National Poetry Month & Ron Carter
Sean MurphyAnother one from my new collection, "Ron Carter's Fingers" is also featured in the latest collection of poetry available at Jerry Jazz Musician, a wonderful site that celebrates jazz 24/7.…
Easter Sunday and Eric Dolphy
Eric Dolphy’s Avowal* Eric Dolphy’s alto is less a solo than an announcement: not unlike a boisterous child acting out in the rear pew, where everyone gradually comprehends, he is…
National Poetry Month Meets Marvin Gaye
I was aware (and in awe) of John Goodman before I reviewed his book (10 years ago!) Mingus Speaks -- an indispensable document of the great Charles Mingus (a lot…
National Poetry Month Meets Howlin’ Wolf
National Poetry Month rolls on. Thanks again to Decolonial Passage for publishing "Howlin' Wolf's Harp" last summer. This one appears in Rhapsodies in Blue (and I read it last week…
Original Poetry: Six Haikus for America
Just in time for #NationalPoetryMonth, the amazing team at Exterminating Angel Press has dropped the Spring 23 issue of their magazine on the theme of Recipes for Disaster. Tons of…
Introducing “Rhapsodies in Blue”
Just in time to properly celebrate National Poetry Month, my second collection, Rhapsodies in Blue, is now available! You can pick up a paperback or Kindle version here. I'd love you to…
Original Poem: Charles Mingus’s Memento
It remains a blessing for this writer to find publications that “get” him –and what I’m attempting with my ongoing project (the first installment, of course, being The Blackened Blues, released…
Why Wayne Shorter Matters
Wayne 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: Pharoah Sanders Donating Blood to Buy Food, 1962
A young Sanders with his mentor and bandmate John Coltrane Huge gratitude to the team at Decolonial Passage for including my work in their "Food, Power, and Powerlessness" issue. (It's…
Jeff Beck: The Guitar Grandmaster
As impossible at it is to believe Jeff Beck has died (aged 78), it’s just as difficult to fathom that he was with us in the first place. If you’re…