Tag Archives: Music
Montage of Heck (2015) – Fascinating yet terrifying intimate look at icon Kurt Corbain
Wow. I was already impressed by the previous Brett Morgen rockumentary Some Kind of Monster, but this one was even more moving and insightful. Kurt Corbain is probably the most enigmatic figure of my formative adult years and of many … Continue reading
Movie Review: ‘Round Midnight (1986) – A Jazz Masterpiece
I read Herbie Hancock’s autobiography, Possibilities, a few weeks ago and he talked about winning the Oscar for the soundtrack of ‘Round Midnight which he also acted in. This peaked my curiosity so I watched it on the airplane on … Continue reading
Music Review: “My Side of Town” by The Roadside Bombs – The Boys of ‘Noma Slam It Home
I could justifiably be accused of nepotism, but I want to plug my cousin Ben’s band The Roadside Bombs and their debut CD just out called “My Side of Town” on Chapter 11 records. Ben has been a punk rock singer … Continue reading
Chi Ming and Marcus Miller in Shanghai
I lucked out today in Shanghai. After arriving unseasonably early at 5am and crashing at my hotel until 9:30am, I headed out with a few friends to enjoy the beautiful weather, have a few suits tailor-made (less than $200!), visit … Continue reading
TV Series: Ken Burn’s Jazz (2001) – Beautiful documentary but based on flawed premises
I have been reading a LOT about jazz lately (see my articles on Monk, Miles, Giddens, etc). Through this reading, I bumped into the existence of the world’s record holding for sheer length (19+ hours) documentary by Ken Burns that … Continue reading
Book Review: Thelonious Monk by Robin D. G. Kelley – The Genius
Continuing in my reading about jazz, I just finished the masterpiece Thelonious Monk by Robin D. G. Kelley. It was an incredible read about a largely misunderstood genius. I have always enjoyed listening to Monk, but never exactly understood why. … Continue reading
Debates about Jazz – Mtume vs Crouch back in 2010
A colleague passed me a link to this Mtume/Crouch debate, and it was fascinating. I am realising that in Jazz Criticism there is a sort of more conservative school lead by Ken Burns / Stanley Crouch / Wynton Marsalis, and … Continue reading
Reading about Jazz: Giddins, Trane, Pepper and Miles – oh and Dylan too
I have been on a jazz kick for nearly a month. Well, for years actually but recently, more obsessed tha n usual. I had a copy of Gary Giddins’ Visions of Jazz staring at me accusingly from my bookshelf for … Continue reading
Music Review: Stuff I liked in 2013
As I usually do, here is some of the music released in 2013 that I liked best. Overall, 2013 was not as great a comeback year as 2012 but I think my tastes broadened a bit from last year’s list. … Continue reading
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