Tag Archives: jazz music
2014–A Bad Year for Jazz
And it’s not even September yet. I don’t know why, but this is shaping up to be the year that popular culture decided to take a dump on jazz. Everyone from the normally sympathetic New Yorker to the Washington Post decided it was a slow news month, so time to let ‘er rip. But even …
Miles, Marsalis, Mayhem
I know, Miles has been getting a lot of posts lately. For a guy who has been dead over twenty years, it must seem like overkill. Last one for a while, I promise. But today being the 86th anniversary of his birth, it got me thinking about an old conflict in a new light. Of …
Musings on Miles
Next Wednesday is the 20th anniversary of Miles Davis’ death. I trust you have the altar in your home prepared, the candles ready for lighting. This year for Season Eighteen, the AJW is presenting Miles’ music for elementary school students. That’s a tough one on a variety of levels. I had some thoughts going in …
Serendipity & Second Chances
The path leading me to the life of a jazz musician was not without its twists. I always loved music, and began playing in middle school. But I dropped out of band in high school because I hated to march and didn’t see the point of playing yet another Percy Grainger air for wind ensemble. …
Dances with Dinosaurs
I saw recently that my old junior high band director, Gene Stephenson, had come out of retirement and is teaching at Coastal Bend College in his native Beeville. I credit Mr. Stephenson with essentially handing me my livelihood. He must be somewhere in his mid-70’s by now. I’m glad to see he’s still musically active. …
Growing Up Artistically
I just finished reading Weird City: A Sense of Place and Creative Resistance in Austin, Texas by Joshua Long (University of Texas Press, 2010). Found it a somewhat thin but nonetheless engaging account of recent chapters in the ongoing culture war that makes living in Austin a unique experience. Not a ‘weird’ one, as some …
Sounds Great! Could You Turn It Down?
No. Or more accurately, of course we can turn it down. But why do you want us to? We’re barely above a conversational level now. Why do people hire professional musicians and then put asinine restrictions on their ability to perform their job well? I don’t get it. You’re paying top dollar for this. Don’t …
saxsalon 