Short, often opinionated pieces by JazzTimes’ editor and other trusted contributors.
Bassist Peter Washington was born in 1964 in Los Angeles. Drummer Kenny Washington was born in 1958 in New York. Despite six years and 2,800 … Read More “Chronology: In Praise of Peter and Kenny Washington”
In the context of jazz, the question posed above has a special significance. But that wasn’t what I was thinking of as I asked it … Read More “JT Notes: Are We In or Out on Vaccination Requirements for Live Music?”
Taking up a brass instrument comes with specific difficulties in terms of development and maintenance. Entering the jazz sphere adds different weight and dimensions to … Read More “Chops: Musicians Discuss Unique Brass Ensembles”
Dizzy Gillespie, Howard McGhee, and Fats Navarro—the first three bebop trumpeters out of the gate—once crossed paths in Chicago. Navarro’s biographers Leif Bo Petersen and … Read More “Chronology: The Early Bebop Education of Howard McGhee”
You may notice a few changes in this issue of JazzTimes. Our design team has been hard at work again, coming up with a revised … Read More “JT Notes: Changes in the Pages”
The pipa—a four-stringed, lute-like instrument—has a history in Chinese traditional music stretching back nearly 2,000 years, at least to the Han Dynasty. The instrument’s legacy … Read More “Chops: Min Xiao-Fen on the Pipa”
“Quincy’s a guy whose success actually overshadows his talent.” Bingo. That perceptive insight appears in Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones (2001), attributed to composer, … Read More “Chronology: Quincy Jones in the 1950s”
In the concluding section of Marty Ehrlich’s gold-standard booklet notes for The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony (New World), a seven-CD extravaganza culled from the … Read More “Julius Hemphill: Greater Harmony”
A jazz musician’s legacy can be a multifarious slope. Sometimes it’s defined by contrasting stylistic paths that amalgamate into a career, as with Miles Davis. … Read More “The Other Scott LaFaro”
