June 15, 2026 Jazz great Herbie Hancock and the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center (Photo by Openverse) As of this morning, the tarps are still hiding the wall at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, so we can't be sure the hijacker's name has been pulled down. However, it gives… Continue reading Capitol letters and musical memories
Tag: jazz
Lost voices of democracy
March 17, 2025 In "Youngstown," Bruce Springsteen's searing elegy for America's industrial heartland, an ex-steelworker laments that by shutting the mills, "Them big boys did what Hitler couldn't do." Trump and Musk have now accomplished what Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and several previous generations of dictators never could: silencing the Voice of America. The shutdown… Continue reading Lost voices of democracy
Lights! Action! That’s almost a wrap
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels.com My wonderful wife, who doubles as my muse, is a morning person in a way I'll never be. While I'm drifting around in a pre-caffeinated haze, her mental and creative powers hit their peak around the time she rises to start the day. This energy often produces epiphanies, like… Continue reading Lights! Action! That’s almost a wrap
A pandemic diary: It’s five o’clock somewhere!
October 22, 2020 It's Thursday afternoon and the pandemic has got you down. You need a break from the loop of bad news, a slice of normalcy, a little fun. If any of that sounds familiar, go to Facebook or Instagram at 6:00 p.m. Eastern for, "It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere: A Musical Social From a… Continue reading A pandemic diary: It’s five o’clock somewhere!
A pandemic diary: Change and perseverance
August 27, 2020 I was sitting in traffic the other day when a dragonfly dropped out of the sky right in front of the windshield. It hovered like a Blackhawk, wings beating impossibly fast, before zipping away out of sight; their average speed is about ten miles an hour but they can get up to… Continue reading A pandemic diary: Change and perseverance
A pandemic diary: Being here
May 17, 2020 Saturday I attended an online meeting of the Atlanta Writers Club, an organization that predates the last pandemic and is rolling with the punches during this one. Sadly, another much-loved Atlanta event has gone dark: a monthly jam session for singers, including my wife. A bandstand plus a roomful of vocalists and… Continue reading A pandemic diary: Being here