Following on from the last post*, I am indeed moving beyond my pandemic-induced ritual of solo (in both senses of the word) concerts 6 days a week. Having received the “refresher” booster of last fall’s vaccine (which some are dismissively calling a “nothing burger”), I’ve scheduled and will be scheduling private sessions with colleagues who … Read More
PROLOGUE: Sitting in his dining room in 2004, deep in conversation, Bill Dixon asked me if I had read DIXONIA. I answered “No.” (Given my long-standing appreciation of Bill’s work, which has been a great inspiration to me, this revelation might be considered surprising. But the truth was that, beyond the book’s hefty price tag, … Read More
Issued simultaneously in two very limited editions, the book OOGLEPLEX ⁽²⁾ by Joe Truax and Jim Sanders was published in the mid eighties. The illustrations were news photographs of various atrocities juxtaposed with print media text and headlines concerning the (visual) “arts”. The end result was at once scathingly revealing and darkly amusing. There was … Read More
As the pandemic continued/continues, I was/am occasionally asked when I’ll be opening Studio Toile D’Angles for sessions and concerts. (And, within the last couple months, along with two invitations for gigs, I had an inquiry from an anonymous person as to when I’d be presenting my work publicly. Seems she [?] heard about me from … Read More
A year or so before Covid hit, a dear friend/colleague attended a gig featuring another dear friend/colleague at a jazz-centric venue. There was a brief exchange with an older gentleman minding the door in part concerning free jazz. He said that “my” opening set at the Gary Burton Children’s Theater concert back in the early … Read More
For close to 4 decades, Steve was my primary collaborator. In his words, from an unpublished interview (circa 1979): “I first met Milo in late ’75 as the result of my knowing a guitarist and tenor player named Scott* who was playing with Milo at the time but was going to leave the group to … Read More
George Roberts – poet, visual artist (for example, the cover of Ananke), paper maker, hand typesetter, educator/mentor, co-owner/founder of Homewood Studios in North Minneapolis, and, in the best sense of the description, community advocate* – was unaware of free jazz/improvised music when we first officially met in 2003. (An overview of that encounter from both our … Read More