Jazz Chronicles

What a brutal few weeks for the shrinking cadre of elderly masters of improvised music: first Paul Motian, then Bob Brookmeyer, and this wee...

My full top 10-plus will appear this year as usual at New Year's as part of the annual compendium of critics' lists that Francis Dav...

It may be a month early for a review of the year in jazz 2011, but it's clear that the dominant topic—at least during the summer festiva...

I can't begin to count the number of recordings I have that feature drummer Paul Motian, who died today at age 80, and I can't thi...

After 10 years in the position, trumpeter/composer Dave Douglas is passing the leadership of  the Banff International Workshop in Jazz ...

I know there are people—jazz fans—out there who turn and run when they hear that a band is going to be paying tribute to a long-dead artist ...

I'm spending five days at one of my favourite jazz festivals , in Quebec City, and as usual it is opening my ears to artists I don't...

Mid-October brings the definitive change of season where I live (even though last weekend—Thanksgiving in Canada—felt like mid-summer) and a...

I always look forward to the opportunity to hear my friend, drummer Jerry Granelli, play live. Not only is he one of the most creative pe...

Looking back on them, the seven or eight years I spent hosting and producing programs at Canada's oldest campus radio station coincided ...

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...