Archives for November 2005

The tenor saxophonist and composer Alex Coke wrote me from his home in Austin, Texas, asking if I would listen to his new CD. After going to his website, I replied, with misgivings, that if he sent the album, I would. Music advertised as being on a social mission is almost certain to end up on the … [Read more...]

Early tomorrow, I'm headed back to Seattle and the Earshot Jazz Festival to cover the Bill Charlap Trio for Jazz Times. I'll be traveling light; that is, without the laptop, so the probability of new Rifftides posts is small for the next couple of days. Unlike some foresightful bloggers, this one … [Read more...]

If Beethoven had been killed in a plane crash at the age of 22, it would have changed the history of music... and of aviation—Tom Stoppard … [Read more...]

Bob Brookmeyer periodically posts Currents, his reflections—not all of them ascerbic—on music, life, love, war and other matters. The next one is often a long time coming. The last one was on July 5, shortly after a club gig in New York. The Jazz Standard is a very fine place and the people who … [Read more...]

In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness—Mahatma Ghandi … [Read more...]

Rifftides reader Doug Freeman reports from Los Angeles that he has finished reading Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond. Perhaps more than any biography I've read, yours leaves me wanting to know this man, to hang with him as you were fortunate enough to do. Mr. Freeman has a … [Read more...]

My problem is that I appeal to everyone that can do me absolutely no good—Rodney Dangerfield They say you should be nice to everyone on your way up because you might need them on your way down. I haven’t seen anyone I know on the way down—Jack Sheldon … [Read more...]