May 25, 2015
Today is Memorial Day in America, a time to pause and reflect on those in our armed forces who paid the ultimate price in serving their country. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate fallen Union soldiers. By the 20th century Memorial Day had been extended to honor...
May 20, 2015
One of the great joys I have in writing this blog and preparing podcasts is the friendship that I sometimes strike up with jazz musicians. I am proud to say that Bob Belden was my friend, and it is with great sadness that I report his passing of a massive heart attack. He was 58.
I had spoken to Bob just a week ago, and...
May 20, 2015
Bruce Lundvall, the former CEO of Blue Note Records and a man with an uncanny ability to identify talent in jazz music, died May 19, 2015. He was 79 years old, and had been living in a senior assisted living center in New Jersey for complications related to his battle with Parkinson's disease.
Lundvall is credited with...
May 13, 2015
When the write the history of popular music composers of the late 20th century, only a handful of names will appear repeatedly. Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Lennon & McCartney, and Laura Nyro will surely be there. Cases can be made for Smokey Robinson and Randy Newman, and perhaps Tom Waits. And in my humble...
May 10, 2015
I had much more difficult time picking a song to celebrate Mother's Day than I did for Father's Day. The latter has a natural winner - Horace Silver's "Song for My Father". But Mother's Day was another story entirely.
I could have done like Marc Myers on his JazzWax blog and chosen "16 for Mother's Day." Neil Tesser...