One image of jazz in 2007 sticks with me most: Thelonious Monk at Starbucks. When I paid for my latte at New York's JFK airport in November, there he was, looking right at me from the cover of "The Measure of Monk," the latest checkout-counter CD compilation offered by the coffee chain. Hell, if those folks ordering frappuccinos can learn to say "Crepuscule with Nellie" (track … [Read more...] about thelonious at starbucks (year-in-review)
unnatural disaster, natural responses
The Open Society Institute, sponsor of the Katrina Media Fellowship that funded my work in New Orleans, has created a fascinating new website, "Katrina: An Unnatural Disaster". (My own page on the site is here.) It's a great resource, not least because it allows you to explore and cross-reference various strands of the post-Katrina New Orleans experience (culture, insurance, … [Read more...] about unnatural disaster, natural responses
two beats to the bar, forever
In general, signs of decay on a New Orleans building is a bad thing. Not so for the gorgeous dilapidation of Preservation Hall. You won't find much real jazz on Bourbon Street these days. But not far from it, there is -- and I'd like to think, will always be -- Preservation Hall. Here's a short appreciation of the hall and its wonderful recent boxed-set release, as appeared in … [Read more...] about two beats to the bar, forever
dust to dust: saluting joel dorn
Joel Dorn, who was one hell of a record producer and a dear friend, died yesterday of a heart attack at 65. Joel loved good music, knew it when he heard it -- from Roberta Flack to Rahsaan Roland Kirk, the Allman Brothers to Max Roach, and on and on. Joel was a hoops man. Knew the game, loved it. And he heard the music in bouncing balls and sneaker-on-wood squeaks. … [Read more...] about dust to dust: saluting joel dorn
hot music, hot-button issues — hot 8 brass band
Through my months on end in New Orleans during the past two years, few have inspired me on and off the bandstand and especially in the streets like the members of the Hot 8 Brass Band. In a city pushing hard to move forward yet ever-pulled by its powerful past, hit hard by tragedy yet soothed by transcendent charms, no band better embodies these complicated tensions, nor the … [Read more...] about hot music, hot-button issues — hot 8 brass band