Author Archives: The Independent Ear

What’s an artist worth? In the case of the Washington area’s regional transit system, apparently not much – if anything at all! The following piece appeared in the June 5 edition of the Washington Post, in the Metro section, page … Continue reading →

One thing we’re blessed with at Tri-C JazzFest is a excellent photographic images chronicling our event. We’re very fortunate to have covering every angle of the festival our veteran photo eye Jeff Forman. So in the true spirit of letting … Continue reading →

Some of the most rewarding in a series of oral history interviews I did on Brooklyn’s rich jazz history, specifically concerning the historic Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhoods, were with the good folks associated with the legendary East, a peerless Afrocentric venue of … Continue reading →

Back in 1968 in my Freshman year at Kent State, when I was basically getting my feet wet in this music we call jazz, I was encouraged by a good friend to check out a concert on the campus of … Continue reading →

For the past dozen years I’ve been curating a Spring series at Tribeca Performing Arts Center that celebrates historic, now-lost jazz venues around Manhattan. This Spring our focus lands on the legendary Birdland. We’ve viewing Birdland through the prism of … Continue reading →