Greetings, It’s been quite a year. I had great intentions for music reviews, commentary and the like. And then after the insurrection I was exhausted. I gave it a rest. Then the vaccine came about and I tried to get back to normal. Gigs were back to about 75% and I concentrated on that as well as some personal things which I’m sure you did too. And now here we are again. Concerts being cancelled, cases spiking and people shouting FUCK YOU to the president.
The initial purpose of this column was to find the intersection of music, Jazz in particular, social change and the people who were at the cutting edge of all that. I was looking for elevation. Art. That’s still the North Star but I have to expand so you’ll find a lot more granular observation as well as personal reflection. I hope you find it useful and thought provoking.
Here are two artists new to me that I found inspiring today:
Khan Jamal
https://khanjamal.bandcamp.com/
Matthew Halsall