As a child, few things were more sublime than a bowl of cereal eaten leisurely while reading the Sunday comics. My sisters and I would each scheme to be the first to grab the newspaper. Newspaper comics, in color, happened only once a week, and scarcity made them more cherishedContinue Reading
Roy Hargrove was one of the “young lions,” jazz musicians who formed a vanguard of talented newcomers to the jazz scene in the 80s and 90s. Being partial to trumpets, I came across his music while browsing the bins at Tower Records. It’s hard to pin down his style, butContinue Reading
Bill Evans made beautiful music. Among jazz greats, he is near the top. Jazz pianists can be lauded for technical skill, lyricism, and innovation. All the greats show evidence of each, but usually, one area stands out. For me, Bill Evans stands out for his lyricism and the subtle intimacyContinue Reading
Back in the days when Tower Records was the place to shop for music, I used to spend at least two afternoons each month browsing the jazz section for new releases. I had long since learned that jazz critics and I did not hear the same thing on recordings, so reading magazinesContinue Reading
Not long ago, I signed up for cloud storage for my music collection. I started digitizing my collection years ago but had only managed to convert about 100 CDs. Now I have far more than 100, and I had stopped listening to many of them because doing so required diggingContinue Reading
I hated jazz. In a conversation with an older friend, 30-year-old me held as ridiculous that anyone really liked jazz. I grew up with the last major wave in jazz expression, “free.” This was the style that came with Ornette Coleman in the early 60s. Bitches Brew, the much-heralded 25-minute soundContinue Reading
