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Opinion/Editorial

OPINION/EDITORIAL December 25, 2014

Joe Cocker 1944 – 2014

By C. MICHAEL BAILEY

For all of the boasting that the United States can do being the birthplace of every major popular music genre since 1920, the United States cannot claim the credit for the widespread popularization of this music. That honor goes to Europe, and more specifically, the United Kingdom, who more than any other country, forced the United States to fully appreciate her musical fruits. It was the institutional racism endemic in the United States that prevented artists like Ray Charles, Solomon ...

OPINION/EDITORIAL March 7, 2014

Beatles, Oscars, Grammys & Overachieving: The Best Cliché Ever, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

By CARL L. HAGER

So... the awards season is over. From the Golden Globes to the Grammys, the Winter Olympics to the Oscars, it's been a long and winding road. Among people competing for the various honors and annual awards, one of the more popular topics of conversation was: OK, let's say I am the winner--what then? Good question. Of those who believed they deserve the recognition (which is all of them) only those who had previously received one of ...

OPINION/EDITORIAL December 17, 2013

What's Wrong With Today's Live Jazz

By RICHARD LAWN

What's wrong with today's live jazz scene? There has been a great deal of whining about the climate for live jazz these days. The complaints are sometimes accompanied by speculation about why jazz seems to have slipped off the radar, particularly in many major cities such as jny: Philadelphia. The complaints, however, are often unaccompanied by suggestions about fixing the problems, or any specific theories about why and how things have disintegrated. Before I go any ...

OPINION/EDITORIAL November 10, 2013

Music from Norway: Just How Important Is It, Really?

By JOHN KELMAN

[Note: This article was first published by Music Norway] When asked, by the newly minted Music Norway, which brought two separate organizations together at the beginning of 2013--Music Export Norway (responsible for exporting the country's music to the world) and Music Information Center (responsible, for many things, including acting as an archive/information source)--to write a piece about the Norwegian music scene from an outsider's perspective, it seemed, at first, to be a truly daunting challenge...and no small honour. ...

OPINION/EDITORIAL May 16, 2013

Will Budget Cuts Hurt Jazz Education's Swing in the USA?

By JOAN GAYLORD

Though economic indicators suggest we are slowly emerging from the Great Recession here in the United States, repercussions could echo through the jazz world for a generation. The past five or so years of extreme cuts to public school budgets--especially the arts programs-- could mean a dearth of well-trained, young musicians.“I am seeing students arrive proficient only in the basic instruments," said trombonist Chris Washburne, director of the jazz performance program at Columbia University. “Finding a well-trained trombone ...

OPINION/EDITORIAL February 20, 2013

Death, Rebirth & New Revolution

By IAN PATTERSON

The death knell has often been sounded for jazz and many would argue that the last revolution in jazz took place as the '60s handed the baton to the '70s, with the electronic-influenced jazz typified by trumpeter Miles Davis' ground breaking albums In a Silent Way (Columbia, 1969) and Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1970). Many believe that jazz has stagnated, or simply lost its way since then. On the other hand, there are those who believe that this era is the ...

OPINION/EDITORIAL December 20, 2012

Jazz, Baseball, Politics and the Beltway Blues: Our American Dialogue, Part II

By CARL L. HAGER

Ref: How Life Imitates the World Series (Penguin, 1983) by Thomas BoswellWell, that's over.$2.6 billion later, the U.S. presidential election is history. No more polls, no more red state / blue state electoral maps, no more trash-talking. Right on its heels, the BBWAA (Baseball Writers Association of America) announced the results of their voting for the league MVPs, Cy Young and other annual awards, and then issued the list of 2013's Hall of Fame candidates, which--gasp--includes ...

OPINION/EDITORIAL December 20, 2012

Jazz, Politics, Edward Kennedy and the Ghosts of Richard Nixon: Our American Dialogue and the Hatfields and McCoys

By CARL L. HAGER

To get into heaven, don't snap for a seven Live clean, don't have no fault Oh, I take the gospel, whenever it's possible But with a grain of salt --"It Ain't Necessarily So," from Porgy & Bess by George and Ira Gershwin Edward Kennedy Ellington celebrated his 70th birthday at the White House, where he received the first Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded by the newly inaugurated chief ...