Why Wayne Shorter Matters
Sean MurphyWayne Shorter is, for my money, possibly the most underrated genius in any genre of music. To be sure, he certainly received plenty of props within jazz circles and the people…
Original Poem: I Want to Write Poems
So, I wrote this poem exactly one year ago, today -- and it's now live, via Remington Review (their summer issue is free & live: check it out HERE; I…
THE BLACKENED BLUES, One Poem at a Time: Beethoven’s Silent Consecration
I’m happy to announce that my first poetry collection, The Blackened Blues, is available wherever you buy books (yes, *wherever*, so you don’t have to put more money in Rocket Man’s…
2020: A Creative Recap
What's left to be said about 2020 that has not already been articulated? DespiteI managed to write 33 new poems (and have 12 published or accepted for future publication; including…
Beethoven at 250
Beethoven at 250. Aside from the two other points in the eternal triangle, Bach and Mozart, has any artist contained such multitudes, expressed so much in ways that are ceaselessly…
Ennio Morricone, The Master
Certain things are anathema to the mature writer: hyperbole, cliché, groupthink, money--just kidding, (mostly). Sometimes, and the instances are rare enough to be exceptions to the rule, one can speak…
PATHÉTIQUE
You can remember what it was like: seeing the world through another set of eyes—that evening, halfway through high school, watching the snow fall outside your window. Lights out and that music…
Murphy’s Laws: 49 Infallible Observations on the Occasion of Turning 49
“With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone.” That, from the ever-quotable Oscar Wilde. Does age impart wisdom? Maybe. It definitely provides opinions. Some of them, perhaps, are worthwhile.…
SEAN MURPHY AND E. ETHELBERT MILLER: ON THE MARGIN AT WPFW 89.3
It was my considerable pleasure to have an extended chat with E. Ethelbert Miller last week on his weekly WPFW show "On the Margin." A bit more about Ethelbert, here. And…
Routines, Rituals, and Writers
Winston Churchill famously remarked: “My vices protect me but they would assassinate you.” And he managed to achieve a thing or two in his time, decadent proclivities be damned. But…