Articles by Jeff Winke
Being Avant Garde: How to Pull Off the Creative Life
by Jeff Winke
Some appear to live the creative life effortlessly. Everything appears to contribute and help define an aesthetic that reflects a life lived as art. Everything is simple, beautiful, and just right for the moment. The cover from an unwanted fashion catalog gets absentmindedly folded into a square before being tossed into the recycling bin. But the folded square becomes a coaster for a freshly mixed mojito randomly poured into a Mason jar topped by a fresh sprig of ...
Continue ReadingMay 2014
by Jeff Winke
May 24 A slight chill in the air as I enter the jazz club. It is near empty, but the bartender is ready for anything. I straighten my vintage tie and count my wedge to make sure I have the starter amount for my doorman night. With the regular bassist back on stage, the quint is into a well-oiled groove. It is impossible for them to sound better. They're playing Freddie Hubbard “Little Sunflower" and the normally dour ...
Continue ReadingKissing Cousins: Jazz + poetry = jazz poetry
by Jeff Winke
Believe it or not there have been times when jazz and poetry intertwine. The music inspires the poetry and creates a non-mainstream style of writing... jazz poetry. Innovations in music and poetics in the early part of the 20th century surfaced in the 1920's. The simultaneous evolution of poetry and jazz music was not lost upon musicians and writers of the time. The two art forms merge and form the genre of jazz poetry. However, note that there's ...
Continue ReadingMiles Davis’ Birth of The Cool: Origins of the Cool Jazz Movement
by Jeff Winke
Hands down the best name for a jazz album is Birth of the Cool. It doesn't make it to The 100 Greatest Jazz Albums of All Time nor is it among the Village Voice's Ten Jazz Albums to Hear Before You Die, yet the Miles Davis album, Birth of The Cool, was a pivot point in American jazz. The album became an orchestrated departure from bebop, with the word orchestrated meaning both the use of orchestration and a ...
Continue ReadingBuddy Bolden: The insane life of the Founding Father of Jazz
by Jeff Winke
The roots of American jazz twist, turn, and spiral all the way back to the turn of the century... not this century, but the last century. In the 20th century's first decade down in New Orleans, the story is told that one could frequently hear a cornet (which is similar to a trumpet) squawking loudly from the park bandstands and through dance hall windows. With no formal training, Charles “Buddy" Bolden created a unique improvising style with his ...
Continue ReadingFebruary 2012
by Jeff Winke
February 3 From one of the city's ex-burbs they had traveled specifically to the jazz club... a couple celebrating the husband's 49th birthday. When I learned of the special day, I discreetly passed back his cover charge and wished him many more. A small token that will reverberate beyond this couple and their special night. There was only one other give-back this night. A man entered, reluctantly paid the cover, stood and watched the band play a couple ...
Continue ReadingJanuary 2012
by Jeff Winke
January 6 The jazz club was closed during the holidays. Being ever diligent, The Doorman used the time off to reflect on his craft and create a new set of resolutions for the year having accomplished the majority of the goals I had set for the past year. My 2011 resolutions, which were handwritten with a gold-nib Lamy fountain pen on a sheet of cotton-fiber ivory paper secured from Crane & Co., are gold-framed and hang prominently in ...
Continue Reading
