Ode To Karin Krog

Man, the air seemed brand new today; sharp, cool, and crisp going into the lungs. It was like walking out of an underground bunker from a four-month stay and having the first blast of air hitting you. I don’t know why I don’t usually notice the air that surrounds me normally, but today it hit […]

F*&#$!g Epic

So I’ve been nibbling here and there on Kamasi Washington’s The Epic for close to a year now. It’s one of those albums that I think you have to take in a little at a time, otherwise you’ll get that heavy musical bloat and maybe not go back to it for fear of feeling uneasy […]

A Life In Albums : Part Two

Thelonious Monk Quartet : Monk’s Dream I really can’t remember the reason why I bought Monk’s Dream. I was 21 years old and living in an apartment with my girlfriend at the time(summer/fall of 1995 to be exact.) We both had good jobs at the same company but worked different shifts, so while she would […]

Rated X

Miles Davis is this anomaly in the realm of jazz. While his contemporaries continued to push boundaries like him, they weren’t quite as vilified as he was when he wanted to push the boundaries of his music. I guess it’s not like Cotrane, Andrew Hill, Sun Ra, and Ornette Coleman were hailed by the jazz […]

Two Days Since A Lost Space/Time Accident

I’m man enough to admit it, my friend Thom turned me onto Flying Lotus. I fancy myself a guy that keeps up with music. I may not like a lot of what the majority masses pass as “good”, but I try at least to be aware of what’s happening outside my own four walls in […]

A Love Supreme/John Coltrane : The Complete Masters

Music shouldn’t be easy to understand. You have to come to the music yourself, gradually. Not everything must be received with open arms. – John Coltrane, 1963 This is a sentiment that I can wholeheartedly agree with. There have been many instances over the years that I’ve come at an album and couldn’t find […]

Abercrombie’s Gateway Drug

It was quite a few years ago that I’d first heard John Abercrombie in Gateway. “Back-Woods Song” just randomly came up while I sat at my desk listening to the jazz channel on internet radio. I was floored. Groove till the cows came home, with the rhythm section of Dave Holland on bass and Jack […]

Jack Johnson Sessions

Still enjoying this newfound freedom I’ve discovered in this massive 25-disc Pioneer CD changer, I thought I’d break out one of my favorite CD Box sets, Miles Davis’ The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions. Back during Christmas of 2011 I’d started getting pretty heavy into Miles. I’d bought Bitches Brew, In A Silent Way, and Nefertiti […]

Jinrikisha

It’s a pretty quiet evening here in the grand old Midwest, USA. It’s currently 3 degrees out. The dog acts as if he wants to go out, but as soon as the door opens he seems to change his mind very quickly. They’re calling for more snow, and supposedly some major snow is supposed to […]

Discovered :: Miles Davis’ Pangaea

If you’ve never been to Jazz Record Mart on Illinois St in Chicago, you don’t know what you’re missing friends. It’s a chunk of vinyl history tucked into a small building that if you blinked you’d miss it. I’ve been there three, maybe four times and each time I end up leaving knowing I could’ve […]