Lee Mergner is JazzTimes‘ Contributing Editor. Between 1990 and 2018, he served the magazine in a multitude of roles, including Editor and Publisher.
Lee Mergner on social media
Bassist Nicki Parrott is truly a musician’s musician. Except that she also sings. Although she came a little late to the vocals game, she’s become … Read More “Nicki Parrott: It’s Possible to Sing and Play the Bass”
The term “journeyman” often gets used in a pejorative way to describe veteran jazz musicians of a certain age, like they’re perennial sidemen or sidewomen … Read More “Chuck Redd: Real Good Vibes”
How do you sum up the life and career of Miles Davis in just under two hours? That was the challenge that noted documentary filmmaker … Read More “Inside Stanley Nelson, Jr.’s New Miles Davis Documentary”
“This whole venture is based on friendship and synergy,” says Todd Barkan, jazz nightclub impresario and co-owner of Keystone Korner Baltimore, which opened on April … Read More “The Scene: Keystone Korner Baltimore”
When it comes to narrative arcs, few are more compelling than the story of two people on separate life paths who eventually connect and create … Read More “Joey DeFrancesco and Pharoah Sanders: Meeting of the Spirits”
Have you ever known someone for so long that you can’t remember when or where or how or even why you first met? Sometimes we … Read More “Lee Mergner Remembers Jim Miller”
Over the last five years or so, the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO) has been through a lot of turmoil [see Jennifer Odell’s story in … Read More “Adonis Rose: To Swing Toussaint”
Jennifer Wharton lives and breathes trombone. She even admits to having a dress adorned with them (see the photo above for proof). The bass trombonist, … Read More “Jennifer Wharton: All About That Bass Trombone”
The inspiration for Kurt Elling’s radio play The Big Blind—co-written with Phil Galdston and premiering at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York on Mar. … Read More “Kurt Elling Readies The Big Blind for NYC Premiere”
On the eve of his 75th birthday, singer/songwriter/pianist Ben Sidran decided to release a three-CD compilation of performances spanning the last 40 years or so. … Read More “Ben Sidran Recounts His Seven Decades in Jazz”
I first met Ira Sabin in 1989. I had moved from my hometown of Philadelphia to the D.C. area to be with my then girlfriend, … Read More “Lee Mergner Remembers Ira Sabin”
One of the most interesting collaborations in recent years between a world-class jazz musician and an acclaimed poet—the album Sung With Words—got off to a … Read More “Helen Sung: Words and Music”
In 1958 Art Kane was a successful art director who had dabbled in professional photography and was itching to make it his full-time profession. Knowing … Read More “Art Kane: A Great Day Frame by Frame”
When trumpeter/singer Brian Newman had to come up with a title for his first album on Verve, he didn’t enlist any of the usual clichés. … Read More “Brian Newman: Cincinnati Swing Meets Vegas”
Ted Rosenthal has a long and impressive résumé. The 58-year-old pianist was an early winner of the prestigious Thelonious Monk Competition and went on to … Read More “Ted Rosenthal’s Dear Erich: Grandmother to Son”
Lots of jazz artists and presenters like to talk about reaching a younger audience. But few go as far as clarinetist and saxophonist Oran Etkin, … Read More “Oran Etkin: Music as Child’s Play”
At the Newport Jazz Festival in August, drummer Nate Smith is seemingly everywhere at once. Most artists are proud to do one set at the … Read More “Nate Smith: Taking Jazz Ahead”
Above: Tony Bennett and Diana Krall during the recording sessions for Love Is Here to Stay at Avatar Studios in New York. Photo: Mark Seliger. … Read More “Tony Bennett & Diana Krall: They Like a Gershwin Tune”
Things are a little tense backstage midway through the big opening night concert at the Newport Jazz Festival, held at the International Tennis Hall of … Read More “Earning the Songs of Bill Withers”
The presence of jazz players on non-jazz records constitutes a long tradition in American popular music, but it may have hit its peak in the … Read More “The 10 Greatest Jazz Cameos on Pop Songs”
Quick, what do Andy Warhol, Peter Max, and Romare Bearden all have in common? Our headline gives away the answer, of course, because yes, all … Read More “The Top 10 Jazz Album Covers of All Time”
JazzTimes’ own Christopher Loudon once called Michael Franks “the trippy troubadour,” which has a nice alliterative ring to it that the literary singer/songwriter might well … Read More “Michael Franks Is Happy to Be “Some Old Jazz Guy””
Every summer as New York City sweats and steams its way through the latter part of July, a truly cool jazz event holds court at … Read More “Bill Charlap on the Jazz in July Series”
Van Morrison’s love for jazz and blues is well documented, going back to his genre-bending classic Astral Weeks, recorded in 1968 and featuring bassist Richard … Read More “Joey DeFrancesco on Working With Van Morrison”
When Sonny Rollins’ Way Out West was released by Contemporary Records in 1957, it got plenty of attention, and not just for its sharply funny … Read More “Chops: Sonny Rollins on the Way of “Way Out West””
With the publication of her memoir Swinger! A Jazz Girl’s Adventures from Hollywood to Harlem, Judy Carmichael has added one more title to her already … Read More “Judy Carmichael: Jazz and the C Word (That’s Cancer)”
On a frigidly cold night in January, Kurt Elling opened his showcase set at Birdland in New York City by singing the first few verses … Read More “Kurt Elling: Living the Questions”
The themes of intergenerational support and the power of community rang loud and clear throughout the celebration of the 2018 class of NEA Jazz Masters, … Read More “Live Review: 2018 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert”
With so many of the other pieces in our Education Guides in print and in this Education section on our website devoted entirely to the … Read More “Scott Houston: The Piano Guy on PBS”
It’s never easy to find the words to say goodbye, especially when there are conditions to that goodbye. Indeed, mine is loaded with conditions, but … Read More “My Opening Farewell”
