F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “jazz age” aside, the relationship between America’s “indigenous” music–as jazz is mistakenly referenced–and American literature is symbiotic but somewhat murky. Michael Ondaatje’s Coming Through the Slaughter imagined the hard scrabble beginnings of “jass” through the life of New Orleans progenitor and cornet player Buddy Bolden. Beat-groupie John Clellon…

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The value of the “working band”–the worth of keeping the same group of musicians together over the years –is a commonly accepted positive. The benefits of shared experience are obvious: empathy (sometimes described as “telepathy”), a foreknowledge of what a band mate will do (or how they’ll react) in a…

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You know the rap on baritone sax. It’s “cumbersome,” unwieldy” and requires a typhoon’s worth of wind just to air mezzo piano. These are mainly excuses granted to mediocre baritone players of which there are a very few; guys just don’t want to be heard playing an instrument that controls…

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Charles Lloyd’s latest release, recorded live in 2007 at the Theater Basel in Switzerland, recalls his early live recording, Forest Flower: Charles Lloyd at Monterey. That LP introduced those of a certain generation to the saxophonist-flutist and jazz in general. The similarities between the two recordings, though separated by some…

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In the liner notes to his Thelonious Monk tribute, Ellis Marsalis admits that there was a time he saw Monk’s music as an “anomaly.” He also admits to being in awe of the man, too self-conscious to introduce himself to Monk once upon a time at the New Orleans Jazz…

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Jazz critics have made a living declaring that John Coltrane was the most influential saxophonist of the modern jazz era. But listen to the current crop of practicing sax players and very few of them sound like Coltrane. In fact, saxophonist go out of their way to avoid such comparisons.…

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The death of the great pianist Hank Jones on Sunday, May 16 at the age of 91 has been followed by controversy. New York Times reporters Corey Kilgannon and Andy Newman visited Jones’ room at 108th St. and Broadway in NYC after his death and painted a picture of a spartan existence. It’s…

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