Author Archives: The Independent Ear

Bret Primack has had a remarkable evolution as an advocate for jazz – from nascent jazz journalist to stringer, to editor, to a short colorful time adopting a jazz community hangman’s posture as the infamous online snarkster known as The … Continue reading →

Some years ago I was contracted to develop content for the National Endowment for the Arts NEA Jazz Masters program. For each of the Masters who had been selected up to that point I prepared a condensed biography to which … Continue reading →

Pianist-composer Burnett Thompson, is quite the busy man – someone who describes his life as splitting time between New York, DC, and Shanghai, China. On November 7th he’ll play “American Rhapsody” in trio with bassist Alex Blake and tabla player … Continue reading →

Trombonist Aaron J. Johnson teaches at the University of Pittsburgh, where he serves as Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Music, positions once occupied at Pitt by the late, great Geri Allen. who succeeded the great Nathan Davis. … Continue reading →

Earlier this year during the Jazz Congress when Terri Lyne Carrington performed the music from her superb “re-imagining” of the Max Roach/Abbey Lincoln 1960 classic “We Insist: The Freedom Now Suite” – which has subsequently been released by the revived … Continue reading →