I am thrilled that Sunny Jain will be visiting Wesleyan University’s campus for a concert this Saturday afternoon and then coming back throughout the academic year for a residency. Best known for leading the band Red Baraat, he is a remarkable drummer, composer, dhol player, bandleader, entrepreneur, and activist. I also have the privilege of…
Continue ReadingI have loved Peter Gabriel for most of my life and on some level have only in recent years realized the degree to which that’s true. It’s a funny thing about inspiration, something I talk about often when teaching jazz history or other sorts of history/appreciation courses – the narratives favor clear-cut lines of influence,…
Continue ReadingI missed posting this on the 100th birth anniversary of Philly Joe Jones by a day, but my celebration thereof continues. Generally I’m very careful in suggesting any superlativeness in these inherently subjective Top 10 lists. However, there has never been a musician who has swung harder than Philly Joe and there never will be,…
Continue ReadingDennis Mackrel is at once a giant as a jazz drummer and as a composer, arranger, and conductor. There are certainly important jazz drummers who’ve written great tunes, but at least until recently the list was much smaller if the criteria include a high level of arranging and orchestration skill. That standard was probably set…
Continue ReadingDavid Lindley, who recently passed on at the age of 78, was a musical chameleon – a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, explorer of multiple cultures and phases of American music history, and more. As a devotee of slide guitar, I was first reeled in to his work through hearing him play electric lap steel as a…
Continue ReadingWhat a winter of centennials – Bags, then Dexter, now a happy 100th birth anniversary to the extraordinary guitarist Wes Montgomery. Back when I was a teenager, I used to read guitar magazines and as limited as my own chops on that instrument were (and indeed maxed out at being), I was nonetheless fascinated by…
Continue ReadingHappy 100th birth anniversary (on 2/27) to absolutely one of the greatest tenor saxophonists who ever lived, Dexter Gordon. When I was a senior in high school, my friend Jimmy Greene loaned me two Dexter cassettes that blew my mind: the mid-60s Blue Note session Gettin’ Around and the mid-70s Steeplechase record Bouncin’ With Dex…
Continue ReadingWow, what a great run Burt Bacharach had for his 94+ years on the planet. So many wonderful songs, so many of them performed in diverse ways by varied performers. These aren’t intended to be the “best” (as indeed is the case for all these lists) but these are the tracks I’ve been reaching for…
Continue ReadingUpon learning of guitarist Jeff Beck’s passing, I find myself reflecting on the significant impact his music had on my development (in addition to, of course, the impact he had on music itself). I encountered his music in passing here and there as a kid (hearing a Yardbirds song here and there, watching the MTV…
Continue ReadingI listened to a LOT of music this year. Maybe that’s true every year, but this time around I spreadsheeted up (to keep track on various levels) and the stats say that I averaged about 8 full albums and 6-7 more partial albums each week. Hundreds of these were marked as warranting attention, so even…
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