Blog
Essays & Notes
- Liner notes to Chaotic Neutral (Max Light, AGS Recordings, 2024)
- Liner notes to Liberated Gesture (Yuhan Su, Sunnyside, 2023)
- Liner notes to Priorities (Chris McCarthy, FSNT, 2023)
- Liner notes to Noli Me Tángere (Matthew Muñeses, Outside In, 2022)
- Liner notes to First Move (Aaron Seeber, Cellar Live, 2022)
- Liner notes to Visions of Your Other (Adam O'Farrill, Biophilia, 2021)
- Liner notes to Ímpetu (Juanma Trujillo, Falcon Gumba, 2021)
- Liner notes to Common Practice (Ethan Iverson, ECM, 2019)
- Foreword to Mark Turner: Transcriptions & Essays (Jeff McGregor Music)
- Liner Notes to No Defense (2015, Challenge Records) - Addison Frei Trio
- Program Notes: "Creative Music Convergences" (Harvard University, April 2016)
- "Every Single Tree In The Forest: Mark Turner, As Seen By His Peers" (Music & Literature): Part One + Part Two (July 2015)
- Liner notes to Dialectics (Curtis Nowosad, Cellar Live, 2015)
- Liner notes to Chaotic Neutral (Max Light, AGS Recordings, 2024)
- Liner notes to Liberated Gesture (Yuhan Su, Sunnyside, 2023)
- Liner notes to Priorities (Chris McCarthy, FSNT, 2023)
- Liner notes to Noli Me Tángere (Matthew Muñeses, Outside In, 2022)
- Liner notes to First Move (Aaron Seeber, Cellar Live, 2022)
- Liner notes to Visions of Your Other (Adam O'Farrill, Biophilia, 2021)
- Liner notes to Ímpetu (Juanma Trujillo, Falcon Gumba, 2021)
- Liner notes to Common Practice (Ethan Iverson, ECM, 2019)
- Foreword to Mark Turner: Transcriptions & Essays (Jeff McGregor Music)
- Liner Notes to No Defense (2015, Challenge Records) - Addison Frei Trio
- Program Notes: "Creative Music Convergences" (Harvard University, April 2016)
- "Every Single Tree In The Forest: Mark Turner, As Seen By His Peers" (Music & Literature): Part One + Part Two (July 2015)
- Liner notes to Dialectics (Curtis Nowosad, Cellar Live, 2015)
Jazz & More
- Music Videos:
- "Heideggerdashian" (October 2024)
- "Depths II" (September 2023)
- Additional Technical Notes:
- Stanley Crouch's Liner Notes to Down Through the Years (Clifford Jordan)
- Excerpts from Saxophone Colossus
- Technical Notes on The Depths of Memory
- Bird Quotes
- "Cocktails for Two" (1934)
- "Tico Tico" (1917)
- "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" (1919)
- Technical Notes on <3 Bird
- I: "Greenlit, "Adroitness, Parts I & II"
- II: "Composite," "Onomatopoeia," "Dovetail"
- III: "Cheroot," "Du Yi's Choir," "Big Foot"
- IV: "Sturgis," "Schaaple from the Appel," "Salt Peanuts"
- V: "Arc's Peel," "Talck-overseed-nete"
- Bird at 100:
- "Confirmation"
- "Fine and Dandy"
- "This Time the Dream's On Me"
- Three Rare Blues Performances
- Recorded & Unrecorded Bird
- Synchronic Bird
- Superlative Bird
- Pres & Bird
- Nine Solos & Notes on Lester Young's 109th Birthday
- Brief Notes on Lester Young's 108th Birthday
- Sonny Rollins at 86
- On Brilhart Copies, C-Melody Saxophones, and DIY Saxophone Cases
- Always Read the Endnotes: Notes on John Coltrane: His Life and Music (Lewis Porter)
- Teddy Edwards and Early West Coast Bop, I + II
- Andrew Nathaniel White III's TRANE 'n ME (1981)
- Hampton Hawes: Raise Up Off Me
- #jazzBuzzFeed and Jazz Clickbait
- "Jazz" (excerpt from senior thesis)
- Liner Note History II: J.B. Figi on Bud Powell, Lester with Dizzy
- Liner Note History: Doug Watkins, Roy Haynes, and Max Roach
- Performance Art, Mediatization, and Stevie Wonder
- Notes on Imagine the Sound (1981)
- "Vibe" (excerpt from senior thesis)
- Two Piano Intros (Jimmy Rowles and Mose Allison)
- Joe Henderson at North Texas State University, 1985
- Adversity and Inspiration in A.B. Spellman's Four Jazz Lives
- Young Stan Getz ('45-'49) and His Relationship to Bop — Part II
- Majoring in Banacos
- Music Videos:
- "Heideggerdashian" (October 2024)
- "Depths II" (September 2023)
- Additional Technical Notes:
- Stanley Crouch's Liner Notes to Down Through the Years (Clifford Jordan)
- Excerpts from Saxophone Colossus
- Technical Notes on The Depths of Memory
- Bird Quotes
- "Cocktails for Two" (1934)
- "Tico Tico" (1917)
- "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" (1919)
- Technical Notes on <3 Bird
- I: "Greenlit, "Adroitness, Parts I & II"
- II: "Composite," "Onomatopoeia," "Dovetail"
- III: "Cheroot," "Du Yi's Choir," "Big Foot"
- IV: "Sturgis," "Schaaple from the Appel," "Salt Peanuts"
- V: "Arc's Peel," "Talck-overseed-nete"
- Bird at 100:
- "Confirmation"
- "Fine and Dandy"
- "This Time the Dream's On Me"
- Three Rare Blues Performances
- Recorded & Unrecorded Bird
- Synchronic Bird
- Superlative Bird
- Pres & Bird
- Nine Solos & Notes on Lester Young's 109th Birthday
- Brief Notes on Lester Young's 108th Birthday
- Sonny Rollins at 86
- On Brilhart Copies, C-Melody Saxophones, and DIY Saxophone Cases
- Always Read the Endnotes: Notes on John Coltrane: His Life and Music (Lewis Porter)
- Teddy Edwards and Early West Coast Bop, I + II
- Andrew Nathaniel White III's TRANE 'n ME (1981)
- Hampton Hawes: Raise Up Off Me
- #jazzBuzzFeed and Jazz Clickbait
- "Jazz" (excerpt from senior thesis)
- Liner Note History II: J.B. Figi on Bud Powell, Lester with Dizzy
- Liner Note History: Doug Watkins, Roy Haynes, and Max Roach
- Performance Art, Mediatization, and Stevie Wonder
- Notes on Imagine the Sound (1981)
- "Vibe" (excerpt from senior thesis)
- Two Piano Intros (Jimmy Rowles and Mose Allison)
- Joe Henderson at North Texas State University, 1985
- Adversity and Inspiration in A.B. Spellman's Four Jazz Lives
- Young Stan Getz ('45-'49) and His Relationship to Bop — Part II
- Majoring in Banacos
Miscellaneous
- An Essay on Ives's Aphorisms in Essays Before a Sonata
- When Donald Barthelme Met Miles Davis (Hiding Man: A Biography)
- Charles Ives Played Piano With His Feet
- The Anxiety of Jazz Influence: Harold Bloom, Joe Henderson, and Miguel Zenón
- Ingrid Monson's Freedom Sounds
- Ben Ratliff's Coltrane + One Year of A Horizontal Search
- Selections from Ben Ratliff's The Jazz Ear
- The Drama of Pinball in Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, and More
- Garden State Blues: American Pastoral, The Sportswriter, and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Interviews
- Interview with Ethan Iverson (Jazz Speaks)
- Interview with Jacob Sacks (Jazz Speaks)
- Interview with Steve Coleman (Jazz Speaks) + Repost on M-Base dot com
- Interview with Miles Okazaki (Jazz Speaks)
- Interview with Miguel Zenón (Jazz Speaks) + Part II
- Interview with Lezlie Harrison and Dale Fitzgerald (Jazz Speaks)
Guest Posts
- Juanma Trujillo: The Fate Of The Tenor – A Technical Addendum
- Christian Li: Variations on Messiaen's "Apparition du Christ glorieux"
- Dan Tepfer: An Interview with Lee Konitz (for Jazz Speaks)
- Curtis Nowosad: Notes from a DIY Debut Album Release
- Matt Aucoin: Classical Music Recommendations for Improvisers
- Kevin Laskey: 5 Classical-Jazz Crossover Albums to Check Out
- Josh Shpak: How to Get the Most Out of Your Jam Session Experience
- Malcolm Campbell: Playing Montunos, Papo Lucca Style
Press & Advertorial
- Spotlight On Podcast: The Depths of Memory (April 2024)
- 15 Questions: "Designing a Playground" (November 2023)
- Improv Exchange Podcast Interview (November 2023)
- Jazz Speaks Interview by Kevin Laskey: "I <3 Bird"
- Improvisation (China): This Year, Jazz Musicians Have Something to Say
- "Quotes From Musicians On How to Cultivate Creativity During the Pandemic" (May 2020)
- Jazz Speaks Interview by Kevin Laskey: Sea of Mysterious Rhythm (May 2019)
- "Advancing the Big Band" (即兴/Improvisation, March 2019)
- Jazz Speaks Interview by Noah Fishman: "THE RIGORS OF LOVE" (May 2018)
- Jazz Speaks Interview by Noah Fishman: "TRIO" (January 2018)
- Jazz Speaks Guest Post: Kevin Sun NEW TRIO
- The Undiscoverables Podcast (Earprint), Interview with Donovan Burtan
- "What's On Your Playlist?" (JazzEd feature, November/December 2016)
- Jazz Speaks Interview by Andrew Chow: "Seeking the Radically Unfinished" (Earprint) (October 2016)
Solo Transcriptions
A Cautionary Note:
…it can destroy your development. It can take years to find yourself because of this. You've got to get through all that mess, if you're lucky, to find yourself. Kids are practicing and learning Coltrane solos. What do you want to learn Coltrane’s solo on “Giant Steps” for? What are you supposed to find out? To engage and look at it and study it, yes, but to engage in it physically is contaminating yourself. You start practicing something, and practice don't make perfect, practice makes permanent. You start putting things in yourself, and it's going to take time to get things out of yourself. You might need a big enema for that.
— Henry Threadgill, BBC Interview with Ethan Iverson
— Henry Threadgill, BBC Interview with Ethan Iverson
Solo Transcriptions
- "Basin Street Blues" (1928) - Louis Armstrong, The Complete Hot Fives & Hot Sevens
- "Oh, Lady Be Good!" [alternate take] (1936), Lester Young, Classic 1936-1947 Count Basie & Lester Young Studio Sessions
- "Honeysuckle Rose" [alternate take] (January 21, 1937) - ibid.
- "Exactly Like You" (March 26, 1937) - ibid.
- "One O'Clock Jump" (May 28, 1938) - Lester Young, The Savory Collection, Vol. 2
- "I Know That You Know" (November 16, 1938) - Lester Young, not commercially released
- "Taxi War Dance" [alternate take] (March 19, 1939) - Lester Young, Classic Columbia, Okeh and Vocalion: Lester Young with Count Basie (1936-1940)
- "Twelfth Street Rag" (April 5, 1939) - Lester Young, ibid.
- "Pound Cake" (May 19, 1939) - Lester Young, The Lester Young Story
- "Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie" (August 4, 1939), Lester Young, America's #1 Band (Count Basie)
- "Body and Soul" (October 11, 1939) - Coleman Hawkins, Body and Soul
- "Bugle Call Rag" (February 28, 1940) - Lester Young, The Savory Collection, Vol. 2
- "Wholly Cats" (October 28, 1940) - Lester Young, The Lester Young/Count Basie Sessions, 1936-40
- "Broadway" (November 19, 1940) - ibid.
- "Beautiful Eyes" (March 10, 1941) - Lester Young, Classic 1936-1947 Count Basie & Lester Young Studio Sessions
- "Dexter Blues" (April 30, 1941) - Charlie Parker, Early Bird
- "Hootie Blues" (ibid.) - ibid.
- "Swingmatism" (ibid.) - ibid.
- "Blues 'n' Boogie" (February 1945) - Dexter Gordon, Groovin' High
- "Groovin' High" (ibid.) - ibid.
- "Hot House" (June 1945) — Charlie Parker, Town Hall, NYC, June 22, 1945
- "Always" (Dec. 1945) - Stan Getz, The Complete Savoy Recordings
- "Opus de Bop" [Master Take, Alt. 1, 2] (July 1946) - ibid.
- "Up in Dodo's Room" [Take 1 and 2] (October 1946) - Teddy Edwards, Howard McGhee on Dial
- "Fine and Dandy" (September 13, 1947) - Charlie Parker, Bands for Bonds
- "Confirmation" (September 29, 1947) - Charlie Parker, Live at Carnegie Hall
- "Groovin' High" (ibid.) - ibid.
- "Blues in Teddy's Flat" (December 1947) - Teddy Edwards, Blues in Teddy's Flat
- "Dizzy Atmosphere (#216)" (March 1948) - Charlie Parker, The Complete Benedetti Recordings
- "White Christmas" (December 1948) - Charlie Parker, Early "Bird"
- "Cherokee" (Feb. 1949) - Bud Powell, Jazz Giant
- "Confirmation" (February 19, 1949) - Charlie Parker, Complete Live Performances on Savoy
- "Cuddles (Speedway)" (March 1949) - Stan Getz, Early Stan
- "Passport (rare)" (May 1949) - Charlie Parker, Complete Charlie Parker on Verve
- "Now's the Time" (October 1949) - ibid., Detroit tape
- "Confirmation" (November 1949) - ibid., Bird's Eyes, Volume 2
- "Sonny Side" (Dec. 11, 1949) - Bud Powell, Sonny Stitt/Bud Powell/J.J. Johnson
- "Sonny Side" (ibid.), Sonny Stitt, ibid.
- "Cheryl" (Dec. 25, 1949) - Charlie Parker, Charlie Parker & Stars of Modern Jazz at Carnegie Hall
- "Always" (ibid.) - Stan Getz, ibid.
- "Confirmation" (February 1950) - Charlie Parker, Bird at St. Nick's
- "Ornithology" (May 17, 1950) - Charlie Parker, One Night at Birdland
- "This Time the Dream's on Me" (ibid.) - Charlie Parker, ibid.
- "'Round Midnight" (ibid.) - Bud Powell, ibid.
- "Fine and Dandy" (May 28, 1950) - Charlie Parker, Apartment Sessions
- "Fine and Dandy" (November 1950) - Charlie Parker, Bird in Sweden
- "Star Eyes" (January 1951) - Miles Davis, The Essential Charlie Parker
- "Fine and Dandy" (February 1951) - Charlie Parker, The Complete Live Performances on Savoy
- "Bloomdido" — Charlie Parker (late spring 1951)
- "Buzzy" — ibid.
- "Confirmation" — ibid.
- "This Time the Dream's on Me" (June 1951) — Charlie Parker, Bird's Eyes, Last Unissued: Volume 1/4
- "Dig" (October 1951) - Sonny Rollins, Dig
- "This Time the Dream's on Me" (1952) — Charlie Parker, The Complete Legendary Rockland Palace Concert 1952
- "Compulsion" (January 1953) - Charlie Parker, Collectors' Items
- "Compusion" (ibid.) — Sonny Rollins, ibid.
- "Fine and Dandy" (February 1953) — Charlie Parker, The Washington Concerts
- "Yardbird Suite" (June 1953) - Stan Getz, West Coast Live
- "This Time the Dream's on Me" (July 1953) — Charlie Parker, At the Open Door
- "Wee-Dot" (February 1954) - Clifford Brown, A Night at Birdland, Vol. 2
- "Room 608" (December 1954) - Hank Mobley, Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers
- "Line Up" (1954-5) - Lennie Tristano, Lennie Tristano
- "After You've Gone" (June 1955) - Clifford Brown, More Live at the Beehive
- "East of the Sun (And West of the Moon)" (August 1955) - Stan Getz, West Coast Jazz
- "All of Me" (January 1956) - Lester Young, Pres and Teddy
- "Moritat" (June 1956) - Sonny Rollins, Saxophone Colossus
- "Wee, a.k.a., Allen's Alley" (October 1956) - Stan Getz, For Musicians Only
- "Come, Gone" (March 1957) - Sonny Rollins, Way Out West
- "The Way You Look Tonight" (June 1957) - Stan Getz, Sittin' In
- "I Love You" (August 1957) - John Coltrane, Lush Life
- "I'll Remember April" (November 1957) - Sonny Rollins & Wilbur Ware, A Night at the Village Vanguard
- "Sumphin'" (December 1957) - Sonny Rollins, Duets
- "On the Sunny Side of the Street" (December 1957) - Sonny Stitt, Sonny Side Up
- "On the Sunny Side of the Street" - Dizzy Gillespie, ibid.
- "I Know That You Know" - Sonny Rollins, ibid.
- "Sippin' at Bells" (January 1958) - Art Farmer, Cool Struttin'
- "Crazeology" (March 1958) - Scott LaFaro, For Real!
- "Crazeology" (ibid.) - Harold Land, ibid.
- "Crazeology" (ibid.) - Hampton Hawes, ibid.
- "On Green Dolphin Street" (May 1958) - Cannonball Adderley, '58 Sessions
- "Let's Cool One" (August 1958) - Johnny Griffin, Misterioso
- "Straight, No Chaser" (September 1958) - John Coltrane, ibid.
- "How Deep Is the Ocean?" (November 1958) - Ben Webster, Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson
- "April" (February 24, 1959) - Bill Evans, Life at the Half Note
- "Blue in Green" (March 2, 1959) - John Coltrane, Kind of Blue
- "St. Thomas" (March 2, 1959) - Sonny Rollins, Live in Stockholm
- "It Don't Mean a Thing" (March 4, 1959) - Henry Grimes, ibid.
- "Sunday" (December 2, 1959) - Gerry Mulligan, Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster
- "Sweet Georgia Brown" (Dec. 19, 1959) - Warne Marsh, Release Record, Send Tape
- "Witchcraft" (December 28, 1959) - Bill Evans, Portrait in Jazz
- "For You, For Me, For Evermore" (January 20, 1960) - Coleman Hawkins, At Ease with Coleman Hawkins
- "Foreground Music" (September 8, 1960) - Warne Marsh, Release Record, Send Tape
- "Birdlike" (1961) - Freddie Hubbard, Ready for Freddie
- "Love for Sale" (1962) - Dexter Gordon, Go
- "Straight Ahead" (April 1, 1963) - Joe Henderson, Una Mas
- "Dear Old Stockholm" (April 29, 1963) - John Coltrane, Impressions
- "Recordame" (June 1963) - Joe Henderson, Page One
- "All The Things You Are" (July 15, 1963) - Paul Bley, Sonny Meets Hawk!
- "Just Friends" (July 18, 1963) - Sonny Rollins, ibid.
- "Hocus-Pocus" (December 1963) - Joe Henderson, The Sidewinder
- "Take the 'A' Train" (April 1964) - Eric Dolphy, Oslo '64 (YouTube)
- "Night and Day" (May 1964) - Stan Getz, Stan Getz and Bill Evans
- "Crescent" (June 1, 1964) - John Coltrane, Crescent
- "One Finger Snap" (June 17, 1964) - Freddie Hubbard, Empyrean Isles
- "One Finger Snap" (Alt. Take) (ibid.) - Herbie Hancock, ibid.
- "Isotope" (November 1964) - Joe Henderson, Inner Urge
- "Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum" (December 1964) - Freddie Hubbard, Speak No Evil
- "Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum" - Wayne Shorter, ibid.
- "Eighty-One" (January 1965) - Wayne Shorter, E.S.P.
- "I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)" [Mast., Tk 1] (1965) - Thelonious Monk, Solo Monk
- "I Want To Talk About You" (April 1965) - John Coltrane, Live at the Half Note (Bootleg)
- "Just in Time" (April or August 1965) - Wayne Shorter, Bootleg
- "If" (November 1965) - Woody Shaw, Unity
- "If I Were a Bell" (Dec. 1965) - Wayne Shorter, The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965
- "Star Eyes" (1966) - Bill Evans, A Simple Matter of Conviction
- "Boo-Dah" (August 1967) - Clark Terry, ...And His Mother Called Him Bill
- "Green Chimneys" (Dec. 1967) - Charlie Rouse, Underground
- "Green Chimneys" - Thelonious Monk, ibid.
- "Riot" (March 1968) - Herbie Hancock, Speak Like a Child
- "First Trip" - ibid.
- "On the Trail" - Joe Henderson, Four! (April 1968)
- "Lennie Bird" - Warne Marsh, Two Not One (1975)
- "Gingerbread Boy" (1976) - Woody Shaw, Homecoming
- "Confirmation" (1977) - Hank Jones, Master Class
- "Weeping Willow Rag" (1979) - Henry Threadgill, Air Lore
- "Big Foot" ('80s?) - Freddie Hubbard, Bootleg: Live at the Blue Note
- "The Greene Street Caper" (1981) - Woody Shaw, United
- "Passport" (1989) - Joe Henderson, The Montreal Tapes
- "East of the Sun (and West of the Moon)" (March 1991) - Stan Getz, People Time
- "Isfahan" (Sept. 1991) - Joe Henderson, Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn
- "Computer 'G'" (1992) - Joe Henderson, Black Hope**
- "Confirmation" (June 1994) - Steve Coleman, Def Trance Beat (Modalities of Rhythm)
- "No More Blues (Chega de Saudade)" (Sept., Nov. 1994) - Joe Henderson, Double Rainbow
- "I Loves You, Porgy" (1995) - Bob Berg, Monterey Jazz Festival: 40 Legendary Years
- "The Man I Love," (Jan. 1997) - Mark Turner, Warner Jams, Vol. 2: The Two Tenors
- "The Plain But The Simple Truth" (ibid.) - James Moody, ibid.
- ibid. - Mark Turner, ibid.
- "Pure Imagination" (May or June 1997) - Mark Turner, Warner Bros. Jazz Christmas Party
- "Head Trip" (1998) - Mark Turner, Turning Point
- "Giant Steps" (2002) - Stevie Wonder, Night School
- "Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise" (April 2005) - Rich Perry, Oatts & Perry
- "Moment's Notice" (October 14-15, 2005) - Mark Turner, Billy Hart Quartet
- "Wee" (2006) - Rich Perry, Live at the Kitano, Vol. 2
- "Deeper Than Happy" (February 2011) - Dayna Stephens, Initial Here
- "Actions Speak" (August 2011) - Vijay Iyer, Accelerando
- "South Hampton" (March 2013) - Mark Turner, Billy Hart Quartet: Live at Dizzy's
- "Along Came Betty" (September 2013) - Mark Turner, JB4: Live at The Jazz Gallery
- "Along Came Betty" (2014) - Mark Turner, Mark Turner Quartet at Hotel Ochsen, Muri
- "Ow!," Dizzy Gillespie (1947)
- "Motion," Jimmy Raney and Stan Getz, Early Stan (1953)
- "Wildflower," Herbie Nichols, Herbie Nichols Trio (1956)
- "Scrapple from the Apple" (arrangement), Lee Konitz, Live at the Half Note (1959)
- "Is That So?," Duke Pearson, Honeybuns (1965)
- "Isfahan" (saxophone backgrounds), Billy Strayhorn, Far East Suite (1966)
- "Hey, It's Me You're Talking To," Victor Lewis, Know It Today, Know it Tomorrow (1992)
- "Tender Trap" (arrangement), Charlie Rouse & Paul Quinichette, The Chase Is On (1957)
- "It Don't Mean a Thing" (arrangement), Dizzy Gillespie & Stan Getz, Diz & Getz (1953)
Complete writing archived here.
I also keep a short-list of favorite articles that I encounter on the Interweb here.