My Inspirations

To Quote or Not to Quote?

In Jazz music of every era and style, there exists a tradition that delights some musicians and fans while vexing others. I’m referring to “the

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Let the Chips Fall…

There’s often an uneasy relationship between a jazz band leader (and the members of their band) and clients. The simplest illustration is the steady gig,

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Jazz at Bill’s Seafood

Club owners get an often-deserved bad rep from musicians. Many times, the conditions in the club or restaurant are terrible: the lighting’s non-existent; the band’s

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Jim Cullum’s Jazz Band Tis the Season to Be Jammin

Jazzin’ the Holidays!

While readers know I never shy away from controversial topics (banjos? Sports at Universities receiving enough funding to run a small country while Music classes/lessons

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Consider the Banjo

Dear kind and patient readers: This entry of my column is a love letter of appreciation to all of YOU, a tidy number of whom

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A Swiftly Tailored Hope

Welcome, faithful readers! I’ll begin this entry with a confession, followed by a question that I sincerely hope one of you might be able to

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Natural Gas Jazz Band

Never Say Nix to Bix!

As I write this month’s column, Anne and I are in Scotland, performing at the Kirkcudbright (pronounced “Kir-coo-bree”) Jazz Festival (pronounced “Jazz” “Fes-ti-val”). It’s a

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Moving to Higher Ground

The May 2024 issue of this beloved publication marks the first occasion the column I share with Hal Smith (and various guests), “Ain’t’cha Got Music,”

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“The Swamp of Jazz”

Full disclosure, kind readers: during my public school years I was an unalloyedly precocious rapscallion with a big sense of humor (to myself, anyhow), a

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My ‘Dear John’ Letter

In previous columns I’ve shared stories regarding the people who paved the path I’ve traveled to become, musically—and sometimes so much more, who I am

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Remembering Justice O’Connor

In all of my encounters with famous people (and what is “fame” anyway??…My favorite response to the question “Are you famous?” comes from my friend,

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Tempus Fudge It

“Oh, your life must be SOOOO glamorous!!” Any full-time musician traveling to eke out a living has undoubtedly heard this phrase hundreds of times in

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Jim Radloff and grandson at the piano.

Digital Challenges

Musicians have to be a hardy lot, and here I’m not only talking about the full-timers—those who log in hundreds of thousands of miles and

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Sideman Joys at the Bix

To set the stage for this month’s journey, I’ll quote lyrics from one of my biggest inspirations, pianist, composer, vocalist and lyricist Dave Frishberg: I

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Bookends

I’m aware that this will be the second month in a row I’m dwelling on dear ones who, to quote Sondheim, “leave you halfway through

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