Music

A Johns Hopkins brain scientist is finding a neurological basis for a notion that many people believe intuitively - that music is as much a form of language as Spanish or French. Charles Limb is one of just a handful of researchers worldwide studying what's going on in the brains of jazz musicians who compose on the fly. Some findings related to traditional language areas of the brain are what Limb expected to discover, though one key and recent result has surprised even him. But he's hoping that what he's learning may apply to creative activity and problem-solving of all sorts - whether writing a novel, designing a better mousetrap or devising a mathematical proof.

You can expect the music to sound fresh during the Leipzig String Quartet's concert on Saturday, March 2, at 8 p.m., in Howard Community College's Smith Theatre. Like the sponsoring Candlelight Concert Society, this chamber music quartet often likes to introduce audiences to contemporary classical music. The only 19th-century piece on the upcoming program is Brahms' Quartet in A minor, Op. 51, No. 2. If that selection by a great German composer seems like a natural choice for a quartet hailing from Leipzig, the rest of the program features much more recently minted music from around the world.

If you don't mind, I'd like to devote some blog space to something very personal. Last Saturday, my warm and witty father, Ken Smith, died, an event that has not fully registered on the family he led for so long. On Tuesday, in the midst of preparing for his funeral later this week, I got the word of another death that hit close to home -- Mary Corey, the vibrant and endearing editor who guided the Baltimore Sun through some rough years. If anyone could make a newspaper seem more like a family, Mary could.

A Montgomery County elementary school teacher was charged Thursday in Baltimore County for possession of child pornography, police said. Lawrence Joynes, 54, of Dundalk, teaches music at New Hampshire Estates Elementary school in Silver Spring, according to the school's website. Montgomery police will be investigating whether Joynes committed any offenses in that county. A spokesman from the school system did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday morning.

Finally took a long, romantic walk on Siesta Beach this week. The weather was perfect. The sand was like powdered sugar. The sunset was amazing. I was alone, of course, but my wife told me that was fine “because you were with the person you love the most.” There are signs all over the place proclaiming Siesta Beach the No. 1 beach in America, according to Dr. Beach. I don't know who this Dr. Beach character is, or where he got his resort-related medical training, but it is a beautiful place that is easily accessible from just about everywhere on Siesta Key. For the record, Siesta Beach got that ranking in 2011.

Of all the cities Chris Tomlin plays, Baltimore is one of his favorites. "I don't know what it is, but it seems like there's nights where you feel really connected to the people immediately," Tomlin said. "There's other nights where you have to work at it. At Baltimore, you never have to work at it. " Tomlin, 40, is returning to Baltimore on Friday, to perform at 1st Mariner Arena . It's the third stop of his Burning Lights tour, promoting the album of the same name that topped the Billboard 200 chart - only the fourth Christian rock album to do so. "It's pretty crazy," Tomlin said.

Somewhere, a halfway decent adaptation of the 1983 hit movie “Flashdance” is fighting to break away from the amiable, strongly performed mess of a show that has arrived at the Hippodrome. Instead, we get an everything-plus-the-kitchen-sink mishmash. It's partly a traditional musical, with at least the thread of a plot - a woman who welds by day but would rather dance - and new songs that advance the storyline, more or less. It's partly a jukebox musical, with emphasis on the vintage songs that helped make the film so popular.

Professor Donald S. Sutherland was on his way to meet a big potential donor, or so he thought, so the esteemed Peabody Conservatory faculty member figured he'd better not be late. Hurrying into the school's cafeteria, he scanned the place for his guest and, failing to spot him, decided to grab a tray and get in line. Then the assault began. Four red-clad minstrels stepped from the shadows, two of them strumming guitars. "This Valentone is for you," one declared in his dreamiest crooner's voice.

Septimius somehow remains mysterious even though he puts a lot of himself out there. First, he goes by Septimius the Great, a Roman emperor who conquered the Parthian Empire, which, we assume, is a lot to live up to. Septimius (the singer, not the emperor) says he is influenced most by "diversity and adversity," which is simulatenously confusing and intriguing. A few minutes spent on his website, septimiusthegreat.com , and you're deeply immersed in striking fashion, tunes such as "Iam Fashion" and "Zodiac Lover," and a photo of him sitting on a "human throne" (pictured here in all its glory)

Family, friends and a host of elected officials celebrated the life of East Baltimore Del. Hattie N. Harrison at the West Baltimore United House of Prayer for All People, in a ceremony borne on the spirited rasps of trombones and rhythmic clattering of tambourines. "Today there's a lot of powerful emotion in this place," said Gov. Martin O'Malley. "There's also a lot of powerful music. " The funeral service struck a joyful tone as politicians from Baltimore and elsewhere in Maryland remembered the delegate who had represented her community since August 1973, making her the longest-serving African-American female legislator in the United States.