Jazz Chronicles

I wrote the other day that I'm reviewing some DVDs for DownBeat's holiday gift guide, and tonight I had the good fortune to watch F...

Those who know me have heard my rant about how Canadians are falling further and further behind in the Digital Age, particularly where music...

I'm reviewing a number of DVDs for DownBeat's holiday gift guide, and have been very impressed by the four-DVD set Icons Among Us , ...

Writing about Miles Davis from the 1960s and John Coltrane has put me in mind of a great story I heard at one of the Miles Davis conferences...

Eighty-five years after his birth, and sadly, 44 years since his untimely death, John Coltrane stands as a towering figure in the history of...

When you have kids you learn to tread lightly on the "in my day" theme. I resented it when my father told me that the artists I id...

I just confirmed an assignment to cover the Quebec City Jazz Festival for the second consecutive year. Along with the SF Jazz Festival and...

I'm not old enough to have lived through the era when some elements associated with Louis Armstrong were dissing Charlie Parker, Dizzy G...

Just back from a great 10 days at Italy's Siena Jazz Workshop, and beginning to put together my notes for a feature I'm writing for ...

I received a few requests to post the playlist I used to accompany the full lecture that is prefaced in the previous entry. Here it is: Ph...

I'm leaving tomorrow for 10 days at the Siena Jazz Workshop , where I'll be both participant and observer. In addition to researchin...

Well, the numbers are in, and it looks like Canada's second-oldest jazz festival isn't about to climb out of the $80,000 hole it cre...

Daniel Lanois always brings his best home. Last time he visited the city of his birth it was with a crack quartet that cooked at a slow bo...

Saturday evening's one-time-only meeting of iconic trumpeter/composer Kenny Wheeler, pianist Myra Melford, alto saxophonist Jon Irabagon...

In the 26 years that I've been attending or, occasionally, working for the Ottawa International Jazz Festival my clearest memories are o...

There were some people who had serious misgivings about the viability of the tented stage that the festival inaugurated last year. Immediate...

My seat mate at last night's concert by Brad Mehldau and Joshua Redman admitted that he wouldn't recognize it if Mehldau decided to ...

While I'm on the topic of things in the air, the idea of posting mid-year lists of worthy recordings seems to be gaining ground, so allo...

Given what passes for news in some media outlets now, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the 'non-jazz artists at jazz festivals...

So, there was the night in 2006 when a cold rain fell throughout a great show by Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock, and I recall trying to re...