Monday, April 9 2012
Jazz’s Wizard of Wit—and Much More—Dave Frishberg
Pianist, singer and songwriter Dave Frishberg, something of a cracked lovechild of Stephen Sondheim and Woody Allen's, is a too-little known miracle. The writer of hip ditties like "Peel Me a Grape" is also much more.
Friday, April 29 2011
Graham Reynolds & the Golden Arm Trio: Duke! Three Portraits of Ellington
Jazzical misfit Graham Reynolds exhumes the Duke. It's awesome.
Thursday, February 24 2011
Duke Ellington Is Heard Loud and Clear on Old 78s, Across Decades of Time
From dusty old 78s placed tenderly on the console to reissue CDs spinning easily on the latest-model boom box, Duke Ellington's music spans generations of technology and memory, as told here by the son of a 90-year-old man who loved the Duke.
Friday, January 14 2011
Lil’ Pookie’s America: Some Big Shoes to Fill
How can a kid from the 'hood today measure up to the likes of Duke Ellington? or Hank Aaron? A mythical boy from the 'hood meets these major black American figures through three recent books: 'Duke Ellington's America', 'The Last Hero' and 'Willie Mays'.
Wednesday, May 28 2008
Follow Your Heart: Moving with the Giants of Jazz, Swing, and Rhythm and Blues by Joe Evans
It's fun discovering that Jackie Wilson used to be a prizefighter or imagining band members waking up a drugged-out Charlie Parker right before his solo.
Tuesday, February 28 2006
Duke Ellington: Love You Madly/A Concert of Sacred Music at Grace Cathedral [DVD]
Call it a Portrait of an Artist as a Gentleman, the reissued Love You Madly/A Concert of Sacred Music at Grace Cathedral captures the sophisticated grace of Duke Ellington.
Friday, August 5 2005
Duke Ellington: The Essential
While even a dilettante such as myself could easily catalog a number of omissions, it wouldn't really serve any purpose -- this set covers the necessary bases in as fleet-footed a fashion as possible.
