Michael Steinman: Finding the Happiness in Jazz

Michael Steinman is a videographer and writer whose JAZZ LIVES blog attracts avid readers from around the globe. Hal Smith: For those who have been wandering in the jazz desert, and who may not be familiar with JAZZ LIVES, what is the significance of the record label in the cover photo of your blog? Michael Steinman: Having a 78 rpm record as the cover image might seem consciously archaic—even though I feature as much contemporary hot music as I can on the blog—but during the pandemic I have gone back into the rabbit-hole of 78-collecting, inspired by Matthew “Fat Cat” Rivera and the Hot Club of New York, so my apartment is now furnished in maroon Commodore. That record is soulful: it has a wonderful dark ensemble sound, and it’s full of heroes of mine, only one of whom I got to see and speak to: the singular Vic Dickenson, who had a beautiful signature that never varied. It’s also not the usual cherished 78, so I have the hope that someone who doesn’t know it might search it out. What appeals to you the most about Vic Dickenson’s trombone playing? I first heard Vic before I’d reached puberty—his remarkable vocalized interludes on Louis’ 1946 “Sugar.” It was witty yet deep; we feel as if he has secrets he’s sharing only with us. Even when he was marooned in a band going through its paces, he always had a tale to tell. The drummer on the Blue Note sess