Articles by Kurt Ellenberger

Interview

Crouching Pop, Hidden Jazz: A Conversation with Johnny Manchild from Johnny Manchild and the Poor Bastards

by Kurt Ellenberger
July 24, 2026

Preamble: In my previous articles, I have highlighted how important jazz and jazz musicians have been in the background of the development of pop music, and how the influence of jazz is sometimes in the foreground as well. My interview with Johnny Manchild is part of this broader discussion of how jazz aesthetics find their way into popular music. Johnny Manchild has an unusual background for a pop musician--he is a multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter/producer who has a jazz degree ...

Interview

Jazz Journeys: A Conversation with Violinist May Yu

by Kurt Ellenberger
June 3, 2026

In New York City's crowded and competitive music scene, All About Jazz encountered in May (Tianyang) Yu, a violinist whose deep classical foundation, serious jazz language, and improvisational imagination have quickly placed her in professional settings with leading artists including Darcy James Argue. Ingrid Jensen, Erena Terakubo, Misha Piatigorsky, Peter Slavov, Chris Wabich, and recently opening for Warner Records pop artist, Nessa Barrett. All About Jazz sat down for a conversation with May about her musical and personal background, her ...

Interview

The Soul Inhabitant: A Conversation with Thomas Dolby

by Kurt Ellenberger
April 12, 2026

In my recent article “He Blinded Me With Jazz: The Surprising Jazz DNA in the Music of Thomas Dolby," I explored the sophisticated harmonic language and modal ingenuity that have always set Thomas Dolby's synth-pop classics apart from so many of his fellow '80s hitmakers. After the piece was published, Dolby graciously agreed to sit down for this conversation. What follows is an open, wide-ranging discussion in which the artist himself reflects on his intuitive approach to harmony, the evolution ...

Jazz in Long Form

He Blinded Me With Jazz: The Surprising Jazz DNA in the Music of Thomas Dolby

by Kurt Ellenberger
March 30, 2026

I. Introduction Thomas Dolby is one of the most prominent and recognizable synth pop artists of the '80s. His carefully crafted brand as the bookish, bespeckled “mad synthesizer scientist" was perfect for the time period when MTV emerged as a dominant force in the music industry. MTV made the music video an essential part of an artist's success and the primary marketing and branding tool for both the music and the artist. Dolby, like his hero ...

Jazz in Long Form

Have A Holly, Jazzy Christmas

by Kurt Ellenberger
December 21, 2025

In my music history classes, particularly in November and December, students have often asked me about the relationship between jazz and Christmas: “Why are so many popular Christmas songs so jazzy?" It is a good question--indeed, many of the most popular secular Christmas music does have a jazz flavor, while a few are actually jazz. There is a direct connection between jazz and Christmas music, but to see what that connection is, we will first look at the history of ...

Jazz in Long Form

The Plaintive Sigh of a Sonic Doppelgänger: Why are Minor Chords Perceived as “Sad”? Part 3

by Kurt Ellenberger
July 10, 2025

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Sad Song Survey Why Minor Chords and Minor Keys are Sad: Meet the Sonic Phantoms in the EtherTo begin our investigation into the hidden cause of our peculiar perception of minor chords and keys, we will listen to a trombone quartet playing a C minor chord. We might describe the sound as “rich" or “full" or some other adjective, but what exactly is it rich with or full of? ...

Jazz in Long Form

The Plaintive Sigh of a Sonic Doppelgänger: Why are Minor Chords Perceived as “Sad”? Part 2

by Kurt Ellenberger
July 9, 2025

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Sad Song Survey IV. The Power of the Minor Chord and Minor Keys in Classical and JazzTo begin our discussion on what it is that makes minor chords sad, we will first listen to some examples of the use of minor chords and minor keys that demonstrate breathtaking power to convey deep emotional content. Here is “Siegfried's Funeral March" from Richard Wagner's Götterdämmerung, the fourth and final opera ...

Jazz in Long Form

The Plaintive Sigh of a Sonic Doppelgänger: Why are Minor Chords Perceived as “Sad”? Part 1

by Kurt Ellenberger
July 8, 2025

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Sad Song Survey PreambleDaniel Levitin, in his popular bestseller entitled This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession from 2006, characterizes the perception of the minor chord, which lowers the third of a major chord by a half-step, as follows: All of us, even without musical training, can tell the difference between these two [referring to a major and minor chord ...

Jazz Ed

A Conversation with Quentin Walston on His Jazz Pedagogy Text: How to Teach Jazz and Improvisation

by Kurt Ellenberger
July 7, 2025

Quentin Walston, a distinguished jazz pianist and educator based in the Washington, D.C. area, has crafted an exceptional contribution to jazz pedagogy with his new text, How to Teach Jazz & Improvisation (This is Jazz, 2025). This concise yet effective 80-page text fills a gap in the jazz education landscape, offering an accessible, hands-on guide tailored specifically for young musicians and educators of private lessons and leading middle or high school jazz bands. Walston's work is helpful for those who ...

Jazz in Long Form

Roots to Branches: Broadway, Jazz, and David Bowie?

by Kurt Ellenberger
August 28, 2024

In 10th grade, I had a classmate in my French class named Morvan, whom I didn't know at all (in fact, I doubt I ever ever talked to her). She was quiet and introverted but also somewhat defiant and aloof. She always dressed in what was quite outlandish fashion at the time. She was somewhere in between glam and punk, the latter of which was still largely undefined in 1975. One thing stood out to me--she often wore David Bowie ...