The new book and DVD recommendations are finally in place under Doug's Picks in the right-hand column. I stretched the DVD category to make you aware of a discovery. I doubt that you'll be sorry. … [Read more...]
Archives for August 2006
The Policy On Comments
Readers have asked why Rifftides does not allow comments to be posted directly. I want the opportunity to review comments and, when it feels right, to respond to them in context and with editorial discretion. It has developed, as I thought it would, that Rifftides readers are not inclined to … [Read more...]
Comment: Pops On Film
Rifftides reader Marc Myers writes from New York City about the Louis Armstrong video mentioned yesterday: Fabulous clip of Pops in the 1930s! Pure joy. Two observations: The band appears to be integrated, which is strange if this is indeed the early 1930s. In addition, none of the musicians is … [Read more...]
Louis Armstrong’s Birthday
Louis Armstrong liked to tell people, and may have believed, that he was born on the Fourth of July, 1900. Given the circumstances of his family and of the rough part of New Orleans he came from, it is not unlikely that civic records were haphazard. Twelve years after Armstrong died in 1971, … [Read more...]
Sir Jim Hall
Speaking of colleagues, in case you haven't heard the news about guitarist Jim Hall's latest honor, there is no one better to tell you than his proud daughter Devra, aka the blogger DevraDowrite. Congratulations to both. … [Read more...]
Why The Cornet?
August 3, 2006 Deborah Hendrick read the comment about Bix Beiderbecke having been a cornetist, not a trumpeter, and asks: As part of my continuing education, why would a musician choose a trumpet over a cornet, or the other way around? Experts on brass instruments have written volumes on that … [Read more...]
Comment: Bix Beiderbecke
An alert reader of my Wall Street Journal piece about trumpeter Randy Sandke sent the following message: I read your article mentioning the Beiderbecke Festival in The Wall Street Journal. I enjoyed the reading, but I felt compelled to clear up a point. Seems like you referred to "Davenport, Iowa, … [Read more...]