Living Jazz Legends
Some legends are still alive. There is still magic in the air. Here is a list of six living jazz musicians who are all iconic within the cannon of jazz. These men are among the biggest names in post...
View ArticleJazz: There's a Mingus a-Monk us, in The Abstract Truth
Jazz certainly has its share of quirky. This week, I bring you focus onto two of the most individual and influential artists in all of Post war Jazz, and a third person for some similar reasons....
View ArticleJazz: Three Altos
The alto saxophone is an amazing instrument. The whole range of saxophones were only invented in the 1840s. Wikipedia tells me they gained popularity first with military bands, but leaves out any...
View ArticleJazz: The Jazz Singer
The most maligned and the most celebrated instrument in jazz…perhaps in all music…is the human voice. A singer can be a trend setter, defining how to swing. A singer can introduce new material into the...
View ArticleJazz: Musica Brasileira
I felt like doing something a little different this week for my Jazz bloggery. Latin rythms have been a part of Jazz since its inception. Jelly Roll Morton is known to have insisted that Jazz include...
View ArticleJazz: Miles and Trane 1
OK…time to stop messing around. Let’s get to the real deal: Miles Dewey Davis III, May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991, and John William Coltrane, September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967. This diary is a...
View ArticleJazz: Space is the Place Sun Ra
I think the point that Jazz has its share of the eccentric and the quirky is pretty clear. What may not be quite so clear is how the, arguably, most eccentric and quirky “celebrity” in the landscape of...
View ArticleJazz: Sir Duke Easter Special
Greetings to all the cats out there ready to dig the cool sounds of the eel's hips swinging in the trees. The Easter Bunny done come hopping into town and I’m like doing the eat and greet with...
View ArticleJAZZ: MILES AND TRANE part deux
This week for our adventure in swingsville, I wanted to finish up chronicling the partnership of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. This diary is going to focus primarily only on what Miles and Trane and...
View ArticleJazz: Bill Evans and Race
Greetings hipsters. Branching off my recent diaries focused on Miles and Coltrane, I wanted to dwell on Bill Evans this week. However, in doing so, I also want to talk about some racial issues within...
View ArticleWomen in Jazz
Happy Mother’s Day everyone! I figured a good way to celebrate Mother’s Day would be to take a look at some of the great women in Jazz. It should come as no surprise to say that women in jazz have...
View ArticleJazz--Art Blakey, part the first
Greetings Jazz fans. This week I wanted to spend time with Art Blakey. Blakey is one of the most important Jazz musicians to come out of the Be-Bop period. Through both Blakey and Miles Davis, one can...
View ArticleJazz: Wes Montgomery
I love the guitar. But I’m a piano/keyboard player, so I also hate the guitar. Well…that’s not true. Maybe it’s just guitarists I don’t like….but that’s not true, some of my best friends play the...
View ArticleJazz: Cubano Be, Cubano Bop
Music can be powerful for ethnic identity and ethnic politics in the United States. I’ve heard it suggested that there is a bit of musical dialectic between white and black America and that the...
View ArticleOllie North Crash Course
In the wake of the hypocrisy of Oliver North and in response to this evening's daily show, i was thinking folks might want to revisit Seth McFarland's very excellent summery of Ollie's actions. Onward...
View ArticleJazz: Oye Como Va
Greetings music fans. This week in jazz bloggery I am going to continue with “Latin Jazz” from last week. Since yesterday saw the Puerto Rican Day Parade in NYC I am going to focus a bit more on Puerto...
View ArticleJazz: Song for my Father
Happy Father’s Day jazz fans. This week I thought it would be fun to look at some Father-Son legacies in Jazz. But also, I think there is likely something significant about Fathers and Sons with regard...
View ArticleHorace Silver has passed away
Jazz icon Horace Silver passed away yesterday, June 18th 2014. He was 85 years old. Horace was a pianist and composer and one of the only few true Jazz legends left still living. While the number of...
View ArticleJazz: Gay Men in Jazz
Jazz has historically been dominated by men and at times has been a rather macho affair. I’ve already gone into the issue of women in jazz and clearly the past has some significant women in jazz and...
View ArticleJazz: Art Blakey II
What is Jazz? A great deal of ink has been spilt and printed answering that question. It probably takes a poet to answer that question. Or maybe the answer is a Zen Koan. Maybe it’s a concept like...
View ArticleLouis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong. Satchmo. Pops. Need I say more?Louis Armstrong often liked to tell tales about his past, especially his childhood. He often said his birthday was July 4th. It’s not, it’s August 4th....
View ArticleJames Brown, The Godfather of Soul
Good evening. Do not attempt to adjust your radio, there is nothing wrong. We have taken control as to bring you this special show. We will return it to you as soon as you are grooving.James Brown, The...
View ArticleJazz: Miles Davis and George Coleman
Miles Davis had two great great bands. The first with Coltrane and Cannonball. The second featured Wayne Shorter on Tenor Sax. But in between the two came a few others. Today I want to talk about...
View ArticleJazz: My Favorite Things
Jazz. I love Jazz. I live Jazz. And I enjoy sharing jazz.Writing these blogs is super fun and the discipline needed to produce one weekly has been beneficial to me already. Even when it seems like I...
View ArticleJazz: Charles Lloyd, The Fillmore and The Beach Boys
I want to call BS on some of the so-called “conventional wisdom” about Jazz. The Beatles and The Stones, Elvis, Rock and Roll in general, did NOT destroy the market for jazz.Yes…I can imagine comments...
View ArticleJazz: Art Tatum
Art Tatum.I don’t know how to start a diary about Art Tatum other than by just saying his name. He was a virtuoso of inspired musical imagination. I’ve heard stories that concert pianists would go to...
View ArticleJazz: Summertime and The Other
Music. Jazz. Culture. History.Every Jazz diary I have written has used those four tags. My intention with these diaries has been to celebrate jazz music and jazz musicians as well as experiment with...
View ArticleJazz: Bud Powell
Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell was born September 27, 1924 and grew up in Harlem, NYC. He died at age 41 on July 31, 1966 after years of alcohol abuse and mental illness that was certainly aggravated, if...
View ArticleJazz: John Coltrane
Tuesday September 23rd would be John Coltrane’s 88th birthday if he hadn’t of died on July 16th 1967. I knew before I started writing these diaries back in February that I would be writing this one...
View ArticleJazz: Jimi Hendrix
There are a few pop stars that Jazz musicians of my generation seem to universally love and admire: Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, and James “Jimi” Marshall Hendrix. I recognize that reducing any of these...
View ArticleJazz: Monk at The Five Spot Cafe
Thelonious Sphere Monk was born on October 10, 1917. He would be 97 come Friday. He died on February 17, 1982.Monk was and is iconoclastic. There is so much Monk to hear. We are very fortunate that he...
View ArticleJazz: Miles Davis' 2nd quintet
Miles Davis is obviously the most iconic Jazz musician in popular culture. His 65 years on the planet-- May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991—span the most Amazing period of musical production in the...
View ArticleJazz: Big Bands
The Big Band. The American Jazz Orchestra.5 saxes, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, Piano/bass/drums/guitar. Maybe one of the ‘bones is a bass trombone. Maybe a trumpet player plays flugelhorn. Maybe someone...
View ArticleJazz: Larry Young
One of the many areas of Jazz where the Ken Burns documentary fails abysmally is with the Organ groups. I don’t know offhand when they began to become popular, but certainly they are an institution in...
View ArticleJazz: Post Election Blues
Music heals. As we brace ourselves for two very difficult years, years that for the inaction on climate issues alone will cost us an immense price we might never be able to afford, I offer you music to...
View ArticleJazz: Stevie Wonder
In seeking inspiration and solace after Tuesday elections, I found myself seeking refuge with an old friend. Perhaps to some he is a relic of another time, but for a while he was probably the favorite...
View ArticleJazz: Wayne Shorter in the 60s
Wayne Shorter, born August 25, 1933, still performs. He is still active in the Jazz world. His career spans so much from his work with Art Blakey to his work with Miles to creating Weather Report with...
View ArticleJazz: Max Roach
One of the defining features of jazz has been the genre’s approach to rhythm. While this absolutely means the phrasing of 8th notes ala Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker, it also very much means an...
View ArticleJazz: Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday. Born Eleanora Fagan, April 7, 1915, in Philadelphia and died on July 17, 1959 in New York City.I don’t think there is a singer who looms larger in popular culture. She a musician who...
View ArticleBobby Keys RIP
Bobby Keys was the saxophone player with the Rolling Stones since 1969. He died last night at age 70.He is on every album the Stones made from 1970-1974 and from 1980 on. He played on every Stones tour...
View ArticleJazz: Christmas
It’s somewhat amazing really, we as a culture have an entire repertoire of songs dedicated to the “Christmas” season. Heck, multiple cultures have songs only played at this time of year. By the actual...
View ArticleJazz: McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner is one of the most influential pianist in Jazz to emerge post 1959. He developed a unique voice on the instrument developing a new vocabulary for pianist with his use of pentatonic scales...
View ArticleJazz: Chet Baker
Chet Baker is one of the most well-known names in Jazz. A trumpeter and vocalist, Chet is a bit more cultural icon than canonized Jazz master…though he plays well. His is not the story of triumph over...
View ArticleJazz: John Coltrane 65-67
In his last years, John Coltrane made some rather intense music. It’s not “toe tapping” or “finger popping.” It is rather dissonant and angular. Some folks really dislike this music. Some folks find it...
View ArticleJazz: Roy Eldridge
Roy Eldridge is an important historical figure in Jazz. A trumpeter, Roy was known for his high notes on the horn and was a direct influence on Dizzy Gillespie. But Roy is more than high notes. A...
View ArticleJazz: Bitches Brew
Bitches Brew is a Miles Davis album released in April of 1970. It won the Grammy for Best Large jazz Ensemble in 1971. It appear on numerous “Best of Lists” in many genres. It was a ground breaking and...
View ArticleAlice's Restaurant
Because it’s Thanksgiving and someone has to post this….xYouTube VideoHappy Thanksgiving Y’all!
View ArticleSo...is Puerto Rico a Sh*thole "country"?
I’ld like to know if Donald Trump considers Puerto Rico one of the sh*thole countries?Ya...I know….PR is part of the USA and therefore logic would conclude that the question is about the US. But that’s...
View ArticlePlop Plop Fizz Fizz
Trump is gone. Let us celebrate.xxYouTube VideoThere’s work to do….but you can dance in your kitchen for a few moments…...
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