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The making of Blues Symphony
When we were working on All Rise in 1999, Jonathan Kelly came to my house as a young kid to pick up music. He said he was a bass player. We were working on All Rise and copyists all over New York were being worn out. Keep reading »
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Ellis Marsalis playing “In The Afterglow”
It’s been a year since our father passed. This morning my brother Jason sent this clip of him remembering a ballad I wrote waaay back in 1985 (when I was 24). It was my first attempt to write something with a sophisticated chord progression and melody. Keep reading »
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Think Of One: I remember that time like it was yesterday, although it was almost 40 years ago
I remember that time like it was yesterday, although it was almost 40 years ago. As a band we were trying to come out with our own way of playing without forsaking the substance of the fundamentals of actual jazz music that we could understand at that time. Keep reading »
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Christine Reed did so much to help me negotiate through very tough situations in my early days
I want to thank so many of my friends and collegues for responding to yesterdays post. I know and remember so many of my collegues and friends for so many years and spent so many hours hearing them and loving their playing. It’s been a deep deep blessing. Keep reading »
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Raymond Leppard affirmed me in the same way Sweets Edison always did in those years
We were supposed to record in what was then Czechoslovakia. The session had to be changed after one day of rehearsing (a long story…). Thankfully, Christine Reed, the Vice President of A&R for CBS Masterworks, was with us and for us. Keep reading »
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Remembering Chick Corea
Chick at Marciac 2019 at 2:45am, after playing his own 1-1/2 hour set and sitting through our 1-1/2, agrees to come up on the bandstand and play with us, says he would rather accompany than solo, Keep reading »
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Sloganize, Patronize, Realize, Revolutionize
(Black Lives Matters) — a slogan and sentiment that has dominated the airwaves and the social space. Its intention is very clear but the facts of it all remain shrouded in mystery. Keep reading »