… So goes the first line in A GOOD AMERICAN. And it’s true – there’s a lot of music in the book. There’s a reason why the cover has a cornet with notes spilling out of it. The story begins with a love affair ignited by the power of song, and throughout the novel, music plays a central role in …
Human Nature
It’s been a while since I’ve done a post about jazz treatment of pop songs. I hope this will prove worth the wait – it’s possibly my favorite one yet. Vijay Iyer is one of the most exciting and accomplished jazz pianists to have come along in years. His latest album, Solo, is already at the very top of my …
Blue Note Lives!
Haven’t had any jazz on here for a while, so here’s something I’ve been saving up for you. When most jazz enthusiasts talk about “Miles”, the chances are they’ll be referring to one, Davis, M. But there’s another Miles whose influence, while perhaps not so far-reaching, still had a profound effect on jazz and its iconography. I’m speaking of Reid …
Time Passes
Ridiculously, school starts today. Our children, typically, have adopted diametrically opposite approaches to the glorious vistas of educational opportunity opening up before them this morning. Catherine is more excited than she was last Christmas Eve. The prospect of entering kindergarten is possibly the most thrilling thing ever to have happened to her; there was much debate on the way home …
Jazz Snark
I have a very good friend named Joel Hanley. Joel is – among many other things – my daughter’s godfather. He has just had a letter published in the Times. He makes an excellent point.
Isn’t She Lovely?
All right, enough with the book stuff, at least for a while. Here is something quite wonderful in my little pop v. jazz series – pianist Aaron Goldberg tearing up Stevie Wonder’s classic hit. The tune comes from Goldberg’s superb new CD, Home. (It’s unfortunate that this CD has the same title as the wonderful live duo recording by Bruce …
One Day I’ll Fly Away
Jazz treatments of pop covers turn up in some unusual places, but I never thought I’d find one on a Keith Jarrett record. But on Jasmine, his latest outing for ECM, a gorgeous duet session with bassist Charlie Haden, Jarrett covers One Day I’ll Fly Away, which was a hit for Randy Newman in 1980. As you’ll hear, Jarrett and …
Don’t Know Why
After all the excitement of the last couple of days, we resume normal service around here. At least for a while. Continuing our intermittent series of pop tunes being given the jazz treatment, here’s a particularly juicy one – on video, to boot. Pat Metheny is (little-known fact) Missouri-born and bred – I saw him a while back here in …
50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
Thought I would try and cheer up your Monday mornings by resurrecting this occasional series of pop tunes receiving a jazzier treatment. This is a delightful version of the Paul Simon classic by Sophie Milman. Sophie Milman is an absolutely cracking singer, with a gorgeous, smoky contralto. Occasionally she swallows a word or two and sometimes sounds as if she …
New York Trip
As I mentioned here, I was in Manhattan very briefly last week for the launch party of my friend Nancy Woodruff’s excellent new novel, My Wife’s Affair. I flew from St. Louis into La Guardia and hopped on to a bus to Grand Central Station. Less than twenty hours later, I was back on the bus, heading back out to …