20 years ago, there was a classic book How The Irish Saved Civilization, describing how the Catholic Monks preserved all of the classic writings while the Roman Empire was collapsing due to the Barbarians. If you take a trip to…
Category: No One Asked My Opinion, But…
WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
“People live here.” That is what I used to tell my daughters every time we’d go to a town. North, south, east or west, each city, suburb, town or wide spot in the road is the home of someone, and…
WHO ARE YOU?
It’s a simple question, but can be answered many ways with a plethora of aspects. I remember one time I was at John Pisano’s Guitar Night, and the guest was a young, more modern six stringer. Pisano asked between songs…
ALTO MADNESS!
Sure, you’ve all heard of the big names like Charlie Parker, Ornette Coleman, Phil Woods, Jackie McLean and Lee Konitz. Maybe you try to impress people people by saying you’re “into” Eric Dolphy, or maybe you’re brand new to jazz…
PRESIDENTS OF JAZZ!
Yes, this is the month that we celebrate President’s Day! Whoo Hoo! It used to be the month that we had holidays for our two most important presidents, George Washington (Feb 22) and Abraham Lincoln (Feb 12) but a trade…
MY FAVORITE THINGS-IT’S TOP TEN TIME!!!
One of the joys of being a jazz fan, or a fan of anything (for that matter), is to compare what people consider their “TOP TEN” list of albums. Or pizzas. Or baseball players. Or hot dogs. Or chilli. Or…
WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
One of the underrated joys of jazz is listening to artists or bands that have a regional sound. If you’re lucky, you live in a town or city that has its own distinct vibe, and it should be reflected in…
IS THIS A GREAT COUNTRY OR WHAT?!?
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…
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…