50 Years Ends Tonight
Let us all salute the vocal harmony juggernaut that is The Manhattan Transfer.
Recommended Reading/Listening
Intros And Endings
How do you learn the right way to start and end tunes in the jazz tradition?
Säje: The Album
Säje is one of the best things happening in vocal music today.
Who To Listen To Part 2
It matters who you choose to listen to. As I wrote yesterday, when my students are learning a jazz standard, I work hard to impress on them the importance of targeted listening. This is, after all, an oral tradition, and we can only sing these songs well if we understand […]
Who To Listen To When You’re Learning A Song
It matters who you choose to listen to. When my students are learning a jazz standard, I work hard to impress on them the importance of targeted listening. This is, after all, an oral tradition, and we can only sing these songs well if we understand that tradition. Even as […]
Live Vocal Jazz
A recent request from the brilliant composer/conductor David Von Kampen in the Facebook Vocal Jazz Educators group sent me down a rabbit hole, so I’m sharing the request and my answer here. I ended up with two playlists. One from the pros and one from academic groups. Enjoy! (Note: I […]
On A Chanticleer Day
A brand new arrangement from Gene Puerling dropped today, courtesy of Chanticleer! Gene Puerling is a towering presence in the world of jazz and choral arranging. Having passed away just over 15 years ago, I wouldn’t have expected to hear brand new Puerling arrangements today; but a discovery in the […]
I Get The Reference
Why explore art broadly? So that you get the references. I remember when I read enough Ernest Hemingway to learn that he had coined the expression “moment of truth.” It made me listen to Tom Lehrer’s “Old Mexico” differently – it was a parody song about bullfighting, which is a […]
Bobby’s Lifetime Achievement
We’re celebrating Bobby McFerrin this weekend! As I’ve written before, the best Bobby McFerrin album is whatever one you’re listening to, and his live concerts are always revelatory. I can literally put myself in my seat at every Bobby concert I’ve ever attended and remember the process of trying to […]
2022 Roundup: Music and Other Media
Every year I’m excited to do a roundup of the favorite recordings that either came out, or were first heard by me, that year. In addition to audio recordings, I’m including a few other types of recordings – films, shows, and live performances that stuck with me. Recorded Music Is […]