Ornette Coleman and The First Day of the Rest of My Life
Sean MurphyTopic: The Album You'd Give Anything To Hear Again for The First Time I still remember everything about it. Fall semester, senior year. The more I learned at college, the…
Beauty is a Rare Thing: Celebrating International Jazz Day (Revisited)
All hope is not lost. At least enough people are still making --and listening to-- jazz that we can even attempt to initiate what hopefully becomes an ongoing occasion. In…
Happy Birthday Chazz: Mingus at 92
Today would have been (and, still is) Charles Mingus's 92nd birthday. I've written about him often and I'll continue to write about him, not only because he is one of…
Celebrating Herbie Hancock, Again…
First and foremost: Thank you, universe, for giving us the gift of Herbie Hancock 74 years ago, Saturday (4/12). Second, PSA for the uninitiated: everything Herbie did during the '60s…
One More Blue Nightmare: Aram Bajakian’s Back Again (with the album of the year)
What has Aram Bajakian been up to since the release of his remarkable debut, Kef, in 2011? Not much. He’s been on the road with both Lou Reed (RIP) and…
Yusef Lateef: R.I.P., Gentle Giant
We have lost one of the great, indeed one of the greatest, ones. Yusef Lateef, aged 93 years young, was finally stopped by cancer on December 23. I say…
Newtown and The Healing Power of Music, Featuring Herbie Hancock
I feel obliged to say something, anything, on this sombre occasion. Fortunately, Sean Beaudoin has done some heavy, eloquent lifting in the service of sanity, healing, and remembrance. Sean is an…
7 From McCoy Tyner For His 75th
McCoy Tyner turns 75 years young today. In a saner and more soulful world, Tyner would be a household name. As it is, he remains an American treasure, a remarkable…
Pete La Roca, R.I.P. (One Year Later)
It will be an ongoing, and very somber, progression, watching so many old-school jazz musicians (many of whom recorded on the epic Blue Note label during the glory years of…
Butch Warren, R.I.P.
I know I sound like a broken record on these occasions but the simple fact of the matter is this: there are artists leaving our planet who can't --and in…