When a musician has a very eclectic career, is that a product of their thirst for different experiences or of the need to be versatile enough to stay working? Obviously that depends on the individual, but for violinist (and composer) Sam Bardfeld the former is certain and the latter has been a consequence. From Bruce…
Continue ReadingThe mercurial and undeniably brilliant pianist Keith Jarrett turns 80 years old today and the rest of us, of course, are fortunate to reap the sonic benefits of his unflinching creativity and artistic integrity. It’s interesting to me that due to the comparable depth of numerous facets and phases of his career, I know people…
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Continue ReadingFor whatever combination of reasons, from geography to stylistic restlessness, the breadth and depth of 84 year old woodwind virtuoso Bennie Maupin’s work have long been underappreciated. His playing is at times simple and at times cerebral and complex, at times emotionally uninhibited and at times patient and restrained, at times presented in highly modern…
Continue ReadingSaxophonist George Coleman turns 90 today, and what a gift that he still graces our presence! If his only claim to fame were his couple years of creative, soulful, and muscular contributions to the burgeoning 1960s Miles Davis Quintet, that would be enough to go down in the history books, but of course his hundreds…
Continue ReadingSafe passage to Roberta Flack, an exceptional singer, wonderful pianist, and important role model for Black women’s self-empowerment. I’m embarrassed to admit that until I was in college, the entirety of my conscious exposure to her music was the 30 seconds of “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” that was used in an Oil…
Continue ReadingI have found two go-to principles to preserve whatever integrity, agency, and semblance of sanity I might possess. Keep showing up and protect my heart. The specifics are malleable and the moment-to-moment strategies are situational but I keep coming back to these things and it keeps helping. Showing up is maybe self-explanatory? If there are…
Continue ReadingToday (Feb 4, 2025) marks the 80th anniversary of John Stubblefield’s birth. Stubbs is one of my favorite saxophonists and in a sense an exemplar of the “lost generation” of folks like Victor Lewis and James Williams who, while beloved within the jazz community, fell in the cracks in the 1980s landscape of straight-ahead jazz’s…
Continue ReadingThe spreadsheets get more and more nuanced and my attempts to pare down without missing stuff remain earnest yet quixotic (4-5 full albums and 5-6 partial ones per week on average, though really more than that with some gaps where my ears are consumed by things related to performing or teaching). I’m so awed by…
Continue ReadingSafe passage to pianist Martial Solal, who passed last week at the age of 97. He was a great composer and bandleader, but a truly superlative pianist. I find myself thinking of ways to articulate this. With all due respect to Art Tatum and Earl Hines, he’s one of the all-time greats of solo piano….
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