“Agita, My Cumpa, in the Panzon” If you know Broadway Danny Rose and Nick Apollo Forte’, those words are as delicious as calzone.What we’ve got here is a celebration of one of the key cultures to make jazz the great…
Category: No One Asked My Opinion, But…
KRISTOS ANESTI!
Yes, it’s one of the great times of the year. Spring begins, with all of its implications. As we make the home stretch to Easter, I wanted to make a list of the best things about this Lenten Season. …
JAZZ SUCKER PUNCHES
Fads and styles come and go. Jazz “stars” rise and fall. As the Bible says, “He brings one down, He exalts another.” 60 years ago, Benny Goodman was THE star of music. Anyone listen to him now? Right now, Michael…
LA’S SIX STRINGERS
Since the days of Eddie Lang and Lonnie Johnson, guitars have been an integral part of jazz. Before plugging in, guitarists were either part of the rhythm section a la Freddie Green being the pulse of Count Basie’s Orchestra for…
WHAT’S YOUR TOP TEN?
I love this time of year when people run through their list of top ten whatevers-movies, shows, books, hair styles. I don’t care! It’s a Top Ten! I emailed a ton of various writers and jazz journalists in order to…
TOP TEN 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 THANKSGIVING
Thanksgiving, which is celebrated the 2nd to last Thursday of November (it used to be last one until FDR changed it in 1939 to help businesses during the Great Depression), is one of the few American Holidays that EVERYONE seems…
VITELLOS-THE LATEST REAL L.A. JAZZ CLUB
I’m sure everyone who reads this is terribly familiar with the bloodletting of jazz clubs in the LA area the past few years. The Bakery is gone (someday to rise like the Phoenix? It’s in my prayers), Spazios, Henri’s and…
JAZZ IN THE TUNDRA?!?
My wife has been bugging me since we first got married 28 years ago to go on an Alaska cruise. Ugh! What company do we take? Mullet Cruises? Anyway, I succumbed to the 6 day trip, and then we overlanded…
Finding America in Upstate NY
As a reward for marrying my daughter, I took my son-in-law on a male bonding trip through places only guys appreciate. As a California boy, I rarely get to the East Coast, and no woman wants to hit Cooperstown, so…