Burt Bacharach’s long-awaited memoir, Anyone Who Had a Heart: My Life and Music, will be published by Harper Collins on May 7, and in conjunction with that event, Burt will discuss his life and music in two upcoming appearances in the Los Angeles area.

On Tuesday, May 14, Burt will discuss his memoir with author Mitch Albom at the Alix Theatre in Glendale, Calif., and on Friday, May 17, Burt will discuss his memoir in an appearance at New Roads School in Santa Monica, Calif. The discussions are part of the Live Talks Los Angeles speaker series, which presents well-known figures from the arts, sports, politics and science and uses proceeds from the events to support literacy and educational programs in the Los Angeles area. Tickets for each night start at $20 and can be purchased via the links on LiveTalksLA.org.

Very sad news. Legendary producer Phil Ramone, who engineered and produced many of Dionne Warwick’s and Burt Bacharach’s greatest recordings, has died. Ramone was 79 and had been hospitalized with an aortic aneurism since February. In his long career, Ramone worked with everyone from Getz & Gilberto, Barbra Streisand and Frank Sinatra to Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel and Paul Simon.

Read more about it here.

Television and stage actress Anastasia Barzee will sing the music of Burt Bacharach in a special performance at New York’s Metropolitan Room on April 18, 19 & 20, 2013. Drawing on the Bacharach catalog, Barzee will explore the theme of love — who we love, how we love and why in the world do we keep doing it over and over again. The show will feature many of Bacharach’s most famous songs, including “What The World Needs Now,” “Alfie” and “Close to You,” as  well as new, unrecorded songs from Some Lovers, Bacharach’s recent musical collaboration with lyricist Steven Sater (Spring Awakening). Barzee will be joined by The Kevin Hays Trio (Kevin Hays on piano, Rob Jost on bass and French horn, and Greg Joseph on drums) along with Teddy Kumpel on guitar, banjo, and mandolin.

Barzee Sings Bacharach

The Metropolitan Room

324 West 22nd St.

New York, NY 10010

April 18-20, 2013, 7 p.m.

With the Kevin Hays Trio and Teddy Kumpel on guitars.

For tickets, visit MetropolitanRoom.com.

Sorry for the delay getting this posted, but I finally think I’ve received all — or almost all — of Burt’s upcoming European and South American concerts. In addition to the previously announced dates, the new dates include the following:

April 16, Teatro Positivo, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil

June 14, Malmo Opera, Malmö, Sweden

I know some of you already know about Burt’s upcoming concerts, but I just got official confirmation of a few of Burt’s tour dates so I’m passing the info along. This list isn’t complete. I’ll post the rest as soon as they’re finalized, but for the time being, you should check out the Bacharach discussion forum for the “unofficially” announced dates.

Also, it’s been announced that’s Burt’s long-awaited memoir will be published in May. Stay tuned for more details.

Apologies for the long delay between updates, but it’s been a busy six-plus-months at the webmaster’s house as some of you know. There’s been lots of Bacharach news, but the biggest news of course is the passing of Hal David on Sept. 1. Even without his long partnership with Burt Bacharach, David would have been considered one of the great pop songwriters. The New York Times published a thorough obituary and there were remembrances in everything from The Wall Street Journal to Pitchfork as well as this poignant remembrance of Hal from Burt himself.

For the more devoted fans, Roberto Pinardi alerted me to the fact that Burt’s unjustly neglected soundtrack Together? has at long last been issued on CD by Sony Music Japan. Released in 1979, generally regarded as a less than spectacular period in Bacharach’s compositional career, Together? is nonetheless an excellent record, the veritable missing link between the jazz-pop fusion of his late ’70s solo albums and his work in the ’80s with Carole Bayer Sager, with whom he would team up just two years later for the Arthur soundtrack. The only downside of this long-awaited CD issue is the price. It’s selling on Amazon right now for $39.99.

Armando Gabba pointed me to a recent article that mentioned some intriguing news: Burt and Bernie Taupin are working on an album together. While I know Bernie is no Hal David (nor Elvis Costello), the prospect of Burt in the studio with a legendary lyricist is cause for excitement. (Did I mention that Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy was the first album I ever bought?)

EDITED TO ADD: Sorry to get your hopes up, but I’ve been informed that Burt and Bernie are not in fact working on a new album together. Although they’ve written together in the past and may have even gone into the studio to cut some demos, my sources tell me there is currently no album in the works. Burt’s top priority right now is finishing his memoir, which is set to come out this spring. Stay tuned for me details on that.

Finally, Tina sent me a terrific new year’s present: five new Bacharach concert dates. Those are now posted on the On Tour page.

Super Fan Vincent Cole sent in these photos from Burt’s June 22, 2012, performance in Louisville, Ky., at the Good Sam RV Rally. Thanks Vincent!

To read Vincent’s review of the show, visit the Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum.

Just got word that another date has been added to Burt’s tour of Japan this September.

In addition to his Sept. 8 performance at the Tokyo Jazz Festival, Burt and his band will perform on Sept. 10 at Billboard Live Tokyo. For the latest tour dates, visit the On Tour page.

As I’m sure everyone knows, President Barack Obama awarded Burt Bacharach and Hal David the 2012 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song last month at a special ceremony and concert in the White House. Burt was there to receive the award and perform a concert while Hal, who was too ill to attend, was represented by his wife, Eunice.

The concert was recorded and broadcast on PBS stations on May 21, and I’m thrilled to say it’s now viewable online at http://video.pbs.org/video/2237921072.

Congratulations to Burt and Hal for achieving this prestigious honor!

Last but not least, great news for Burt’s many fans in Japan. Burt will be performing at this year’s Tokyo Jazz Festival on Sept 8.

Back in October, you may recall, it was announced that Burt Bacharach and Hal David had been selected by the Librarian of Congress to receive the 2012 Gershwin Prize for Popular Music. In conjunction with that award, Bacharach and David will be honored at the White House on Wednesday, May 9, with a special concert presentation hosted by President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama.

Guest performers will include Sheryl Crow, Michael Feinstein, Diana Krall, Lyle Lovett, Mike Myers, Rumer, Arturo Sandoval, Sheléa and Stevie Wonder. The event will be streamed live on www.whitehouse.gov/live starting at 7 p.m. ET on May 9, and the entire concert will be broadcast on PBS stations nationwide on May 21 as “Burt Bacharach & Hal David: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song In Performance at the White House.”

This is absolutely amazing news, even if it does beg the question, “Where is Dionne?” Perhaps she’ll be a special surprise guest.

Visit whitehouse.gov to read the entire press release.