TT 110: Musings about style, Bill Evans swings hard, Stryker takes over Chronology with Freddie Redd
New teaching page, a last bit of wisdom (?) as school lets out for the year: “There is Only Today.” I am not usually this frank about my personal aesthetics — usually I only teach history — but apparently the pandemic weakened my defenses...
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Must read: Mark Stryker on Freddie Redd. Beautiful. We need Stryker’s critical voice in this music.
The previous columns were all written by myself. Thanks again to Vinnie Sperrazza for the name “Chronology,” which is a great Ornette Coleman tune as well as an appropriate title for this series…
Charli Persip (RIP since publication)
Gary Peacock (RIP since publication — I spoke to Peacock before posting and he signed off on the article.)
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I recently learned about a shocking Bill Evans solo on “Bye Bye Blackbird.”
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George Packer tries to make sense of the current condition in The Atlantic: “How America Fractured Into Four Parts.” An interesting read. I admit that — despite everything — I identify as a patriot and as an American. Particularly I identify as an American artist, a concept that I find irresistible…
The Packer article pairs smoothly with a fresh interview with Anthony Braxton. Braxton loves being an American: Certainly Braxton’s music couldn’t have happened anywhere else.