What’s It All About, Then? Part Four: Jazz, Featuring McCoy Tyner
Sean MurphyIt occurs to me that I've said little, on the record, about McCoy Tyner. This is a shame, since he is one of my all-time favorite musicians and a case…
Props on Pops (Revisited)
I have written more than once about my mother (here and here) but I haven't said a great deal (here) about my old man. That is, in part, because he…
No One Has Ever Done Anything as Well as John Coltrane Played the Saxophone (Revisited)
The question isn’t, really, about who might be interested in this documentary; it is about who might not be. For fans who already know everything, or those indifferent to jazz…
The Dead Kenny Gs: Operation Long Leash
I have a dream. If I could get some of what I envision, we would live in a world where peace, love, and understanding wasn’t funny. The Wall Street miscreants…
Six Love Songs
I seldom need an excuse to talk about Love (not that Love, this Love). I'm speaking, of course, about the great Arthur Lee and his band. In addition to the…
The Man Who Improved Music: An Appreciation of Norio Ohga
Depending on how old you are, the iconic image above may mean different things. If you are young enough that digital files have been the primary way you've experienced music…
Down With The King: Wherein the Mysteries of Easter are Contemplated (Revisited)
Right. So what's scarier: a grown man dressed in a bunny costume, an actual adult-sized Bunny, or whatever chemicals comprise these things? Or, you know, this "bunny". Or Jimmy Stewart…
Two From Pat Martino for a Rainy Spring Day
Two perfect songs for a rainy day (two perfect songs, period) from the great Pat Martino's first album as a leader, El Hombre. This is a fantastic album (deep, soulful…
Every Day is Earth Day (Redux)
I'm so proud of my Pops. Last night, quite out of the blue (or, out of the black as the case may be), he said he had to ask…
Mark Twain: The Big Daddy of American Letters (Revisited)
On April 21, 1910, author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, died in Redding, Conn. Patriot: the person who can holler the loudest without knowing what he is…