Articles by William H. Snyder
The Best of Times, the Worst of Times
by William H. Snyder
Introduction“April is the cruelest month... “ so begins The Burial of the Dead section of T. S. Eliot's 100-year-old poem. “The Waste Land" laments the decline of culture in the world after World War I. In April of 2023, we lost Harry Belafonte and Ahmad Jamal. The loss of these two men is part of contemporary culture's decline. Burying the dead is a theme in “The Waste Land," but rebirth is also present. Great human spirits need to be kept ...
read moreGil Scott-Heron: Paean To The Spirit Of One Of The Last Poets
by William H. Snyder
IntroductionWhat does it take to be a griot? According to the dictionary, griots are a 'member of a hereditary caste among the peoples of western Africa whose function is to keep an oral history of the tribe or village and to entertain with stories, poems, songs, dances, etc.' Gil Scott-Heron did not grow up in West Africa so he wasn't born a griot caste member like Youssou N'Dour was. But there is another word that has been used to describe ...
read moreMONK! Thelonious, Pannonica, and the Friendship Behind a Musical Revolution
by William H. Snyder
Introduction A butterfly met a monk in 1954. In the wake of an almost 30 year friendship they left behind some of the best music of the 20th century—Thelonious Monk the creator, Pannonica de Koenigswarter an enabler. The story of their friendship has been told before, but never quite in this way. Youssef Daoudi is the author-illustrator of a 2018 genre-bending historical graphic novel. If you know the story don't let it stop you from reading Daoudi's work; it is ...
read moreKsenia Parkhatskaya: Colours
by William H. Snyder
Lionel Messi has left Barcelona but excellence hasn't. Barcelona-based Ksenia Parkhatskaya is a performer whose skills are as varied in the creative arts as Senor Messi's are on the football pitch. The breadth of her talent is unique making it difficult to excel in one thing, but blessed as she is, she excels in all she attempts. In this case it's with the help of her husband and a group of international players. Parkhatskaya's successful debut as a ...
read moreStaci Griesbach: My George Jones Songbook
by William H. Snyder
Some might question why write an All About Jazz review of an album featuring songs made popular by George Jones? Duke Ellington had the answer when he said, “There are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind ... the only yardstick by which the result should be judged is simply that of how it sounds. If it sounds good it's successful; if it doesn't it has failed." Staci Griesbach and her colleagues have made good music ...
read moreChien Chien Lu: On The Right Path
by William H. Snyder
Chien Chien Lu is a vibes and marimba player who lived the first quarter of a century of her life in Taiwan. This year she is closing in on 32 years of age. One of three children, she went to church with Dad and temple with Mom--her father being a Christian, and her mother a Buddhist. Now she's a self-avowed spiritual person, but not particularly religious. Years of Chinese classical music training as a percussionist led her to complete her ...
read moreIsabella Lundgren: Looking For The Silver Lining
by William H. Snyder
Isabella Lundgren was born on the winter solstice of 1987. Each day after her birth the sun shone longer until summer came. Kind of how one feels listening to her latest album Look for the Silver Lining (Ladybird, 2021). One of Sweden's gifts to the music scene, she's a young woman with a heart and soul for the ages. My interview with her was conducted using James Lipton's Inside the Actor's Studio as a guideline in a 60-minute Zoom call. ...
read moreJoao Gilberto: João Gilberto
by William H. Snyder
Joao Gilberto's date of birth was June 10, 1931. Happy 90th to the co-creator of Bossa Nova, wherever his spirit is. After his divorce from Astrud, the vocalist on “The Girl From Ipanema," featured on Getz/Gilberto (Verve Records, 1964), Gilberto lived in Mexico for a couple of years, creating the impression of an unpredictable and impetuous artist. A pair of anecdotes survive from the early '70s. First, a concert organizer finds him playing for the staff at his ...
read moreMelody Gardot: Sunset in the Blue - The Deluxe Version
by William H. Snyder
Henri Matisse, the master of the use of color, said, “Art should be something like a good armchair in which to rest from physical fatigue." Melody Gardot's Sunset in the Blue: The Deluxe Version shows its mastery, in both the color of its cover design and the execution of its musicianship. Back in the day, Matisse got in trouble with some art critics for his simile. Some listeners might have a similar reaction to Melody's music, but not all. Gardot's ...
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