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Me and Boss Bragg
On the road at 5:30 am leaving Los Angeles headed east to Mesa, Arizona. Keep reading »
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Words
I called Chris Beiderbecke last night in response to his comments about this sentence in my post 'Egyptian Blues': Keep reading »
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Egyptian Blues
Congratulations to the Egyptian people whose quest to remove the yoke of dictatorship was successfully realized today. Keep reading »
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Sliding Home at 6am
Blue gray skies that engulf all that you see or think or even dream. Keep reading »
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The House of Swing
Last night in the House of Swing in Rose Theatre. Keep reading »
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Chick Corea and the JLCO
This has been an inspirational week of rehearsing with the great Chick Corea. Chick is gracious, attentive and purely musical. He was instructional with astute technical adjustments as well as brilliant in his comping and soloing. Keep reading »
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Merry Christmas!
I always remember that Christmas meal: gumbo, some type of barbecue, and stuff that was not made for Thanksgiving. Keep reading »
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Speech for The Century Association’s Monthly Meeting of Members
My great uncle was born in 1890. He was an artisan who cut the names and last statements of the deceased into their resting stones. I lived with him for the entirety of my 6th year and visited on many weekends. He taught me so many valuable lessons passed down from 'old folks sometime long ago' in stories, songs and folkways. My experiences with him saved me from falling into the generation gap. I return in my mind always to his shotgun house on Gov. Nicholls St. in New Orleans with its lack of hot water, 1930's appliances, and big super-cooling house fan. Keep reading »
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Red, Burnt Umber, and Gold
And let us reflect on Concord, New Hampshire and the 15th anniversary of the Capitol Center for the Arts. I love towns of the North East, especially in the fall. Colonial style houses, red, burnt umber (frank stewart's word), and gold leaves speckle the grass and are strewn about clean-cut streets. This cacophony of terra-cotta and yellow, frames the solitary majesty of trees in various states of undress starkly against the clear baby blue sky. Keep reading »
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Going out to vote
It’s 7:30am. I’m ironing a suit and going out to vote-looking at a worn stone my great uncle who was born in 1883 and died in 1982 carved, 'Don't be Discourage'. He was a stone worker for the cemeteries in New Orleans. I look at that when facing a seemingly futile proposition or a corruption so great, you feel paralyzed. Alphonse was his name. We called him Pomp. Keep reading »