By Devon Wendell Phil Woods was not just a musician; he was a force of nature to be reckoned with. He was tough, full of grit, and always ready to defend the music that he loved and played so effortlessly with all of his might. I’ve seen Phil reduce mere mortals to ashes when they… Read More An Appreciation: Phil Woods
By Don Heckman I’m still experiencing some of the stunned feelings I had last weekend when I received an email from Bobby Colomby telling me that Lew Soloff had died. And to say that I couldn’t believe it doesn’t at all describe my reaction. Lewie died?! How could that be? This great trumpet player, irresistible… Read More An Appreciation: Lew Soloff, R.I.P.
By Brian Arsenault I ‘d like to write something about Jack Bruce dying. But I can’t. “Crossroads” keeps playing over and over again in my head. By the way, he is dead isn’t he? Not a hoax, like one report said. I’d like to write something about Jack Bruce living. But I can’t. “I Feel… Read More Brian Arsenault Takes On: Dead (and loses again)
By Devon “Doc” Wendell Los Angeles, CA. Okay, so I’ve been a professional music journalist for about 6 years now. I’ve witnessed quite a lot of change in that time in dealing with publicists and well, not all of it has been good. It’s always been cool to poo-poo the press. Somehow many musicians and… Read More A Twist Of Doc: “Where Is The Love?”
By Devon “Doc” Wendell In my head I can hear Billie Holiday singing “There Is Music Everywhere.” She sang it with such glee as opposed to her better known and more tortured melancholy recordings. And she was right. It’s all around us at any time. Since I became a music journalist several years ago, I’ve… Read More A Twist Of Doc: The Dangers Of Writing About Jazz
By Michael J. Katz As President Obama pushes his economic recovery act through Congress, Republicans, with little discouragement from the media, predictably scoff at the inclusion of arts funding in the stimulus package. We hear barely veiled sneers describing them as “wasteful” and “unproductive.” Listen to the rhetoric and you’d think appropriating money to the… Read More Thoughts: Arts Stimulate More Than The Senses
The International Review of Music 