14 Songs For Turning 41
Sean MurphyTo know the man, get to know his music. (Or, to paraphrase Al Pacino in Serpico, "If you love the man's music, you have to love the man!") There are…
Progressive Rock With a Capital P: Traffic’s ‘John Barleycorn Must Die’
One difficulty with talking intelligently about much of the amazing music made in the ‘70s is that it is so often lazily lumped together. Classic Rock, Progressive Rock, Freedom Rock,…
Robert Johnson: The Centennial of an American Genius
Does any single figure loom as large over an art form as Robert Johnson? Bach and Shakespeare come to mind, but classical music, like literature, took centuries and multiple…
What’s It All About, Then? Part Four: Jazz, Featuring McCoy Tyner
It 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…
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…
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…