University of North Texas

UPDATED: At West Texas High School, One Student Pushes Against Principal To Bring Discussion of Gay Rights to Campus

Updated with comments from Sundown Superintendent Mike Motheral and Murray Lipp, who runs Gay Marriage USA's Facebook site. On Wednesday morning, an eighth grader at Sundown Middle School approached Morgan Sisk, a senior at Sundown's high school. The 1,400-strong town, located just west of Lubbock, ... More >>

Eight Houston Musicians Who Deserve More Love

Bassist, organist, composer, member of the infamous Homopolice, one of the Rocks Off 100, self-avowed electronic music geek, flanger aficianado, and suave Poison Girl drink slinger, Beau Beasley has been broadly immersed in the Houston music scene all his adult life. Not long ago over a cold one at ... More >>

George Flynn, Who Worked for the Houston Press and Both Dailies, Dies at 65

George Flynn, a veteran newspaperman who worked for the Houston Press, the Post and the Chronicle, died of a heart attack at age 65 Saturday. Flynn experienced chest pains and was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where he died about 4 a.m. April 20. Flynn grew up in Dallas, graduated from wha ... More >>

Bill Evans Leads UH Students On a Jazz Odyssey

"Jazz is a language," Grammy Award-winning jazz saxophonist Bill Evans said to a small crowd gathered inside the University of Houston's Moores School of Music Opera House green room Tuesday evening. He and Noe Marmolejo, the band director, were prefacing a night of music performed by the UH Jazz En ... More >>

The New Crusaders

TSU restarts its jazz program, tapping into the talents of the fabled Joe Sample and kids looking for a place to play.

Cover Story: Joe Sample Attempts to Bring TSU Back to Relevancy

Teaching jazz at Texas Southern University was probably the last thing on the mind of Joe Sample when the Phillis Wheatley High School graduate returned to his native Houston after tearing it up in Los Angeles for 40 years. But Sample, who left TSU in 1958 with members of the Jazz Crusaders -- whi ... More >>

Atheism Rising

Those folks across Texas who don't believe in God are getting organized and going public.

8 Cool & Cheap Weekenders: October 19-20

Matt & Kim House of Blues, October 19 Infectious pop, bright-eyed wonder and criminally catchy hooks have made Matt & Kim one of the best live acts to emerge out of the Aughties. The duo -- keyboardist Matt Johnson and drummer Kim Schifino -- feed off the energy of the crowd, and usually end up in ... More >>

Norah Jones

The Anarchist Song Book

Noise musician BLACKIE searches for total freedom in music.

New Crop of Texas License Plates Design Include State Troopers, UH and Sorority

The state of Texas has unveiled a new batch of license plate designs and are looking to Texans for guidance on if they should release them. Last year, we goofed on the state with a batch of license plates we didn't think would ever make it onto the list of choices in Texas. Not surprisingly, none of ... More >>

Bob Dorough: Jazzman Reflects on Miles Davis, "Devil May Care" & More

Bob Dorough is the kind of musician who when he's performing in the area, someone makes sure to call the local newspaper and tell them about it. In this case the man who made the phone call was Houston jazz producer Joe Peine. (Thanks, Joe.) Perhaps best-known for the insouciant jazz standard "Devi ... More >>

The Journey Agents: Flamboyance, Chops & Soul At Summer Fest

The Journey Agents can be described in one word: Funky. When we say funky, we mean like early Red Hot Chili Peppers. If you listen to their 2011 release, All Up In It!, you will either want to dance or turn the bass up to the max level. Rocks Off caught up with St. Clair and Brandon Miles of the Jo ... More >>

Katy/West Houston Jazz Festival

Last Night: Eli Young Band At Reliant Stadium

Eli Young Band RodeoHouston, Reliant Stadium March 5, 2012 Texas country fans ain't your average, run-of-the-mill country fans. We're not referring to country lovers who live in Texas, either. When we speak of Texas country, we're talking about the strain of country music that's reared on the small ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 1: Vanessa O'Donnell of Ooh La La Dessert Boutique

It's amazing what Vanessa O'Donnell, pastry chef and owner of Ooh La La Dessert Boutique, has accomplished in the four short years since she opened her first location. Even more amazing is the fact that she was just 26 years old when she started, and that she did it all by herself. Barely 30 years ... More >>

History, Screwed and Chopped

Julie Grob just made the U of H Library System a whole lot cooler.

Lips First

Natalie Irish kisses her portraits into life.

Come and Bake It

Local movement fights for cottage food bill.

The University of North Texas One O’clock Lab Band

Kim Lenz & Her Jaguars

Blogging Bonnaroo: Norah Jones, Stevie Wonder, Jay-Z

Photos by Mark C. Austin/See the slideshowStevie Wonder on Bonnaroo's main stage​Houston artist Tyagaraja recently won the Ford Fiesta Team Houston Battle of The Bands, the grand prize of which was a trip to perform at the Bonnaroo music festival in Tennessee. Meghan Hendley, keyboardist/vocal ... More >>

Beyonce Leads 2010 Grammy Field With 10 Nominations

Beyonce leads all nominees for the 52nd annual Grammy Awards, reaping the benefits of her smash double album I Am... Sasha Fierce and her prominent role on the soundtrack to last year's Chess Records docudrama Cadillac Records, in which she appeared as an R&B diva from an earlier age, Etta Jame ... More >>

A Musical Guide to Post-Secession Texas, Part 2: "Trinity"

[Note: This week Rocks Off is looking at the musical heritage, highs and lows, for each of the five possible states that might result should Texas secede from the U.S. like Gov. Rick Perry wants it to. Yesterday we began with the Panhandle/West Texas "Palo Duro" territory; today it's northeastern qu ... More >>

Mind Games

Meet Ron White, the Texas-born memory champ you'll never forget.

Houston: The Cutting Edge of Fast Food and Obesity Since 1942

The University of North Texas's Portal to Texas History has put the WPA's 1942 book Houston: A History and Guide online. It turns out that the somewhat enigmatically named chapter "Strangers at the Gates" deals with the history of Houston's hospitality industry. Houston, it seems, not only was on th ... More >>

Houston: The Cutting Edge of Fast Food and Obesity Since 1942

The University of North Texas's Portal to Texas History has put the WPA's 1942 book Houston: A History and Guide online. It turns out that the somewhat enigmatically named chapter "Strangers at the Gates" deals with the history of Houston's hospitality industry. Houston, it seems, not only was on th ... More >>

National Non-fiction Writers Conference in Texas

Solstice for Trombone and Orchestra

Cindy McTee musically turns the lights on and off

Talk to Mee

A dialogue with a local indie punker about the cultural cringe

The Anti-drummer Drummer

VietNam's Michael Foss

Lessons to the Left

Young conservatives start to monitor liberal college profs

The Way We Wore

Vintage Vogue shows how fashion went from pillbox hats to pantsuits

Raking In the Chips

Denton's Riverboat Gamblers know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em

High-Tech Shia Pet

A Houston computer whiz uses the Internet to become a Muslim marriage matchmaker

Flicked Out of Court

Jurors rule against a former HBU basketballer in his hazing suit

Dallas Domination

The Metroplex schools Houston when it comes to the indie scene

Raw Roots

Excavations for plantation artifacts - and the real truth - are unraveling the genteel gloss covering Texans' old notions about the slave era here

Finding Her Voice

Onetime Texan Heather Bennett roams freely in the Big Apple

Heart Attack

The source of Billy Harper's aggressive tenor style lies in a power greater than himself

Tax Lean

Want a subsidy for your corporate expansion? Local governments are ready with millions in property-tax abatements -- and very little oversight.

You Say It's Your Birthday

Local Rotation

Local Music Reviewed

Local Music Reviewed

Jazz 101

Traviata: Racette's Latest Triumph

Arias for All

Ebony Guild excels for diverse opera fans

Sexual Healing

Static

Celting Point

Plus: Less Donna McK., archiving Texas folk music, and Iggy's eats Jelly