[contextly_auto_sidebar id="bE6xtH54tzETQjjE7nXEoXhm2A8BNjAw"] TODAY would be the 100th birthday of one of the greatest musicians in history. I've been watching this 1957 video of "Fine and Mellow" for more than 20 years now and continue to love it. There are so many great musicians on this track, but let me point out that Holiday's greatest-even musical partner Lester Young, plays tenor … [Read more...]
The Birth (and Death) of the Cool
NOT long ago, I attended a lively discussion at LA's Book Soup about the origins and demise of cool. Ted Gioia, the author of "West Coast Jazz" and "Delta Blues," was talking about a seismic, beneath-the-surface cultural shift. The cool detachment --sometimes spiked with irony or cryptic gestures -- originated by Bix Beiderbecke, Lester Young and Miles Davis is reaching its sell-by date. How can … [Read more...]