Somehow, I end up getting out to see G right before school starts again. Today he asked me when I would be finished. I said by the end of this year, but I added that I’ve learned more from him than I’ll ever get in school. I wrote a letter to Hildred Humphries back in […]
“Ornette always knew what he was doing. He had it all worked out.” -Denardo Coleman I’ll even go as far as to say that even before birth, Ornette had a plan. His entry point into this world was perfectly timed for him to actualize his life. In other words, Ornette came into this […]
I like to envision being on the Earth where there are no cities, no suburbia, no people and no requirements to live other than to simply exist. The only constant would be the Earth continuing to rotate and orbit. The sunrise and sunset the only barometer of the existence of forward motion. Perhaps what I […]
Dealing with your natural self in music takes courage, honesty, and determination. Sometimes it can take years for you to process just how you relate to the different aspects of what happens when you play an instrument with the intention of being who you are. Of course, singing makes it even more personal with no […]
This past week in NYC I had some recurring problems with my alto clarinet. Back in the day jazz musicians might have been sleeping off the late night hit but I was out the door at 7am so I could take lady alto to my man Perry Ritter, a long time sax and clarinet […]
Several years ago I was selling reeds and valve oil at Sam Ash when suddenly Roswell Rudd was standing in front of me. I told him I knew Giuseppi Logan since I knew they had history. Roswell got serious, looked me right in the eye and without hesitation emphatically said that Giuseppi was a genius. […]
During the last two weeks of 2017 I was in southern Africa in communion with the Sun. Back here in the ice fortress of iron madness and temple of illusions it now seems impossible. All my dreams last night took place there where the sun reigns supreme. I have family in South Africa and Zimbabwe […]
When I was a kid in the 70’s I watched a lot of cartoons, and I of course watched Bugs Bunny countless times. One episode burrowed itself deep in my brain. In it, Bugs sang a song while he was mining giant carrots. The song haunted me all the way to 47 years old, when […]
Here at No Sound Left Behind, we have a special guest ladies and gentlemen. The first time I heard him play was at Pine Tree Elementary in 1978, when he took a solo during a concert when none was planned. Calamity ensued as his band director Mr.Napoli feared he would lose control of an ensemble […]
As survival gigs go, I have been able to make my way into places where I cross paths with total street people all the way up to cultural icons. At Sam Ash, I worked behind a counter that was not unlike a bar that served up reeds instead of drinks. The bar would enable me […]
