Dr. J's writing combines her love of jazz with her fascination with psychology; she enjoys focusing on where they intersect -- in the celebration of the individual spirit.
Some things I've done and been: slogged through a PhD in psychology; toiled as therapist, school shrink, crisis counselor, psych professor, college administrator. Authored a film biography of Humphrey Bogart (Metro Books) and wrote the “Psychology, Evil and Sweeney Todd” chapter to Stephen Sondheim: A Casebook (Garland Press).
I've contributed many book reviews and passionate diatribes about psychology, education, and general cultural idiocy to The Baltimore Sun. I am/have been a writer, consultant, and/or editorial board member for a number of psychology journals, as well as the humor columnist for a national magazine about artists that lasted three whole years before going belly-up.
So far I've spilled jazz ink for the All Music Guide, the Jazz Institute of Chicago, the Jazzletter, jazz.com, the Encyclopedia of American Studies online, and of course Allaboutjazz.com, where I'm a senior reviewer and creator of two columns: Shrinktunes and Nite & Disk. I also write liner notes on a selective basis, which synchs with my policy of never doing bad or blah reviews; if I don't love a CD, I just don't cover it.
Trained as a classical pianist, I spent many years doing avocational jazz singing and drumming before joining a quartet that gets actual paying gigs. Lately, after years of research and writing on the topic, I've been getting wider recognition as an expert on the “mad genius” myth, and am returning to my book, “Dangerous Joy: The Mad Musician and Other Creative Myths,” which is taking so long to finish that most people think it's actually been available for years. I love travelling, gardening, long walks on winter beaches -- oops, wrong site!
Home
Dobbs Ferry, NY
My Desert Island Picks
- My picks keep changing as my ears keep growing. It's getting harder to find hats.
Favorite Web Sites
Favorite Artists
Gretchen Parlato
Favorite Contributors
Dr. Judith Schlesinger
John Kelman
Favorite Jazz Genres
Beyond Jazz
Big Band
Blues
Brazilian
Classical
Funk/Groove
Jam Band
Latin/World
R&B/Soul
Straightahead/Mainstream/Bop/Hard Bop/Cool
Vocal
