Where “lives” is both noun and verb. Written by Michael Steinman and Nominated as one of the Best Jazz Blogs of 2009 by the Jazz Journalists Association. Michael Steinman first heard Louis Armstrong on records in the 1950s, a transcendent experience. (He also saw Louis and the All-Stars in 1967.) An unashamed jazz addict, he writes for HOT HOUSE, Cadence and The New York Jazz Record. He has been published in CODA and other jazz periodicals, and was the New York correspondent for The Mississippi Rag. Michael is called upon frequently to write liner notes, which have been an integral part of compact discs on many labels, including Arbors, Nagel-Heyer, Stomp Off, NifNuf, Jazzology, Audiophile, LaLa, Azica, Little Simmy, Amber Lake, and GelberMusic.
- April 14, 2021HOT NOTES TO YOU: JOE VENUTI’S BLUE FOUR at CARNEGIE HALL (Friday, June 27, 1975)
I believe I was in the second row for this, the first concert of the 1975 Newport Jazz Festival in New York (its fourth in this city and its twenty-second, for those keeping track) and I had my casset … - April 13, 2021STIFF BREEZES, AN AMPHIBIAN LAMENT, and A LAPSED DARLING: RAY SKJELBRED and HIS CUBS — KIM CUSACK, RAY SKJELBRED, CLINT BAKER, KATIE CAVERA, JEFF HAMILTON (Sacramento Music Festival, May 25, 2014)
The Sacramento Music Festival, which we miss, was like a sandwich with the cole slaw coming out of the bread on all sides — tasty but messy, a danger to one’s outfit. Bands of all kinds jostled for au … - April 12, 2021“DO WHAT YOU CAN, WITH WHAT YOU HAVE, WHERE YOU ARE,” or GEORGE BARNES TEACHES PERSEVERANCE (BENNY CARTER, JOE VENUTI, MICHAEL MOORE, Nice, July 22, 1975).
The quotation is attributed to Teddy Roosevelt, who might not have expected it to emerge in this context, but it fits perfectly. And since “T.R.” lived until 919, he could have heard the ODJB, being a … - April 11, 2021SUNDAY NIGHTS AT 326 SPRING STREET (Part Forty-Four) — WE NEED SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO: SESSIONS AT THE EAR INN, featuring The EarRegulars (2007 – the Future)
and . . . . but we can’t exactly have that journey in real time and space just yet, so . . . . join me: bring your Ears to the Ear Inn for the glorious music made on the night of January 2, 2011 (such … - April 10, 2021“WHEN SHADOWS FALL”: BENT PERSSON, MICHEL BASTIDE, and the HOT ANTIC JAZZ BAND (Akersunds, 2010)
In the darkest days of the pandemic, I found myself muttering under my breath, “I want to go home.” It was of course unattainable: my parents had been gone for decades and my childhood home long occu …