Sometimes you hear or read something so plain but so arresting that it feels valuable immediately. You want to share it with others. You think, “If only other people functioned this way, it would be a more lovely place to live.” I just saw this video, slightly longer than eight minutes, on YouTube. Its subject is jazz drumming. And the person speaking is Kevin Dorn, a jazz drummer born in New York City. Kevin and I have been friends for twenty years, and he is someone I admire. I admire his drumming, to be sure, but perhaps even more than that, his deep seeing. He might be embarrassed if I ca ..read more

One of the delights of living in a place like New York City, with a thriving jazz scene, is that one can encounter stellar musicians who don’t yet have major record-label support, publicists sending out emails, loud social media presences. But they can really play, and as a bonus, they turn out to be gracious human beings. Such a person is saxophonist Adam Frumkin, who I met on the bandstand for the first time just a week ago, at that oasis called Cafe Ornithology (1037 Broadway, Bushwick, Brooklyn) when he and two other luminaries, double bassist Dan Weisselberg and guitarist Felix Lemerle ..read more

Subscribe They’re experts, scholars who have studied the music for years, but they’re never slick. Their performances have the good authenticity and bright flavors of home cooking, and that’s rare. I speak of Miss Jubilee and the Yas Yas Boys, who cause audiences to jump and shout from their St. Louis home to California, Missouri, and points east. They are Valerie Jo Kirchhoff, vocal; Ethan Leinwand, piano; and for this occasion, Ryan Calloway, clarinet; T. J. Muller, resonator guitar; Clint Baker, double bass. If you have made the best plans, you can see them often in St. Louis, but 2024 w ..read more

Subscribe During the Second World War, no draft board would have judged Fats Waller, James P. Johnson, Clarence Williams, or Eva Taylor fit for active duty. But their “music for morale” did a great deal to cut through the darkness. I am a total nomcombatant, but I love these stirring sounds. “Fats” Waller And His Rhythm: Fats Waller, John Hamilton, Gene Sedric, Al Casey, Cedric Wallace, Arthur Trappier. New York, July 13, 1942: Here’s an even more direct statement of willingness to fight, in two takes, by Clarence Williams’ Blue Five: Clarence Williams, James P. Johnson, Grace Harper, Nat ..read more

Subscribe It’s homeopathic: like cures like. In the same way one would eat spicy curry or drink hot tea to cool off. Ray Skjelbred’s Yeti Chasers in performance at the Puget Sound Traditional Jazz Society, December 17, 2023. The song is Frankie “Half-Pint” Jaxon’s FAN IT, and the performers are Ray, piano, vocal, and explication; Jacob Zimmerman, alto saxophone; Steve Wright, tenor saxophone; Mike Daugherty, drums; Josh Roberts, guitar; Matt Weiner, double bass: I feel cooler now. Don’t you? And there’s more life-enhancing music on the Puget Sound Traditional Jazz Society YouTube channel ..read more

Subscribe After leaving Count Basie in December 1940, Lester hoped to be celebrated as the leader of his own small group, one that would give him more freedom to play. He and his group appeared at New York City’s Manhattan Center, broadcast on WNYC (soon to be shared here) and had engagements at Kelly’s Stable and Cafe Society. Hearing that his father was ill in california, Lester went there, where his brother Lee, a drummer, had work at several clubs owned by Billy Berg in Hollywood and Los Angeles. The band made no commercial recordings but excerpts from radio broadcasts have survived. So ..read more

Subscribe Some music is a climbing wall of sharp-edged abstractions. It challenges the listener: “Are you strong enough to take Me on?” And that can be its own kind of cerebral pleasure. Other music opens the door for you, gives you a hug, says, “We’ve been waiting for you! Would you like a muffin?” The three people in my title are particular heroes of mine (and I am not alone). I met Pat in 2009 at The Ear Inn, Michael a year later at Sofia’s, and Gabrielle in 2012 in The Drawing Room. I haven’t made every gig they have had, but they are gracious people who make endearing music. And this is ..read more

Subscribe Musicians who worked with Lester Young said that he loved to sing, and he had a sweet, singular voice. He sang on a 1952 Norman Granz session, and IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO has been widely circulated. This pop song, a minor 1941 hit for Gene Krupa and Glenn Miller, has been broadcast on WKCR-FM by the late Phil Schaap, who described the original disc — a private issue, terribly worn, made of hard rubber — as having one of the instrumental sides from his debut session of 1936, SHOE SHINE BOY, on the other side. Phil suggested that this was a demonstration disc, a kind of calling card f ..read more

Subscribe We can mourn what was lost, but we should celebrate what was saved: twelve minues of a jam session, hidden in plain sight. These two selections were performed on WNEW-AM in New York City, either December 22 or 29, 1940, location not specified. The identifiable players are Hot Lips Page, trumpet and vocal; Lester Young, Charlie Barnet, tenor saxophones; others unidentified. The original recordist captured this on two sides of a home-recording disc, and there is a gap in Lester’s solo when the disc had to be turned over. Source material: a tape copy discovered by Thierry Trombert, i ..read more

Newton’s Law (Frank, not Isaac) says that I can’t be in Rhode Island and Texas simultaneously. If I were to be even more candid, I would say that some mornings I have trouble being in only one place, but we can draw the curtain on that. A week from now, some of my heroes are gathering for a one-day celebration, from noon to nine o’clock, of soulful energized music. It will happen at the Dorris Miller Auditorium. Heroes? How about Colin Hancock, Lauren Gould, Ryan Gould, Hal Smith, Floyd Domino, Emily Gimble, David Jellema, and our own Apostle of Shellac, Matthew Rivera, spinning authentic 78s ..read more