Short, often opinionated pieces by JazzTimes’ editor and other trusted contributors.
According to the Tuskegee Institute, from 1882 to 1968 there were at least 4,743 vigilante executions by lynching. Nearly three-fourths of the mutilated corpses were … Read More “Final Chorus: Billie’s Witness to Black History”
Pazz & Jop is the name of The Village Voice’s annual music poll, but we’ve swiped it for the headline of Bob Blumenthal’s interview with … Read More “JT Notes: Pop Goes the Jazzbo”
There used to be many big bands igniting dancers in ballrooms and at college proms across the land. Those on the A list-Ellington, Basie, Goodman, … Read More “Final Chorus: The Resurrection of Harry James”
Except perhaps for Jelly Roll Morton, there has never been anyone in jazz history as disciplined, grandly ambitious and sometimes pompous as Wynton Marsalis. Dizzy … Read More “Final Chorus: Wynton Marsalis and Hearing Before Your Own Time”
It all begins in the drums. It’s the heart of jazz, beating and pushing blood into all the limbs: the bass, the piano, the horns … Read More “JT Notes: Rhythm-A-Ning”
I was asked to contribute to the section, “True Confessions: How the Critics Got It Wrong!” in the Oct. 1999 issue of JazzTimes. Pompously, I … Read More “Final Chorus: When A Musician Cut Me Down to Size”
The jazz industry is enamored with tributes: albums and concerts honoring past masters and mentors are as common an occurrence as a new Wynton Marsalis … Read More “JT Notes: Tributaries”
On November 1, Oscar Peterson accepted for Norman Granz a “Lifetime Achievement Award” presented by Jazz at Lincoln Center. Granz, who lives in Switzerland, could … Read More “Final Chorus: The Nonpareil Norman Granz”
The millennium is over. Well, supposedly not until next year, but don’t tell Peter Jennings. I spent the end of the year, century and millennium … Read More “JT Notes: Millennihype”
