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    Featuring the complete text of chapters 1 – 5 from Hear Me Talkin’ To Ya: The Story of Jazz As Told By the Men Who Made It, a 1955 book by Nat Shapiro and Nat Hentoff

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    Robin D.G. Kelley, author of Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original

    Thelonious Monk is the gripping saga of an artist’s struggle to “make it” without compromising his musical vision. It is a story that, like its subject, reflects the tidal ebbs and flows of American history in the twentieth century.

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    She didn’t dance to the music; she danced with it. The melody wrapped his arms around her and the chords ran ivory fingers through her curls. Harmony whispered in her ear and she laughed at all his jokes. She twirled up and down scales with him, the hem of her skirt swirling a single syncopated beat behind her.

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    Featuring photographs and excerpts from the Paul Desmond biography, "Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond," by Doug Ramsey

     

     

  • An Online History of Jazz in New Orleans
  • Interview with Thelonious Monk biographer Robin D.G. Kelley
  • Short Fiction Contest-winning story: “The Valley of Ashes," by Anna Dallara
  • Paul Desmond: A Life Told in Pictures, Music and Memories
brydon Literature

Poetry by John Brydon

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The Jazz Singer

Looking over some old tapes.
Is that really me on the stage?
The Peoria boys jazzing away behind,
performing for a village hall audience.
A monthly gig that, for a short while,
takes them back to the time when…
[…] Continue reading »

costa Literature

Short Fiction Contest-winning story #29: “Inspiration,” by Gabriella Costa

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The garden by the sea is just beginning to grow into itself. Its green has started to spill out over the fence and tumble onto the walk that lines the side of the shore house. The weather is warming, and combined with the rich soil of the ground, the plants reap the favor of the earth, led to grow lush and vibrant across the expanse. The tendrils of the cucumbers have travelled far up their trellises, continuing to curl out into the air, while the bushes of basil nearby explode into a happy, bright leafed green. […] Continue reading »

winer Literature

Poetry by Tom Winer

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MONK WAS RIGHT
( A letter to Thelonius Monk )

Dear Thelonius,

I first heard you
In the darkness of stinky music rooms, toe-tappers’ tombs
where out-of-tone tunes played,
and where you prayed to the God of old blue smoke
to please choke the life out of those who said jazz was a joke,
[…] Continue reading »

spry Literature

Poetry by Sara Spry

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Special 20

A breath in the silence
Playing on the silver
Wailing the words of lost souls
Notes burning like a fire
Under molded hands
Moving fingers
Reed notes risin’ like the wind
[…] Continue reading »