Gear Bits

In the history of jazz there have been tons of amazing improvisers, imposing figures who stand out in their field. Some such as Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker and Miles Davis and Pat Metheny have become popular figures, but most avant garde players have remained little known in spite of their acclaim within the jazz world. Rahsaan Roland Kirk is such a figure. Here is how AllMusic describes him: Arguably the most exciting saxophone soloist in jazz history, Kirk was a post-modernist before that term even existed. Kirk played the continuum of jazz tradition as an instrument unto itself; he…

As a rule my “Pop Goes the Music Diary” posts are meant to point out trends in the music business as exemplified by a song – and in general that means skewering the absurdities of the music industry. And that is likely to continue unabated. However, not all trends in popular music are negative! Way back in the 1940’s we started seeing popular comedy song recordings by Spike Jones, followed by Alan Sherman (of “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh” fame), and Ray Stevens. But as a creative genre things really took off in the 1980’s with Weird Al Yankovic, who would…

Over the last decade the ways of finding and sharing music have exploded – there are web forums, social music sites, subscription services, recommendations on music sites like tunes, Twitter, Facebook, and on and on. But guess what? There is still no better way to find something than a recommendation from a trusted friend – and better still, direct sharing that leads to a purchase. My brother came to visit us over Easter for the weekend, and on Sunday morning I put on Jason Parker’s Five Leaves Left. My brother grabbed his iPhone after a couple of songs and asked…