With the recent induction of the 2010 class of NEA Jazz Masters, some of the most glaring omissions in my eyes have been rectified, namely Yusef Lateef, Bobby Hutcherson and Cedar Walton. This led me to reflect on who now tops the list of most deserving musicians not yet honored.
Continue ReadingThis was a tough one to narrow down, especially without having a list devoted to each type of saxophone. Just remember that this is a “favorites” list and not “best” or “most important” necessarily.
Continue ReadingI generally like cooked cornmeal as a primary pancake ingredient and here is a recently-tweaked version of my recipe.
Continue ReadingMy plans for working on an idea I’ve been tossing around for probably 15 years, doing jazz arrangements of the tunes from Stevie Wonder’s Fulfillingness’ First Finale album.
Continue ReadingHere is a sampling of 10 of the many great psychedelic rock songs I discovered as a teenager listening to “Psychedelic Sunday” on New Haven’s WPLR with Mike Lapitino.
Continue ReadingThis recipe, aside from being REALLY tasty and providing serious leftovers, took only about 40 minutes from start to finish, and most of it was waiting time that enabled me to simultaneously make an elaborate salad and do some dishes. It requires a hand blender (blender-on-a-stick, whatever you call it). Without that, you’d need to let it cool a bit before throwing it in a normal blender, which would probably add 10 minutes or so to the process.
Continue ReadingDexter Gordon, Miles, Bill Evans, of course. Cecil Taylor? Also yes – read on.
Continue ReadingToday I stumbled across a great album that I’m surprised I’ve snoozed on until now, “For Phineas” by Harold Mabern and Geoffrey Keezer. As such it made me reflect on the art of duo playing and gave me the impetus to revisit this top 10 list.
Continue ReadingI whipped this together tonight in maybe 35 minutes while on the phone helping Rebecca figure out her taxes and it was tasty in a nice comfort-foody way.
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