• Jazz Notes

    In the oblique stagelight moon,He, closing his weary raven eyes,Lips puckered, lifts his trumpet.On a breath, deep from his lungs,A burst, a single improvised note,Rises, from the arteries of his soul,Free to the bell’s silver flair height,He teases melodic notes with rhythmic complexity,A fluttering, a dense chord progression Arrhythmic split tone, cross-rhythm phrases,Daring liberties with

    Read more →

  • I wonder if anyone in the White House has troubled themselves to read Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War? There must be a copy lying around somewhere. If not, perhaps a staff member could request that a copy be sent from the Library of Congress. They should also request a copy of The Peloponnesian War,

    Read more →

  • The Times published a poem by Robert Palmer in 1916 that reads in part: From sodden plains in West and East the bloodOf kindly men streams up in mists of hate,Polluting Thy clean air: and nations greatIn reputation of the arts of that bindThe world with hopes of Heaven, sink to the stateOf brute barbarianism

    Read more →

  • The summer of 1966 was a difficult time for me. In the spring, my father had died suddenly. My mother had decided I should attend Boy Scout camp for a week. In the weeks leading up to it, I had been staying with the Hingstman family in Vestal, New York.  I was uninterested in attending

    Read more →

  • “When we walk our way and encounter a man who comes towards us, walking his way, we know our way only and not his; for his comes to life for us only in the encounter.” Martin Buber, I and Thou There is a fragility to the connection that binds communities together. This is no different

    Read more →

  • Monk’s Dream – Thelonious Monk Quartet Stan Rogers- Northwest Passage Mi Tierra Mexicana – Mariachi Aztlán (UTRGV) – 29th Annual Mariachi Extravaganza Simon & Garfunkel – America / Homeward Bound – 11/6/1993 – Shoreline Amphitheatre Joni Mitchell – Both Sides Now 2000 lives Photograph by Karim MANJRA on Unsplash

    Read more →

  • Beethoven Symphony No. 9 – Mvt. 4 – Barenboim/West-Eastern Divan Orchestra  Photograph by Karim MANJRA on Unsplash

    Read more →

  • This piece is a prayer of the heart Vaughan Williams – Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis – Tabita Berglund The Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tabita Berglund.  Photograph by Karim MANJRA on Unsplash

    Read more →

  • Leonard Cohen “Hallelujah” A song in Ukrainian. Hallelujah: Trilingual Version [English, Hebrew, Arabic] – Nicole Raviv Hallelujah in 3 languages: English,Hebrew, and Arabic, in light of the October 7th Israel-Hamas war. This song is a dedicated prayer for peace for all mankind. This is one of my favorite videos. You may want to click on

    Read more →

  • This week I am doing something different. Rather than words, I am inviting you into my world of musical interest. I have eclectic taste. I hope you will enjoy the music and the short, well, mostly short videos. Diverse as these are, this is only a small sampling of what I listen to. Another change

    Read more →