Cleveland Confidential Book Tour features three author-musicians who hail from Cleveland but whose influence is without boundaries. Cheetah Chrome (Rocket From The Tombs, Dead Boys), Mike Hudson (The Pagans) and Bob Pfeifer (Human Switchboard, Tabby Chinos)will read excerpts from their books, answer questions and discuss their careers. A book signing will follow and books will be on sale. Cheetah Chrome is best known as guitarist/founding member of both Rocket From The Tombs and Dead Boys. As a songwriter his work has been covered by artists such as Guns n Roses, Pearl Jam and the Beastie Boys. He still performs and records with Rocket From The Tombs, as well as Batusis (with Sylvain Sylvain). His new book "Cheetah Chrome - A Dead Boy's Tale From The Front Lines Of Punk Rock" is the no-holds-barred autobiography - a tale of success and excess--amazing music, legendary antics, epic drug use, and eventual resurrection--that only a true rock and roller could deliver.Mike Hudson founded the American punk rock group the Pagans in 1977. His work has appeared in Hustler, the Associated Press, Master Detective, Field & Stream and many other publications. He is currently the founding editor and CEO of the Niagara Falls Reporter, a New York tabloid specializing in politics and organized crime. "Diary of A Punk," his autobiography, is a classic rock and roll memoir that dishes the inside dope on the groundbreaking American punk rock movement and many of its top stars.Bob Pfeifer was a founding member and primary songwriter for the critically acclaimed band, Human Switchboard. He went on to be Senior Vice President A&R / Epic Records and President of Hollywood Records (The Walt Disney Company). He is responsible for the sale of 50 Million albums having worked with Alice Cooper, Joe Satriani, Ornette Coleman, The Screaming Trees, Elton John, among many others, and soundtracks like the Crow: City of Angels and Lion King. Bob's novel, "University of Strangers," has as its center a sensational case - that of American student Amanda Knox and the brutal murder of her roommate. A unique blend of fact and fiction, it is a spellbinding account of the violence, corruption and celebrity worship that characterize much of 21st century life.

Along with the Stooges, the Velvet Underground, and the New York Dolls, the MC5 are recognized as one of the bands that paved the way for punk rock. While the group did not reach the heights of national celebrity or financial success during their seven years together, their musical legacy has never been more celebrated -- with recently reissued recordings and documentary footage, as well as an unlikely reunion tour. In 'MC5: Sonically Speaking,' Detroit-based author Brett Callwood delves into the MC5's story from the band's beginnings in 1960s Detroit to its 1972 break-up, the post-MC5 fates of its members, and the eventual reunion that cemented its legacy. This event includes a book signing and books will be for sale at the event.

Conducting an orchestra is a skill that has existed and has been refined through many centuries and in many cultures. Internationally-renowned conductor Gustav Meier takes us through time to explore the history of his art, and explains what it means to conduct an orchestra today. Gustav Meier is known internationally as a teacher of conductors. He has led orchestras around the globe while teaching at Yale University, the Eastman School of Music, the University of Michigan and the Tanglewood Music Center. He is currently Director of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra and is on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory. Gustav will sign copies of his new book, 'The Score, The Orchestra, And The Conductor.' Copies of the book will be on sale at the event.

Michael Erlewine, the award-winning archivist of popular culture, who founded and built the largest music review database in the world, All-Music Guide, has written a fascinating new book that chronicles the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival.The first Ann Arbor Blues Festivals, in 1969 and 1970, brought together the greatest-ever selection of blues performers and helped bring modern blues music to a wider audience. Never before had such a far-reaching list of performers been assembled. These groundbreaking festivals were the seed that grew into the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival, which was continued annually for many years.

Who is Wynton Marsalis? Jazz expert Linda Yohn will engage participants in an exploration of modern-day legend (and frequent UMS performer) Wynton Marsalis, whose notions of what jazz is and should be resonate alongside his incredible artistry as a musician, bandleader, and composer. This is the third in a series of 'Who Is' events to be held at the Library, examining great musicians, co-sponsored by the University Musical Society. It is presented in conjunction with March 17 UMS performance of the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra With Wynton Marsalis at Hill Auditorium.

Senegalese master musician Baaba Maal has been making music for the world to enjoy for nearly two decades. Aside from being a remarkable musician, he is socially conscious and committed to the concerns of families, young people, and the future of Africa. Recent UM graduate Vera Flaig will lead a discussion of where Maal fits in the pantheon of African musicians that have bridged the gap between musical genres and social causes. This event, cosponsored by the University Musical Society, is presented in conjunction with Baaba Maal's April 10 performance at the Michigan Theater.

Jewish music is exploding. Bands and labels and venues are multiplying. Rock. Hip Hop. Reggae. Punk. Klezmer. Sephardic. Choral. Jazz. Chassidic-Pop. Bible-gum. Beat Box. House. Socialist Yiddish Gothic. Indie. A revolution is happening but we're scattered across a big nation with no common media to connect us....except the net. Will it be enough? Jack Zaientz, an Ann Arbor area research scientist who blogs about contemporary Jewish Music, will introduce you to some of the most amazing new Jewish music that you've never heard.This Extended Play version of Jack's recent 5 minute Ignite Ann Arbor talk will be loaded with more music, a road-map of the contemporary Jewish Music scene, a case study in social-networking Jewish Music, and the greatest Jewish song you've never heard.

Join Ann Arbor District Library staff and University Musical Society President Ken Fischer as AADL launches two new online collections celebrating UMS's concert history. You will see how to browse and search thousands of pages of historical concert programs from the first 100 seasons of the University Musical Society. They will also unveil a growing collection of images that include both performance and rare backstage photographs of celebrated UMS artists over the past century. Refreshments will be served at this kick-off event, which will include a demo of these new online resources (soon available at aadl.org) as well as a talk by UMS President Ken Fisher on the history of UMS and the future of its archives.

Songwriter Dick Siegel will lead a discussion on the pleasures and perils of finding just the right words to go with just the right music. With guitar in hand, he will share his own works and offer a few choice stories of how they came to be. Dick Siegel has brought joyous, eccentric and penetrating musical vision to audiences across North America for more than two decades.

This concert will feature Poe's best-known poetry and prose including The Raven, The Tell-tale Heart, and The Bells, in a dramatic musical setting. The father of American horror-fiction, Poe's works have given chills to generations since 1827. bLuE dahlia (bluedahlia.com) is a modern music quintet that specializes in blending the exotic and familiar. Textural guitars and soaring vocal harmonies with ethnic, orchestral percussion and delicate woodwind accents create a dense understory that drenches Poe's gothic flights of fancy with profound emotion.