Yeah, I know! The government, the leaders, and the whole system seems like a total joke lately. The President, Congress, the candidates, police and race scandals, and we in California have “Moonbeam” for our governor who is more concerned about a…
Category: No One Asked My Opinion, But…
SWINGIN’ MINNESOTA
What first comes to your mind when you think of Minnesota? You betcha! Lots of Scandinavians, jello salads (ugh), blonds (ok), the Vikings (hmm) and lutefisk (OOH BOY!). But this state which houses the Twin Cities of St. Paul and…
JAZZ FOR JAZZ HATERS
One of the rules of life that I live by is that “It’s not so much ‘I know what I like’ as ‘I like what I know.’” Most people don’t appreciate jazz because they have no frame of reference. Back…
MUSIC FOR HISTORY MAJORS
I hope that all of you appreciate what a GOLDEN ERA we are living in regarding reissues and newly undiscovered historical recordings. When I first got into jazz, there were just records albums and a few labels that reissued anything…
JAZZ CLUBS: STILL THE BEST DATE IN TOWN
You would think that LA is THE place to take your spouse or whatever-you-want-to-call-it-these-days, but the pickings are surprisingly slim. There are a ton of movie theatres, but gimme a break; they all show basically the same movies. Hanging out…
IT’S TOP TEN TIME!!!
Basically, there are two lists of people: those who make lists, and those who don’t. Badda Boom! Me, I LOVE lists! On my refrigerator door used to be a picture of Fredric Chopin next to one of Franz Liszt, and…
TOP REASONS TO LOVE THE SEASON!
Yes, it can be commercialized, but SO WHAT?!? There’s something about the Christmas season that is special. Yes, you have Chanukah, Kwaanza and a bunch of other holidays that vie for attention, but the Big Cheese of holidays is on…
A MONTH OF GIVING THANKS
Isn’t it amazing that almost every holiday has a song except Thanksgiving? What’s THAT all about?!? There’s even songs for The Great Pumpkin, thanks to Charlie Brown. Why do we give Thanksgiving such short shrift? Thankfulness is one of the…
‘TIS AUTUMN
My wife and I just got back from the New England States of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island to 1) go to a “destination wedding” 2) take in a game at Fenway Park and b) catch at least a part…
GET RHYTHM!
Even Johnny Cash sang about it. You gotta have that drive that makes you want to dance if you care about people listening to music. Concerts (and church, for that matter) were intended for CELEBRATION, not CEREBRATION. A soloist is…