Jeff Beck: The Guitar Grandmaster
Sean MurphyAs impossible at it is to believe Jeff Beck has died (aged 78), it’s just as difficult to fathom that he was with us in the first place. If you’re…
Original Poem: St. James’s Place
I've only been to Atlantic City one time (friend's bachelor party, obvi) and, admittedly, not being a gambler or fan of rooms thick with cigarette smoke (circa 2002), and loathing…
2022: A Creative Recap
From 1455’s Movable Type, Issue 13 (peruse the complete archives, here). So, what’s next? It’s possible this endeavor could continue to evolve and grow in the right ways, or we might…
Pelé: Ambassador of Joy
There are two ways to describe what a big deal it was to receive this toy as a Christmas gift in 1970-something. First, it was high tech entertainment for the…
The Fire Sermon: T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” at 100
Art is long, and Time is fleeting, Longfellow wrote, and we’d already read it—words largely if not entirely lost on the average university freshman. It was 1989, and I was…
Kurt Vonnegut at 100
So It Goes: Reflections on Kurt Vonnegut (written after his death in 2007 and included in my first collection of non-fiction, Murphy's Law Vol. One). Kurt Vonnegut would say in…
The Killer: He Didn’t Want to Miss Out on Great
“If I had it all to do over, I'd do the same thing again. I think I would, because if I didn't, I'd miss out on something great. I've had…
Original Poem: Lightnin’ Hopkins’s Bottle
It's a thrill to once again grace the pages of The Blue Mountain Review. As someone who runs an exceedingly modest (though sublimely designed -- thanks again to 1455 Creative…
Steadfast and Inimitable: The Sound & Vision of Pharoah Sanders
Not a fan of Led Zeppelin, The Clash’s Paul Simonon once opined: “Just looking at their album covers makes me want to throw up.” When it comes to Pharoah Sanders,…
Celebrating Sue Mingus
Sad to hear the news of Sue Mingus's passing, but am here to celebrate an incredible life fully led, with adventure and passion to spare. And for us jazz fans…