Love, Loss, and Courage
Farewell, Claire (and Mom. And Ana. Geez, this is hard)
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The Election, Jazz, and Discourse Across Lines
Since the 2016 election, a lot of folks are feeling a lot of different feelings. And expressing a lot of feelings. And feeling very strongly about the distinctions between their feelings and others’ feelings. And in some cases trying really hard to figure out how to find that balance whereby they are true to their beliefs and morals and yet remain able to engage genuine dialogue* with other decent humans who feel (and in some cases voted) differently. And with Thanksgiving coming up, some who aren’t ready to attempt that engagement on a broader societal level will be forced to figure out how to find common ground in their own families. OMIGOD, HOW DO WE DO THIS? Okay, take a breath. And another. The answer, of course, is thinking like a jazz musician. Just work with me for a minute.
Continue ReadingTop 10 Favorite Tracks Featuring Bob Cranshaw
The music world lost one of the most prolific providers of bottom end when bassist Bob Cranshaw passed away yesterday. These are some of my favorite performances of Bob’s.
Continue ReadingTop 10 Favorite Steve Wilson tracks
10 (+1) favorite tracks by the great saxophonist Steve Wilson. Enjoy!
Continue ReadingTop 10 Favorite Bobby Hutcherson Tracks
Aside from being in shock that Bobby Hutcherson is gone, I struggle to figure out a way to summarize his musical contributions. For me his music will always be defined by the way his infectious warmth and rugged creative searching shattered any listener’s capacity to put the resulting music into a rigid box. Here is a small sampling of my favorites from his discography.
Continue ReadingPhoebe Snow, St. Peter, and the meaning(s) of “Legacy”
I’m a fan of Phoebe Snow from two different angles, angles that one might even deem at odds with one another. As I contemplate what in music resonates the most with me (something I do approximately 5 times a day) and ponder what life is about (something I do approximately 10 times a day), Phoebe keeps coming to my mind.
Continue ReadingAlternate Realities: EDS Awareness Month 2016
This year’s EDS Awareness Month post: examining what it means to speculate on “what might have been” without our adversity.
Continue Reading“Nice” Is Overrated: Farewell, Randi
On Monday I attended the memorial services that marked, in a sense, the last goodbye to my friend and colleague Randi Brandt. One conclusion is that Randi was not a nice person – and I mean that in the best way possible, for reasons I’ll explain here.
Continue ReadingTop 10 Favorite Prince Tracks
Like so many, I can’t believe that Prince is gone, and I’m struggling not only to reconcile that, but also to reflect with any coherence on his impact on my own musical conception. When I was a kid, I listened eagerly to all his singles and watched his videos, with no conception of anything else…
Continue ReadingTop 10 (x2) Favorite James Williams Tracks
My biggest “eureka” moment as a budding jazz musician (or, to be accurate, the moment when I decided I needed to BE a budding jazz musician and not just a dabbler) came the first time I heard “Magical Trio 2” by James Williams, like the moment in the “Wizard of Oz” where it goes from black & white to color – in a flash I heard everything I wanted music to be, all in one place. If life were just, the Soulful Mister Williams would’ve been 65 today.
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