The opening night preview party last week for the Hard Rock's Kuro's "Cherry Blossom Festival" featured an array of culinary delights worth savoring.
Dessert might sound like an inappropriate place to start but the matcha milk cake with peach sorbet and mochi cake with Okinawa ice cream drizzled with miso caramel is sublime.
Busta RhymesExecutive Chef Leslie Daniels has curated a consistently terrific menu that is part of the Kuro experience through May 11, which is Mother's Day.
The dessert is amazing but there's much more worth tasting.
Start with the Kani salad with seaweed, cucumber, avocado and shiso aioli.
The Wagyu Kushiyaki with sweet soy is a can't miss item. Other highlights are the Okonomiyaki with Brussels sprouts and pork belly and the Okinawa Croquette with Koshyo yogurt.
Wash it all down with a Sapporo, save the matcha milk cake.
The Yacht Rock Revue returns Saturday to the Hard Rock.
Fans of such middle-of-the-road acts as Steely Dan, Toto and Christopher Cross will enjoy familiar easy-going tunes.
It's a weekend of R&B and Hip Hop from some iconic performers at Boardwalk Hall.
Mary J. BligeMary J. Blige will headline Friday and rapper 50 Cent will take the stage Saturday.
Blige, 54, will deliver the hits. Expect versions of "Real Love," "You Remind Me" and "Everything." Ne-Yo and Mario will open.
"LIT in AC" is the moniker of Busta Rhymes' show.
The 52-year-old is one of those rare larger-than-life characters in the world of contemporary music.
"It's a Party," "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See" and "Dangerous" are some of the familiar tunes that are typically part of Busta Rhymes' set.
The outrageous Lil' Kim and the amusing Fat Joe are also on the bill. Remy Ma, Lil' Mo, Nore and Soul IV Real will open.
Busta RhymesBurt Bacharach passed away in 2023, but the iconic composer's unique music lives on courtesy of the "What the World Needs Now" tour.
The jaunt, which features iconic singer-songwriter-producer Todd Rundgren and vocalist Wendi Moten of "The Voice" fame, as well as a nine-piece multi-instrumentalist ensemble, is slated for April 5 at the Borgata.
With a catalog that spans 73 songs that landed on Billboard's Top 40, Bacharach will never go out of style. The songwriter, who won six Grammy Awards, three Academy Awards and an Emmy, made his mark with such timeless classics as "The Look of Love," "What the World Needs Now," "Walk on By," Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" and "Do You Know the Way to San Jose."
Bacharach's longtime musical director Rob Shirakbari, who is touring with the show, knows why his mentor's music remains resonant decades after it was composed.
"Burt was not afraid of melody," Shirakbari said while zooming from London. "Burt always said, "Don't ever be afraid to write a melody that someone can whistle."
Such a tremendous gift for melody yielded a staggering collection of radio ready tunes. "This Guy's in Love With You," "(They Long to Be) Close to You," and "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," are perfectly constructed timeless classics with a big hook.
Burt Bacharach's longtime musical director Rob Shirakbari."The songs are easy on the ears but they're really complex and they're not easy to sing," Shirakbaki said. "They're a challenge to play."
Superlatives are often thrown around in the music business like baseballs at a spring training complex, but Bacharach was at the very top of the industry mountain.
It's impossible to dispute that Bacharach was one of the most significant composers in the second half of the 20th century.
He always was adept at creating breezy but complex compositions that combined jazz, pop, soul and South American influences. His songs are typically baroque and poignant. There was no composer quite like Bacharach, who benefitted from a long-running partnership with lyricist Hal David.
More than 1,000 artists have recorded Bacharach songs such as The Beatles, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones, Sheryl Crow, The Pretenders, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Costello, Christopher Cross, The White Stripes, The Carpenters, Michael McDonald, Herb Alpert, Stevie Wonder and, of course, Dionne Warwick.
The latter is enthused about the "What the World Needs Now" tour.
“In a word: Wow," Warwick said. " I’m very happy for this wonderful project landing in what I know are Rob's more than capable hands. I could burst with pride!” Burt himself said of Rob on his live shows, 'A man so instrumental in helping me put this show together... writing the arrangements, writing the orchestrations. I couldn't have done it without him.”
Shirakbari owes much to his experience with Bacharach.
"From a very young age I developed my skill set sitting six feet away from Burt," Shirakbari said. "I could see his hands and hear every note up close...see his every move conducting the orchestra. And now as we carry that legacy forward, the songs are the star of this show, and all of us onstage are here to serve the music, as Burt intended. I know in my heart that Burt would be proud of this show and happy that his music lives onstage, reaching his fans, old and new."
