This past week I taught jazz history at a jazz camp for high school students. One day we listened to a wide variety of music and debated whether or not the pieces could be considered to be jazz. The second piece I played was "To Composer John Cage" which is from Anthony Braxton's album For …
Continue reading Top Student Responses to Anthony Braxton’s For Alto
Even if you are not on your CD cover and therefore have no chance of embarrassing yourself with a tragic Hawaiian shirt or awful hat, you still might do yourself a disservice with some unfortunate artwork and design. Here to help you avoid pitfalls is the second installment of my "how to make a CD …
Continue reading Tongue in Cheek How to Make a Record Flowchart: Cover Art Edition part 2
Perhaps my favorite release from the last year of Posi-tone's offering has been the fantastic piano/tenor duo by Ehud Asherie and Harry Allen. Since I reviewed this one in Downbeat all I can do is steer you in the direction of the review, and hopefully you check the album out. My 4.5 star review of …
Continue reading Rundown of Releases from Posi-Tone Part Two: Ehud Asherie/Harry Allen
As you have probably heard, Adam Yauch, aka MCA of the Beastie Boys just passed away from cancer at the age of 47. As soon as the news broke my facebook feed blew up with posts about his passing, favorite Beastie Boys lines, youtube clips of favorite videos, etc. While I have already put up …
If you've checked out my "how to make a record cover art flowchart" (if you've come across my blog recently I'm sure you have, as it has been my most popular post since it appeared), then here's an addition to that flow chart: You should ask yourself: "self, is my instrument on fire?" The next …
Continue reading Addendum to How to Make a Record Cover Art Flowchart
As a jazz critic I get a TON of CDs. Many of these have great cover art, but many of them are pretty lacking in that department. Everybody knows how important first impressions are, and the first thing people notice about your album is the art (assuming it's a hard copy and not digital). If …
Continue reading Tongue-in-cheek “How to Make a Record Flow Chart” – Cover Art Edition
Yes, I've finally done it, and joined Twitter. If you are so inclined, follow me @CRJazzCritic. I'll probably use it to post what I'm currently listening to, if I'm going to a show, etc. No personal stuff or TMI - I promise.
Well, it turned out my brief review of David Gibson's new album in my last post instigated a long discussion on the Trombone Forum. Go to it here. Turns out the trombone world is trying to fight the perception, or view, or whatever, that people aren't fond of the trombone as a solo instrument (which …
Continue reading Who would have thought? My David Gibson review causes a stir.
Turns out I didn't quite have all my facts straight on the Darrell Katz review I posted earlier today regarding who wrote the lyrics. Mr. Katz was kind enough to comment on my post and correct my mistake. Below is his comment, which I took from the comments section of the post. (Oh, and for …
So the other day I was killing time on Amazon and discovered that the 2009 tenor/drums set from Jon Irabagon and Mike Pride - I Don't Hear Nothin' but the Blues (Feat. Mike Pride) is available to download for 99 cents, even though it's 47 minutes long. I guess since it's only one track that …
Continue reading Your Friday Bargain: Jon Irabagon and Mike Pride for 99 cents
