Brian Gilmore
Brian’s Contributions
05/03/10 Albums
The New World
Bradley Parker-Sparrow
I have a few friends and associates from the world of spoken word/poetry who have heard of Bradley Parker Sparrow’s latest album, The New World . They note that Parker-Sparrow, the Chicago born pianist and composer, does take chances on The New World mostly...
04/15/10 Albums
Merge
Chris Greene Quartet
A confession: an Ellington fanatic like me went straight to Track #6 when I put on the latest release by the Chris Greene Quartet. Track #6 is Billy Strayhorn’s “Lotus Blossom,” a song that Duke Ellington immortalized in a piano solo version after Strayhorne’s...
04/15/10 Albums
Horns of Plenty
Jeff Chan
On “Up Above,” the first track on Jeff Chan’s latest release, Horns of Plenty , that old jazz theory about the silence between the notes being most important is on display. This is because Chan, the Bay area based saxophonist, and bass clarinetist, uses...
03/16/10 Books
I Walked With Giants: The Autobiography of Jimmy Heath
Brian Gilmore reviews the autobiography of saxophonist Jimmy Heath, a true survivor.
03/05/10 Books
The Blue Moment: Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue and the Remaking of Modern Music
Richard Williams
In Richard Williams’ The Blue Moment: Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and the Remaking of Modern Music , Williams accomplishes two very difficulty things. First, he proves that despite books and other writings about the Miles Davis classic, there is still so much...
01/25/10 Albums
Serious Jass Project
Ralph Carney
As far as I am concerned, saxophonist, Ralph Carney has three things going to him no matter what. First, he has played extensively with Tom Waits, one of my all time favorite characters in popular music. Second, he is from Akron, home of poets, Van Jordan...
01/25/10 Albums
Varistar
Varistar
Three men. Three instruments. Cornet, Tuba, Guitar. It would seem these instruments do not even go together. However, Varistar, a trio, is ambitious and courageous because even recordings with more modern instrumentation have problems filling up the space...
01/05/10 Albums
Transition in Tradition (En hommage a Sidney Bechet)
Courtney Pine
England’s Courtney Pine is always trying the music. Years ago, when he took a chance and dipped heavily into dance hall beats on his Closer to Home release, some traditionalists cried foul. But Pine, reaching for his personal roots, played powerful on Closer...
01/05/10 Albums
Involved
Kobie Watkins
Drummers as leaders often have a difficult time putting their imprint on recordings. Chico Hamilton, the L.A. legend and giant, is the model for today’s drummers. Chicago’s Kobie Watkins on his album, “Involved” takes the leadership idea seriously. He plays...
12/01/09 Books
Last Call at the Tin Palace
Paul Pines
As is the case with poetry with connections to jazz (music), the possibilities, as the cliché goes, are endless. Yet, it is true; poetry is “word music” and good poets, and Paul Pines (Pines is also a novelist and a New York based psychotherapist) is one...
12/01/09 Books
The Jazz Fiction Anthology
Sascha Feinstein & David Rife
Brian Gilmore reviews recent anthology of fiction dedicated to jazz.
12/01/09 Books
Race, Music, and National Identity: Images of Jazz in American Fiction 1920-1960
Paul McCann
Paul McCann is a scholar, and a Literature scholar at that who does not necessarily come to music naturally in his work. But McCann knows literature and American culture, and he attempts very well to bring jazz and fiction together in Race, Music, and National...
12/01/09 Books
The Life and Music of Benny More: Wildman of Rhythm
John Radanovich
Until many read John Radanovich’s biography of Benny More, the late Cuban superstar, they will begin to understand the importance of African strains to jazz music and most of the other music forms that dominate the Americas. It is all here. You will learn...
12/01/09 Books
Highbrow/Lowbrow: Theater, Jazz, and the Making of the New Middle Class
David Savran
Of all the sections in Highbrow/Lowbrow:Theater, Jazz, and the Making of the New Middle Class , the section that discusses the legendary American composer George Gershwin followed by a very succinct and compelling account of the groundbreaking black musical...
10/15/09 Books
Thriving on a Riff: Jazz and Blues Influences in African-American Literature and Film
Graham Lock and David Murray
Two anthologies look at the relationship between jazz and the arts
10/15/09 Books
Freedom Sounds: Civil Rights Call Out to Jazz and Africa
Ingrid Monson
Book examines relationship between jazz and the Civil Rights movement in the '60s
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ReportAbout Brian Gilmore
Poet, writer, and public interest attorney, Brian Gilmore is the author of two collections of poetry: "elvis presley is alive and well and living in harlem (Third World Press)" and "Jungle Nights and Soda Fountain Rags: poem for duke ellington (Karibu Books)." Currently, he is a contributing writer for ebony jet online, and a columnist with The Progressive Media Project.