Beauty is a Rare Thing: Celebrating International Jazz Day
Sean MurphyAll hope is not lost. At least enough people are still making --and listening to-- jazz that we can even attempt to initiate what hopefully becomes an ongoing occasion. In…
The Song Remains The Same or, The Agony of Influence (Revisited)
Two thoughts from T.S. Eliot: April is the cruelest month... Whatever. Good poets borrow; great poets steal. Now we're talking. And here is where it gets interesting: debate rages (well,…
Levon Helm: So Real It Makes You Believe
There are probably countless ways to talk about what makes a particular artist compelling, and all of them are true. There are not that many ways to articulate how or…
Emile “Butch” Bouchard: R.I.P. to a Hockey Legend
I love hockey and I can appreciate the storied history of its most famous franchise, The Montreal Canadiens (a history that, regretfully, includes their stunning first round upset of my…
Happy 90th, Chazz
Today would have been (and, still is) Charles Mingus's 90th birthday. I've written about him often and I'll continue to write about him, not only because he is one of…
For J.D. Salinger, Jethro Tull and Me (Revisited)
It was 42 years ago, today, that Jethro Tull's third album, Benefit, was released. I wrote about it (and many other things) over the course of a productive day during…
Dick Clark, R.I.P.
This is the face I remember, and the one I'll recall most fondly. It's nice to see the ones when he (impossibly) looked even younger or the ones where he…
Bright Moments, Revisited (Already)
Less than a month ago I elaborated on some of the ways music moves and inspires me. If you missed it (and it includes a couple of brief, necessary shout-outs…
Mark Twain: The Big Daddy of American Letters (Revisited)
On April 21, 1910, author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, died in Redding, Conn. Patriot: the person who can holler the loudest without knowing what he is…
Cerphe: Living History Lesson
In case you had any questions about whether or not local treasure Cerphe Colwell is a living legend, consider this Exhibit A. And, in case you were curious, there are a lot…