For you folks that are tuning in from Canada, Europe, and beyond, let me just say YES, I knew the United States was messed up, but not just how messed up until the unthinkable happened four years ago. Months after the nightmare has ended, I still give thanks every day that the democracy, imperfect as …
I was briefly involved with the Herb Sherry organization in the 80’s while trying to survive as a newcomer in New York City. Playing single engagements or “clubdates” was a way to make some low commitment money back then. Due to musicians being forced into lower echelon work by a collapsing music biz, I used …
But I think it’s finally starting to stop
…I find the mood of this tune so melancholy that it’s a helpful release for the heartbreak humanity constantly washes over itself.
Hey folks, I wanted to share this part of an ongoing avenue of my practice to develop “stand alone” solo playing of both standards and free tunes. This one is actually All the Things You Are with an extended variation on the traditional intro. The goal of course is for it to make compositional sense …
Hello Folks, Our new album “Freebird and Other Jazzy Things” is now available on iTunes and Amazon. If, despite my ruthless spamming, you did not attend our CD release event at Boxley’s, you Seattle friends have the opportunity to hear The Young Lizards at Tula’s this Tuesday, March 4th at 7:30 p.m. Cuts from the …
Hey Folks, Here are some shots from The Lizard session at Studio X . What an awesome facility, and thank you to Reed (owner/engineer) for your ongoing support of jazz. Since our new tunes are a ton harder than those on our first album (which we recorded live), we thought the whole process might be …
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced the recipients of the 2012 Jazz Masters Award, “the nation’s highest honor in jazz.” This lofty honor bestows the grand sum of $25,000 on each of the five recipients, embarrassingly low for the likes of Charlie Haden and Jack DeJohnette, two of this year’s five recipients. Incidently, …
Hey Pacific Northwest jazz friends, fans and aficionados, please join us for the first annual Olympia Jazz Walk tomorrow, Saturday, August 27th! Dave Peterson and I will be in power-duo mode from 7pm to 10pm at the Olympia Downtown Association. At 10pm we will roll up the street to join the Count Basie alumnus and … Continue reading
Hello Seattle friends, I’ll be playing with the Nate Parker Trio at Piccola Cellars on Wed, June 29th at 7:30pm. This concert is sponsored by the Boxley Music Fund, a great friend and supporter of live jazz music and music education in the Northwest. I will be joined by drummer Greg Williamson and bassist and leader, … Continue reading
Hello Pacific Northwest Jazz Friends, I will be playing at this year’s 2015 North Bend Jazz Walk on Saturday, March 14th, 2015 from 7 to 10 pm. The jazz walk you will remember features dozens of Northwest jazz stars (like me) at over 20 venues, all for one low, low price. Kind of like speed-dating … Continue reading
Hello Pacific Northwest Friends, I’m heading up to the North Bend Jazz Walk shortly to play with jazz masters Clarence Acox and Steve Luceno. If you are among the very few Seattle vicinity residents who have not (despite the juggernaut of spam and advertising) HEARD about this event, please check it out. Nearly every restaurant, … Continue reading
Hello, Pacific Northwest jazz friends. I will be playing with the PONY BOY RECORDS JAZZ ALL-STAR BIG BAND at the North Bend Jazz Walk tomorrow (Saturday, September 14th) at 9:00 p.m. in the North Bend Theatre. WE WILL BE JOINED BY SERIOUS JAZZ TENOR MONSTER PETE CHRISTLIEB!! Please come by and see us and the … Continue reading
Hello folks, My inspiration for a post this week is at an all-time-low so please enjoy this cut instead. This tune is called “Revised Music For Low Budget Jazz Quartet” by guitarist/composer David White. Dave will correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe this tune was inspired by a Paul Hindemith composition and weaves … Continue reading
Hello Folks, Welcome to our new international guests and my apologies for boring you with yet more on the U.S. election. I can’t resist updating my earlier post on the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), our modest source of government sponsored arts funding now that our election is decided. The NEA has been a loved … Continue reading
Partly to welcome our new friends from Burkina Faso, and partly to satisfy my own need for new sounds, I availed myself of the bounty of the internet and found this excellent cut by Volta Jazz of Burkina Faso. The song entitled Fintalabo and composed by Kone Idrissa was posted to the VOM website by … Continue reading
Hello Seattle Jazz Fans, Not-nearly-famous-enough New York jazz tenor giant Rich Perry of Mel Lewis and Marie Schneider fame will be here in SEATTLE at Hiroshi’s this Friday, October 19th, and at Boxley’s on Saturday, October 20th. DO NOT MISS THIS CAT! I dropped in to Tula’s last night and the show was awesome. I … Continue reading
Hey folks, Speaking of “Rich” it looks like the lawyers pulled the repost I did of the Steve Marcus/Buddy Rich Youtube video on my earlier post. Here’s a replacement video of Steve on tenor blowing a great solo on a tune based on the chord changes from “Cherokee”. Fantastic player. I would see Steve on … Continue reading
