The Great Gig In The Sky: An Appreciation of Rick Wright (Revisited)
Sean MurphyBack when Pink Floyd was the first band in space, they remained mysterious, and cool, by being invisible. For being one of the biggest rock groups in the world all…
September 15, 1963 (Revisited)
On Sept. 15, 1963, four black girls were killed when a bomb went off during Sunday services at a Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama, in the deadliest act of the…
Yihla Moja
On Sept. 12, 1977, South African black student leader Steven Biko died while in police custody, triggering an international outcry.
10 for NYC by 10, on 9/11
New York City would be unimaginable without jazz, and vice versa. Here then is a tribute for --and by-- several musicians who help define and celebrate the cultural mecca of…
Burt Bacharach Meets the Brady Bunch…on Psilocybin (Revisited)
I've written several times about the greatest American band that never quite was, Love, here, here and here. Today, with summer not quite over, I have some thoughts about the…
R.I.P. Glenn C. (Remembering Glenn Cornick and Jethro Tull’s ‘Stand Up’)
Glenn Cornick was, of course, Jethro Tull's first bassist. He and Ian did not get along (something that can be said for most of the other 10,000 ex-Tull musicians) so…
The Once and Future King: ‘SMiLE’ and Brian Wilson’s Very American Dream
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Icarus soars too close to the sun. Othello, vulnerable and halfway crazy, mistakenly trusts the evil Iago. The product of a celebrated…
God Is Dead (Again): Remembering Stevie Ray Vaughan
Twenty-four years ago today. First day of classes, junior year. Standing in the bathroom with too much shaving cream and not enough whiskers, getting geared up for another semester of…
What Is and What Will Always Be: A Fresh Look at Led Zeppelin’s Familiar Masterpieces
Shamelessly utilized other artists’ work, didn’t bother to acknowledge the source material most of the time, became famous, influential and wealthy, is celebrated years later as a creative force without…
In Defense of Good Sax, Part Five: The (Ongoing) Evolution of a Masterpiece
1959 was a watershed year for jazz music (arguably the greatest single year for jazz in all history–which is saying a lot). Here’s a taste: Miles Davis Kind of Blue,…