. We visited the Grammy Museum Friday evening, on Figueroa Sweet at LA Live in Downtown Los Angeles. I expected something glitzy and promotional, fit for Universal City Walk and while there are elements, it is a serious small museum, focused on listening experiences, where one can gain a beginning university education in the history and features of twentieth-century American popular music. […]
Jazz Is: 33 – Occupy Love
. One of my occasional exceptions to the has-to-be-an-interesting-video rule. The last time I heard this, a couple of months ago, I was sitting in a storefront window on Ninth Avenue in Manhattan with a cup of coffee, thinking about love. There’s Wall Street and politics, and there’s real life, before, during, and after. A Billie Holiday original. Don’t bother. […]
Jazz Is 7:Billie Holiday, Fine and Mellow
Some faces are like watching the wind move through the trees. Oh, yes, and the voice. And the music. A song written by Holiday, accompanied by a star-shot band. The three tenor saxes alone are heavenly wattage. In the most famous performance of the song, on CBS, from a 1957 television special, The Sound of […]