A while back I had written about Ronnie Singer. For those of you who don’t know, he is sort of a gap in the jazz continuum that might’ve altered how jazz guitar developed had he lived. Because his sound is similar (he is using the same guitar as Jimmy, the Gibson ES 150 and he uses similar slurring techniques), you might at first mistake him for Jimmy when you listen to him. But his approach is a bit more direct and active and, unlike almost any other jazz guitarists at the time (save Jimmy), much more fluent in the “real deal” vocabulary of bebop and its proper execution. For example,…

My brother Doug was born Aug 29, 1956. I was on a bus tour of Canada this week and was unable to make the entry on Wednesday. But let us take today to appreciate my brother’s contribution to the art of jazz guitar. He is still one of the finest that have ever played, displaying the hallmarks of any great jazz artist – timing, feel, sound and authentic jazz feeling. These are somewhat rare commodities these days. We should also be celebrating his recent comeback to the jazz scene and the great reviews he has been receiving. Long overdue. Welcome back, Doug! At left is a picture of Doug when…

Today Aug 20, 2012 Jimmy would’ve been 85. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 17 years since his passing. Every year I have to pinch myself that I was so lucky to have someone so brilliant in my life, whose work has touched and inspired not only me and my brother Doug but many, many musicians both young and old. I continue to marvel at his genius and hope that more and more people begin to appreciate this under-appreciated, soft-spoken man who just was able to cut through all the bullshit and deliver the truth, whether from his words or his guitar. Those of you who know me and…

Scott was a great musician, guitarist and friend. Haven’t seen him for some time and I learned the distressing news that he had multiple cancers,  that he elected to not treat it in the end and to just continue with end of life care. Many people, including me had no idea about what was going on with him aside from some personal difficulties he was experiencing in the latter stages of his life. He is the guitarist featured in the 1993 Louisville clinic videos I have on my youtube page . He is also interviewed in Glen Hodges’ Jimmy Raney thesis work. When I was woodshedding in Louisvlle in 1985…

Teddy Charles was a frequent collaborator and ardent supporter of Jimmy Raney in the 50s and early 60s.  They also did work together with Bob Brookmeyer who also recently just past away.  And all of them were part of the jazz loft scene in NYC.. Teddy was among the innovative thinker/composers during the day along with Mingus and Miles that  paved the way for compositional styles to come, which involved long expositional sections and interwoven improvisations.  His style I find echoed in the later work of the late Gary MacFarland. Teddy never made it big and along with many jazz players in the sixties, faded from view. He changed careers and became a…

My old Dell laptop was pretty much on last legs by the end of August. With one available usb port and basically a non-working mousepad it was becoming impossible to work, not to mention a few close calls with crashes and reviving my computer from the dead putting my book project at risk. Having enough I got a new Mac Quickbook. (I hate the vista, windows 7 family of products). In order to continue my book work I basically needed to upgrade to Sibelius 7. I figured I’d start cooking pretty good after that. A bit of new mac user learning curve but a good one and trading in a…