When the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra flourished, one of the complaints by the guys in the band was that Jones didn't assign himself enough solos. They loved to hear him play. Who wouldn't? A video has just surfaced in which at a 1970s concert in Germany the band plays "Cherry Juice" and Thad … [Read more...]
Archives for February 8, 2008
Good Company
It is a pleasure to find Poodie James mentioned with fellow artsjournal.com blogger Alex Ross's landmark book The Rest Is Noise. Richard Kamins of the Hartford Courant managed to put my little novel and Alex's study of twentieth century music under the same roof in his column "See! Hear!" … [Read more...]
On Not Learning To Say No
In a moment of enthusiasm or weakness, I agreed to give a speech. The deadline is looming, and if I don't set aside other things and prepare, a large roomful of listeners will be hearing me read my driver's license. Blogging will have to slow for a while. As it turns out, this isn't a bad time for … [Read more...]