Following These Footprints
Sean MurphyCheck this out. A few years back I opined that the second great Miles Davis quintet was the greatest group of musicians ever assembled in one collective. I stand by that,…
Improving Upon Perfection, Part Three: Rodgers & Hammerstein & Coltrane
Check it out: Most people, at least post Baby Boom generation, know this from the insufferable, I mean delightful family masterpiece, The Sound of Music. It was, and remains, an…
Julian Priester: Help Him, Help Yourself
Needless to say, if I had my way jazz musicians would be famous, well-paid and appreciated. This is not a selfish desire: I would make no money in the venture,…
Finding Grace in Beautiful Places (Revisited)
In a piece I recommend you reading @ the reliably awesome Rumpus, writer Amber Sparks, a non-believer, discusses matters of faith, spirituality and art (check it here). The piece is…
Beauty is a Rare Thing: Celebrating International Jazz Day (Revisited)
All 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…
Some Day A Real Rain Will Come: What Travis Bickle Can –And Cannot– Tell Us About Tucson (Revisited)
Voices In Our Heads You talking to me? It is the pivotal scene in Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and it remains one of the seminal moments in movie history. Not so…
12/12/12: 12 Songs for the Apocalypse
It's not the end of the world, and I feel fine. But if it was, I would want all these songs to accompany me as we spiraled down the metaphysical…
Hurricane Music, Sandy Style
Let's just get right into it. Some of Young's finest blistering guitar fury. Led Zep may have had the hammer of the gods, but there were four of them; Neil is like…
About Miracles*
(2002) i. Believing in miracles requires faith. Faith in miracles, faith in faith. The bible, taken on faith, is God’s word and the document of His work. Miracles are, for…
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 our known universe.…