Monthly Archives: June, 2014
Everything I know about morality came from Shelley Berman.
When I was ten years old, I chanced upon this book in the bottom drawer of the vanity in my big sister’s room. The room itself had been unoccupied for four years, since she had left home to attend college at UT. So how this book ended up there is anyone’s guess. But there it …
The Tao of Basie
Starting this September, the AJW is going to do something never attempted in our 20-year history. We are going to take a swing at recreating the sound of the Count Basie Orchestra, using ten players. That’s half as many as Basie used, but twice as many as we fielded in the just-completed Sonny Rollins season. In fact, it’s the …
How Dry I Am
Years ago, I was having a conversation with a fellow saxophone player about playing styles, and he made a comment that left me a little bewildered. He said: “I wish I didn’t have such a beautiful tone.” Huh? Isn’t that what we all strive for? But then he elaborated: “I can sell anything just through …
Life among the Unconsoled
My favorite book, judging by the fact that I’ve now read it twice and I’m contemplating a third go-round, is Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled. Most readers know him from his shorter, more accessible works like Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go. Both are excellent, particularly Remains, which spawned a sensitive, understated movie role …
saxsalon 