Top 10 Jazz Piano Trio Albums
Last month I blogged about my top 10 favorite jazz piano tracks, and this time around I’ll be looking at entire albums. Read on for props for Phineas, Cedar, Hampton, Mary Lou and others.
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Beetkes (Beet Latkes)
Everyone likes latkes, right? Based on my appearance and mannerisms (and in some cases my last name, which comes from the gentile side, ironically enough), folks assume I’m Jewish, and given that my mother is a Jew, that’s technically true (by the laws of Israel or whatever). From a faith-and-upbringing standpoint I’m really not, but…
Continue ReadingPersonal Art
As I prepare for the first performance of Know Thyself since last November (August 14, New Haven Jazz Festival), I find myself reflecting on what it entails to present music that is deeply personal, something that this piece does on a level far beyond anything I have ever written. I’m proud of the music in…
Continue ReadingBroiled Black Beans with Sage
This recipe is tasty and ridiculously easy. Its main purpose is to find a use for excessive sage. If sage is overrunning your herb garden, this is for you, or you can probably virtually any savory herb for which that’s the case. This is not a “go out to the gourmet store and spend 8 bucks for a little package of sage” kind of recipe.
Continue ReadingTop 10 Piano Trio Tracks
Given my line of work, this is a particularly tough one to narrow down. If you look at my other top 10 lists, you’ll see that there are also lists for piano trio albums and for piano solos. This is for standout individual tracks and takes the whole performance (e.g. not just the piano) into account.
Continue ReadingVegan Cream of Spinach Soup
This is a really simple and very tasty “cream” soup that accomodates both wheat and dairy allergies.
Continue ReadingTop 10 Los Lobos Tracks
I’m not sure that Los Lobos are particularly cool, but I love ’em and am struck by how hard it was for me to narrow down to 10 fave tracks from among the dozens of excellent songs they’ve come up with.
Continue ReadingEDS Awareness Month 2010: Belonging
May is EDS Awareness Month and here I discuss how one’s ability to “belong” is impacted by having a “rare disease.”
Continue ReadingTop 10 Jazz Albums for Piano Comping
Here is my list of great comping albums, from crisply swinging to dense and aggressive. To the uninitiated, comping is the rhythmic, improvised playing of chords to accompany a melody or solo.
Continue ReadingHummus: basic and with variations
Kate’s open studio happened yesterday (and quite successfully I must say, attempting to temper my husbandly pride) and among my jobs was being on hummus duty, not a bad job to have. If you want to cut to the chase of the recipe, feel free to skip the next paragraph. My relationship with hummus began…
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