From Dave Matthews and Neil Young to Jay-Z and U2, from Bruce Springsteen and Coldplay to Wyclef Jean, musicians of all stripes and styles played music of hope on a multi-network telethon to raise money to help all those suffering in Haiti in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake.

Once again, I’m struck by the sheer potency of music, galvanizing the global community to offer financial support to a nation of people that desperately need it. While many of the big-name stars gave moving performances, the real example of the transcendent power of music came during a report from Haiti. Amid the rubble, groups of Haitians continue gathering to summon positive vibes and spread hope through the sounds of salvaged instruments, strained-yet-optimistic voices and hands clapping in unison.

Whether you watched or not, whether you donated already or not, simply buying some good music right now will have an impact. iTunes is now offering an album of the live performances from Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief for $7.99 (a video of the complete broadcast will be available for $2.99), and proceeds will support several vital organizations involved in the relief efforts: Partners In Health, American Red Cross, UNICEF, Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, Yéle Haiti, and Oxfam.

Check out some of the performances from the benefit concert after the jump. Read more…

Non-Profit, Quarterly Arts Journal Launches in Savannah

One of the great things about Savannah—this big small town (or, depending on your perspective, small big city) on the Georgia coast that I’ve called home for 20 months—is its robust, ever-expanding arts scene, generating a palpable creative energy suitable for invoking the muse.

Despite this burgeoning arts community, and even with a fairly respectable assortment of local print publications, Savannah lacked an “offline” magazine dedicated solely and specifically to this community, its creative creatures and their admirers. I, for one, thought it obvious that such an arts journal could not only survive but thrive here. Luckily, I wasn’t alone. Read more…

In an effort to showcase the work of more artists, The Madness of Art is pleased to announce the start of a new feature: Exhibit A.

Each post in this ongoing series will feature a single piece from a visual artist, along with a bit of information about the artist, including where to view and buy his or her work. Obviously, the criteria I will use to make selections are subjective: An artist whose work I have discovered—perhaps locally here in Savannah, throughout my travels or somewhere on the Web—and find appealing and compelling, in such a way that speaks to me, qualifies. I certainly welcome suggestions of artists you think warrant inclusion in Exhibit A (send a message, with “Exhibit A” in the subject line, that includes the artist’s name and Web site).

During these tough economic times, artists and galleries need more support than ever. The intention of this feature is to shine a light on some interesting (and, most likely, unheralded) artists who might benefit from the attention.

To access Exhibit A, click on the button located between “Connect” and “Listen Up!” in the far right sidebar.

“You must take an obsessive pride in the smallest details of your craft. And you must be willing to defend what you’ve written against the various middlemen—editors, agents and publishers—whose sights may be different from yours, whose standards not as high.”—William Zinsser

If you’ve ever been required to sit through a excruciatingly boring lecture by a self-important professor, it’s easy to understand why the mere mention of the word itself—lecture—might trigger a negative reaction, or even sheer terror. If you’ve ever been required to attend a mind-numbing, time-wasting conference by your employer, it’s easy to understand why the suggestion of attending such an event could cause unease, at the very least.

So when I stumbled upon TEDTalks a while ago, I was surprised by what I discovered: lectures that were intriguing, insightful and inspiring. Could this really be possible? These few clips must have been anomalies, I thought, rare standouts plucked from hundreds or more of the aforementioned variety. But over time, as I watched new and newly discovered selections, TEDTalks—videos of lectures given at annual conferences put on by TED (which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design)—rarely failed to deliver, even when the subject matter seemed a bit outside my typical interest zone.

TED, a nonprofit, has a simple but noble mission: “Spreading ideas.” And it does so through a well-designed, fun-to-explore site (along with a YouTube presence). The themes of the engaging and thought-provoking talks are wide-ranging, from arts, culture and entertainment to technology, science and a host of global issues. The styles, backgrounds and expertise of the speakers are equally diverse. TEDTalks, as a result, is fairly addicting (and healthy) Internet fare, especially considering what’s on the rest of the menu.

With TED2010 only a few weeks away, The Madness of Art presents its Top 10 TEDTalks—most of which deal with the topic of creativity (in some way) and its powerful effects. So, in the spirit of TED, here are some ideas I thought were worth spreading. Read more…

“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldy cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.”—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things.”—Ray Bradbury

The long-awaited Spike Jonze-directed Where the Wild Things Are arrived in theaters on Friday, and the film—based on the beloved 1963 book by author and illustrator Maurice Sendak—topped the domestic box office over the weekend, grossing an estimated $32.5 million from 3,735 theaters, according to Variety.

Just like the classic children’s book, which won Sendak the Caldecott Medal, the PG-rated movie’s appeal extends far beyond contemporaries of its main character: those over the age of 18 comprised 43 percent of the audience this weekend, while families accounted for a mere 27 percent. While I’ve yet to see Where the Wild Things Are, it will likely get me to a movie theater for the first time in about two years. (So there’s no misunderstanding, I love movies and watch a lot of them, but I simply prefer to do so from the comfort of my couch with conveniences of home, i.e., wine.)

Obviously, Where the Wild Things Are is one of the hottest topics on the Web in recent weeks. More importantly, the book and the movie both seem to inspire creativity, awakening that sense of pure imagination that resides within all of us.

So, The Madness of Art offers this roundup of all things wild. Read more…

Next week, as highlighted in a previous post, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova’s follow-up to Once—the indie musical that became 2007′s surprise hit (both the film and its soundtrack)—will finally be released after a fair amount of buzz and anticipation.

Fans, and there are many now following these once-obscure musicians turned Oscar winners, don’t have to wait until October 27 to hear the dozen tracks that comprise the duo’s new album, Strict Joy. NPR Music—arguably the best, all-encompassing music site on the Web, featuring live concerts, studio sessions, interviews, profiles, and more—is now offering an “Exclusive First Listen” of the entire album by The Swell Season (the duo’s post-Once moniker) until its official release. Read more…

“Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music.”—Sergei Rachmaninov