Author

Sal Cataldi 159 posts 0 comments

Bio: Sal Cataldi is a musician, writer and former entertainment publicist living in the Hudson Valley and NYC. He is leader of the band Spaghetti Eastern Music (first gig was at the CBGB gallery in 2004) and member of the ensembles Guitars A Go Go, Vapor Vespers and spaceheater. He is also the host of “Reading In Funktamental” on WGXC 90.7 FM/Wave Farm, a monthly show/podcasts where he speaks to the authors of the books on music, many that he reviews here at NYSMusic.com

Book Reviews

Music’s Big Idea, the Concept Album, Chronicled in New Book by Bill Kopp

Sal Cataldi Dec 31, 2025

Music has always been a vehicle for telling stories – of love and heartbreak, of history and fantasy, and much more. Sometimes the stories can be related in a tuneful single lasting under three minutes. In other cases, beginning in…

Book Reviews

Ric Ocasek, The Cars’ Driving Force, Profiled in New Biography

Sal Cataldi Nov 24, 2025

While his work with The Cars produced some of the best-known music of the New Wave ‘80s, many facets of the life of the band’s resident genius, Ric Ocasek, remain a mystery – one as tall as the man himself. With his unexpected death in…

Upcoming Shows

John Sebastian Returns to Bethel Woods, New Documentary Premiere

Sal Cataldi Nov 15, 2025

John Sebastian, the frontman of the legendary Lovin’ Spoonful, a man who made history with his unplanned performance at Woodstock ’69, will return to the famous site for a duo set at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts on December 12 at 8…

Book Reviews

Hole & Smashing Pumpkins’ Melissa Auf der Maur Pens A Memoir

Sal Cataldi Oct 31, 2025

Melissa Auf der Maur, the bassist who powered Hole and the Smashing Pumpkins to the top of the indie charts, is slated to release a memoir of her alternatively joyful and harrowing experiences in the ‘90s rock scene. The book,…

Book Reviews

The Strange Saga of “Hey Joe” Revealed

Sal Cataldi Oct 20, 2025

From the controversy over its authorship to the many artists who crafted their own unique versions of it, the long and winding history of the song “Hey Joe” unfolds like a great murder mystery. Now its journey through generations of…

Features

Bob Dylan’s New York City Profiled in New Book

Sal Cataldi Sep 10, 2025

Ever wonder what it would be like to retrace the footsteps of Bob Dylan during his time in New York? To travel to the venues where he performed, wrote classic tunes, and crashed during his early years in the Big Apple? Now you can…

New York Singles

Jennifer Ayala Drops Soulful, Club-Ready Anthem “Until Daylight”

Sal Cataldi Aug 21, 2025

Vivacious singer-songwriter Jennifer Ayala has released an electrifying new single, “Until Daylight” — a club-ready fusion of house, dance, and electro pop. A love letter to and anthem of NYC nightlife, the track pulses with bass, emotion,…

Blues/Jazz

Tenor Sax Giant Joe Lovano and Latin Jazz Great Arturo O’Farrill to Headline Musicians for Musicians…

Sal Cataldi Aug 8, 2025

Musicians For Musicians (MFM), a nonprofit association advocating for the rights, recognition, and fair pay of freelance and independent musicians, will host a star-studded 10th Anniversary Celebration on Friday, September 5 at The Cutting…

Reviews

Fred Hersch Trio Marvels at Maverick

Sal Cataldi Jul 31, 2025

For more than three decades, Fred Hersch has resided at the apex of the jazz piano pantheon, both for his work as a composer, improviser, and much-in-demand collaborator, and as an artist best known for his performances as a soloist and…

Features

The Band’s Talented and Troubled Richard Manuel Profiled in New Biography

Sal Cataldi Jun 6, 2025

No group may have shifted the direction of rock music more radically than The Band did at the close of the ‘60s. With their 1968 debut, Music from Big Pink, the Canadian-American quintet single-handedly put an end to the abstraction…

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