Articles by Alan Bryson
All About Music—My AAJ Experience
by Alan Bryson
Music & Taste Music and food have a lot in common. Variety is the key--without it, even the best prepared food loses its appeal. It is telling that we speak of “musical taste," even though we experience music through our ears. Genres like jazz and classical music weave together themes, patterns, harmonies, and mathematical relationships that usher the mind into a world of stimulating complexity. These genres are like a fine, multi-course meal--each movement and variation unfolding to ...
Continue ReadingThe Unlikely Story of Cannonball Adderley's Rise to the Top
by Alan Bryson
For me, the most gripping music stories are the tales of “overnight sensations." In the jazz sphere, we have our share. There is the story of an eighteen-year-old Billie Holiday, discovered by producer John Hammond while she was a hostess in a Harlem club. There is the tale of a seventeen-year-old Ella Fitzgerald, whose triumphant debut at an Apollo talent contest soon landed her a spot as the vocalist for Chick Webb's orchestra. Even more remarkable is the sheer chance ...
Continue ReadingAfterword: Final Thoughts & Questions
by Alan Bryson
Chapters 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 In 2019 the film Yesterday was released. A struggling singer/songwriter is hit by a bus and a “glitch" occurs--he suddenly discovers he is the only person who has ever heard of the Beatles... In a panic, he googles them... nothing. No spoiler, ...
Continue ReadingChapter Seventeen: The Unspoken Duet
by Alan Bryson
Chapters 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 The air backstage at the Teatro Municipal thrummed with a contained electricity. Technicians scurried, musicians tuned, and the low murmur of the expectant Rio audience seeped through the heavy velvet curtains. Django Phralipen stood in the wings, his custom Gibson gleaming softly ...
Continue ReadingChapter Sixteen: Ghosts of Ipanema
by Alan Bryson
Chapters 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 The year was 1973. Five years had passed since the Kumpania tour had, against all odds, blazed a trail across the American Northeast, five years since Lenny Kramer's Rolling Stone feature had catapulted the Django Phralipen Brotherhood from an underground sensation to ...
Continue ReadingChapter Fifteen: The Kumpania Conquers the Northeast
by Alan Bryson
Chapters 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 Dave's call to Billy was met with an explosion of enthusiasm. “The Kumpania Plan? Man, I've been waiting for someone to have the guts to try it! Boston is cool, but the whole Northeast is full of places yearning for real music!" ...
Continue ReadingChapter Fourteen: The Kumpania Plan
by Alan Bryson
Chapters 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 The glow of the Paradiso triumph still lingered when Dirk gathered the band in their warehouse rehearsal space. “Good news, and... well, different news," he began, a familiar managerial caution in his voice. “EMI is ecstatic with the live recordings. They agree, ...
Continue ReadingChapter Thirteen: Paradiso Fire
by Alan Bryson
Chapters 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 The alchemy was immediate. The new members of the Django Phralipen Brotherhood hadn't just slotted in; they'd fused, creating a sound far richer and more complex than before. Marc Reuter's Hammond B3 swirled and pulsed, adding deep, soulful colors, while Rico's congas ...
Continue ReadingChapter Twelve: Toots is in Town
by Alan Bryson
Chapters 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 The roar of the KLM jet engines faded as the plane taxied towards a private section of Schiphol. At the behest of EMI, a sleek black Mercedes limousine waited discreetly on the tarmac. As the VIP stairway was positioned, a familiar figure ...
Continue ReadingChapter Eleven: The Brotherhood Expands
by Alan Bryson
Chapters 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 Dirk Bakker, ever thoughtful, decided to pick Bobbi Holloway up from Schiphol Airport alone. A transatlantic flight was exhausting, and he figured the young woman would appreciate a quiet welcome rather than an immediate immersion into the full, boisterous band. He found ...
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