgot to wish a happy 100th birthday to the man who made “hot jazz” an international hit, Roma guitarist Django Reinhardt. Sure, the guy may have passed on to that great caravan in the sky some 57 years ago, but his importance and influence have not dimmed in ... Read More »

  Daylight gang hits in narrow streets. Aggressive pimps in low-ceilinged bars. Orbiting nogoodniks angling to slip sailors and greenhorns the mickey. If it sounds like the Big Apple of old, the Manhattan of the Bowery Boys and “Gangs of New York”, you’re right and you’re wrong. According to an article in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times, the economic slowdown, which ... Read More »

  Even though the area has only recently been populated in the scheme of human history, the sprawling mansions of Southern California have whipped up quite a tradition of hauntings in a relatively short amount of time. There’s the famous Winchester Mystery house (filled with trap doors, false stairways, and Native American spirits) in San Jose, the home of ’50s ... Read More »

Ah, Sundance — that wonderful time of year when indie movie producers scuttle around in parkas trying to sell their latest products and third of Los Angeles descends on the comparatively innocent town of Park City, Utah, for 10 days of screenings, swag, and snow. Festivities kicked off last night, but for those there and those soon to arrive, there ... Read More »

The Los Angeles Philharmonic is celebrating Cali culture with ‘West Coast, Left Coast’ a California-centric festival. The festival kicks off with Eureka! a concert that mashes up a diverse slate of four artists from the Golden State–San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet, minimalist musician Terry Riley, electronic-experimental artists Matmos and avant rocker (and guitarist of the band Incubus) Mike Einziger. They’ll share ... Read More »

For contemporary movie-goers it might be tough to imagine a time before movies went on-location. But it wasn’t until the 1976 film ‘Rocky‘ hit the streets of Philadelphia that moviemakers really started to step out of the studio. To find out more about this explosive time in movie-making history, we chatted with Ron Hogan, curator of lit blog Beatrice, and ... Read More »

In Music+Travel Worldwide our expert guides take a musical tour around the globe. Check out our sound sampler before you buy the book…   Jazz Land: Chicago by Peter Margasak Jazz Hometown Hero: Ken Vandermark and the Ken Vandermark 5     Click to hear 11 more… Read More »

In Music+Travel Worldwide, Jessica Hundley is your guide to all things Calicountry. It’s the sound of the American West, of adventure and cowboys and the wide open spaces, a sound filled with the heartache of the great wide open. California’s brand of country music got its start with Roy Rogers, and by the 1960s L.A. acts like Gram Parsons had ... Read More »