This year we’ve been celebrating the 50th Anniversary of fusion, as 1970 (ok, you can argue it was ’69 and I won’t fight you) was the year that jazz, classical and rock got together to create songs that appealed to…
Category: No One Asked My Opinion, But…
ETHIOPIA IS SWINGING!
For the past number of years, I have been doing medical mission trips over to Ethiopia. Most of us aren’t familiar with the country, so this month’s editorial will serve as an incentive as to the many reasons that you…
HOW SOUL AND BOSSA SAVED AM AIRWAVES…
I sometimes shudder to think what popular music in general, and jazz in particular, would be if music from the church, namely “gospel” and the liliting pulse of Brazil’s bossa nova had not been delivered from God to breath new…
A GREAT YEAR FOR TOP TENS…
It’s funny-I’ve been a jazz journalist for 20 years now, and EVERY year I hear the same thing, “There’s no good music anymore!” Even as a fan, back when I’d read every Downbeat magazine, every article (and book) by the…
TENOR MADNESS!
At one time, the tenor sax was the “guitar” of today’s modern music. It was the “gun” that most slingers played in order to show who was the cock of the walk. Sometime in the early 60s, the electric guitar…
BLUES + GOD = GOSPEL!!
This month we are celebrating two artists, Bobby Rush and Robin Trower who have at least two things in common: they are both baptized in the blood of Jesus and in the blues. Their lives, while seemingly disparate is unified…
SPIRITUAL BASS-IS
This month we have interview with two important bass masters. Not coincidentally, both grew up in the church, and their music reflects that feeling that can only be passed on by hitting the pews on a Sunday Morning. Eventually, we…
FIND YOUR VOICE!
Every era has a style of singing that captures the popularity of the public. Back in the day, you had to sound like Bing Crosby, a “high” Bing Crosby, or a “low” Bing Crosby. Then Frank Sinatra came along and…
MUSIC WITH A MESSAGE
Since there has been music, there has been songs protesting about the condition of man. Moses declaring to Pharoah “Let my people go” may have been the first protest song recorded, starting a long tradition of people singing to be…
A MUSICAL MESSAGE FOR MOTHER’S DAY by Angela Johnson
One night, I woke up at 4 am, as one often does in their third trimester. After using the restroom for the umpteenth time that night, I realized that I was ruining my children. I had not been playing enough…