#Jazz

"Do not seek to follow the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought."

Basho

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Established in 2005, Back on the Block is a progressive publication whose mission is to educate, enlighten, entertain and sometimes challenge. Often critical, sometimes cynical, sometimes irreverent – but always hopeful that what we say and the information that we provide touches the heart and mind.

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McCoy Tyner, Charles McPherson Feted at Jazz at Lincoln Center Performance

Jay Murdock

Apr 13, 2019
4 min

McCoy Tyner, Charles McPherson Feted at Jazz at Lincoln Center Performance

A tribute concert honoring the two jazz giants at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater By Suzanne Lorge | Down Beat Magazine | April 12, 2019 In his intro to McCoy Tyner and Charles McPherson at 80, a tribute concert honoring the two jazz giants at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater on April 5 and 6, saxophonist Sherman Irby summed up pianist/composer Tyner’s distinguished career in one sentence: “McCoy Tyner has presented the world with almost six decades of pure excell

Hugh Masekela: 10 key performances, from afrobeat to apartheid anthems

Jay Murdock

Jan 24, 2018
4 min

Hugh Masekela: 10 key performances, from afrobeat to apartheid anthems

The South African trumpeter, who has died aged 78, spanned a huge variety of styles – from disco-pop to fiercely political jazz By Robin Densilow | The Guardian | January 24. 2018 Grazing in the Grass FacebookTwitterPinterest The lilting, easygoing instrumental that became an unexpected, massive hit in America in 1968. After completing The Promise of a Future album, Hugh Masekela decided to add an extra track in the South African mbaqanga township style. It topped the US pop

Al Jarreau, Grammy-winning jazz, pop and R&B singer, dies at 76

Jay Murdock

Feb 12, 2017
3 min

Al Jarreau, Grammy-winning jazz, pop and R&B singer, dies at 76

Wisconsin native won seven Grammys in three categories in 50-year career. Biggest hits were We’re in This Love Together and Moonlighting theme Staff and agencies / The Guardian / February 12, 2017 The Grammy-winning jazz singer Al Jarreau died on Sunday in a Los Angeles hospital, days after announcing his retirement from touring due to exhaustion. AL JARREAU: MY OLD FRIEND: CELEBRATING GEORGE DUKE REVIEW – CLASSY TRIBUTE Al Jarreau pays tribute to his inspiration George Duke

Jay Murdock

Feb 28, 2009
1 min

In My Father’s House

Always first to rise he usually sliped into daybreak like a phantom – heading (in jacket jeans white socks & loafers) for Alemeda the drowsy traffic & buzzing electronics of Naval Air But he plays a horn & some mornings caught him aching with jazz – reeling in its chemistry & might: Duke Bird Basie riffs chords changes softly grunted & mouthed in his closet in the hallway in all the glory of the sunrise Who knows what spirits shimmer through the neurons & accustics of his sle

Jay Murdock

Sep 27, 2006
1 min

February in Sidney

Dexter Gordon’s tenor sax plays “April in Pairs” inside my head all the way back on the bus from Double Bay. Round Midnight, the 50’s, cool cobblestone streets resound footsteps of Bebop musicians with whiskey-laced voices from a boundless dream in French, Bud, Prez, Webster and The Hawk, their names run together like mellifluous riffs. Painful gods jive talk through bloodstained reeds and shiny brass where music is an anesthetic. Unreadable faces from the human void float li

Jay Murdock

Nov 1, 2005
1 min

In a Coltrane Kind of Place Today

In a Coltrane Kind of Place TodayHere Where Coltrane IsSoul and raceare private dominions,memories and modalsongs, a tenor blossoming,which would paint sufferinga clear color but is not inthis Victorian housewithout oil in zero degreeweather and a forty-mile-an-hour wind;it is a well knit family;a love supreme.Oak leaves pile up on walkwayand steps, catholic as applesin a special mist of clear whitechildren who love my children.I play “Alabama”on a warped record playerskippin

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"Do not seek to follow the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought."

Basho

News and Opinion Channel

Recommendations

The Hartmann Report

The Signorile Report

The Banter - Washington DC

Roland Martin Unfiltered

Back on the Block

Music, News and Conversation for Grown Folks

Politicon

Coming to you from the heart of the 330

RadioActive1 WBOB

Your place in cyber space for the most unique
listening experience on the internet.

Follow Us On

"Do not seek to follow the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought."

Basho

News and Opinion Channel

Recommendations

The Hartmann Report

The Signorile Report

The Banter - Washington DC

Roland Martin Unfiltered

Back on the Block

Music, News and Conversation for Grown Folks

Politicon

Coming to you from the heart of the 330

RadioActive1 WBOB

Your place in cyber space for the most unique listening experience on the internet.

Your place in cyber space for the most unique
listening experience on the internet.