Inspired me to get this album out. The Tommy Flanagan, Eddie Locke, Major Holley band.

Good news: I have learned that "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit" will in fact also be streaming in the United Kingdom on Prime Video starting on December 9. Very excited about this for followers on tbe other side of the pond.

Just Added: A fresh addition to "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit" YouTube Channel. Take a look at this excerpt from the film, subscribe to the channel, and, for God's sake, don't forget that the film officially premieres on Prime Video on Dec. 9. www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWSq...

Thought you might be interested!! Sounds great & informative!! Happy Friday!! 🙋‍♀️💙🥰☮️ @eddsmitty.bsky.social @circlesspinning.bsky.social @chieki.bsky.social

“That’s what music is—adventure.” Happy birthday to Coleman Hawkins, b. 121 years ago today on 11/21/1904. I wrote this 3 years ago for Jazz Times about his late work between 1959-63, when his music turned another corner. There's a lot more to Hawk than "Body and Soul." jazztimes.com/features/col...

Wow. Don't see many reviews like that. I happen to agree with him. Congrats to all involved.

@merriam-webster.com just released the first new print edition of its Collegiate Dictionary in 22 years — and it weighs five pounds! So of course, I had questions. :) In today's podcast, I talk with @petersokolowski.bsky.social about why print still matters. APPLE PODCASTS: bit.ly/3LMhwbL

I think he liked it. "THIS is documentary filmmaking at its finest." " An amazing tour-de-force of utterly vibrant, wholly fascinating, and musically adept lessons about a city…and humanity." The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit premieres on Prime Video 12/9. onefilmfan.com/documentary-...

If I grow up to be even a little bit like Janet, I will have lived the life that I set out to live.

Janet Webster Jones is a Detroit hero. Source Booksellers has been an indispensable part of the city's cultural soul since 1989 & her knowledge of the world of African American letters/publishing is DEEP. I am proud that she always stocks "Jazz from Detroit" & that I gave a book talk at the store.

Can't wait!

Love Jazz? Tune into this documentary on Prime, December 9th! 🎶 #jazz #documentary #detroit #music

Can’t wait! I’m a Detroiter who loves jazz. I’ll definitely be watching on the 9th!

This is fantastic news. Watch this if you are able

🧵BREAKING NEWS: Beyond thrilled to report that the documentary I wrote & co-produced, "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit," premieres December 9 on Prime Video. The most frequently asked question I get about the film is when and where can I see it? Now I have an answer.

Looking forward to it!

Awesome. Can't wait!

🧵BREAKING NEWS: Beyond thrilled to report that the documentary I wrote & co-produced, "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit," premieres December 9 on Prime Video. The most frequently asked question I get about the film is when and where can I see it? Now I have an answer.

🧵New to me I just tripped over this wonderful 1957 duet recording by guitarist Oscar Moore with Leroy Vinnegar on bass. I wondered why I had never before seen it, and it turns out that it was originally released on reel-to-reel (Omegatape) and never came out on LP. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqKK...

🧵New to me I just tripped over this wonderful 1957 duet recording by guitarist Oscar Moore with Leroy Vinnegar on bass. I wondered why I had never before seen it, and it turns out that it was originally released on reel-to-reel (Omegatape) and never came out on LP. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqKK...

Recent releases: Grasso brothers Pasquale (guitar) & Luigi (composer-arranger-saxophonist) have brilliant records out. Pasquale's Solo Bebop is a marvel of creativity & execution in a classic idiom. Luigi's La Dimora Dell’Altrove is fresh, inventive, colorful & richly expressed music for big band.

Talking to a friend tonight about Erroll Garner reminded me that I wrote this meditation on Garner as a composer more than seven years ago. Seems like a lifetime ago. Reposting since some folks may find it interesting. www.wbgo.org/music/2018-0...

One of my favorite BNC’s!

Kenny Cox deserved far more acclaim than he received. He was also a funny and kind man.

Remarkable place

I love this place. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/01/n...

Truth Teller Detroit-born pianist and composer Kenn Cox would have turned 85 today. He was a hero, a cultural warrior. I have a photo of him in my office that he inscribed: "To Mark -- a favorite scribe. Keep telling the truth as you see it. That's what music is." www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RRl...

Well played.

The Boss Sonny Rollins recorded my all-time favorite record 68 years ago today, 11/3/57. This music has not aged a day. If you heard Sonny, Wilbur Ware, and Elvin Jones plays this exact same set tonight at the Vanguard, it would still sound state of the art. www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlHR...

The Boss Sonny Rollins recorded my all-time favorite record 68 years ago today, 11/3/57. This music has not aged a day. If you heard Sonny, Wilbur Ware, and Elvin Jones plays this exact same set tonight at the Vanguard, it would still sound state of the art. www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlHR...

Evening Vinyl 1940-41 recordings, 1966 pressing.

Pitchers and catchers report in 99 days.

Baseball is the greatest game, and it's not even close. It NEVER stops surprising you.

“If they ask me, I could write a book…” Those cats are swinging! Well done sir!

New acquisition 1965, first pressing. Arrangements by Frank Foster, Billy Byers, Dick Hyman, Mort Garson.

🧵Jack and Al I heard Jack DeJohnette live many times, but the first time I saw him in person he wasn’t performing. He was hanging out in the corner of a long-gone Greenwich Village club, Lush Life, checking out a trio gig by pianist Richie Beirach, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Al Foster.

🧵Jack and Al I heard Jack DeJohnette live many times, but the first time I saw him in person he wasn’t performing. He was hanging out in the corner of a long-gone Greenwich Village club, Lush Life, checking out a trio gig by pianist Richie Beirach, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Al Foster.

🧵New Acquisition Ralph Ellison ranks among my greatest heroes. His 1952 novel Invisible Man (and 1964 essay collection Shadow and Act) changed my life. I always wanted an early printing of a first edition of Invisible Man with a dust jacket, though a first printing is far out of my price range.

🧵New Acquisition Ralph Ellison ranks among my greatest heroes. His 1952 novel Invisible Man (and 1964 essay collection Shadow and Act) changed my life. I always wanted an early printing of a first edition of Invisible Man with a dust jacket, though a first printing is far out of my price range.

I bought this LP 10/83 after a friend introduced me to the Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. I barely knew anything about Bartok and nothing about Berio. The Bartok was wild, but I got it immediately. The Sinfonia was wilder and it took me a while get it. I was 20. The LP changed my life.

A lot of old friends (of each other and of mine) on the bandstand here at the Green Mill in Chicago. Saxophonists Dave Liebman and Brad Wheeler, pianist Jim McNeely (RIP), bassist Kelly Sill (RIP), and drummer Joel Spencer. Check it out.

Trio Music America isn't perfect, but I take solace that on Oct. 20, within 60 years, 1874-1934, this country produced Charles Ives, Jelly Roll Morton and Eddie Harris. Three profound masters of American music that reflect the greatest promise, profound diversity and highest ideals of the nation.

As a Bloomington native who earned a master's degree in journalism from IU, I have been horrified by the actions of the administration. I grew up hating Purdue because when in Rome & all that; but this act of solidarity is extraordinary. I renounce my animosity. Bravo & gratitude to the PU students.

🧵Time Capsule This page from the Michigan Chronicle, the leading African American newspaper in Detroit, offers a snapshot of highlights on the Detroit jazz scene the week of Feb. 27, 1954.

🧵Time Capsule This page from the Michigan Chronicle, the leading African American newspaper in Detroit, offers a snapshot of highlights on the Detroit jazz scene the week of Feb. 27, 1954.

“In this world, there are things you can only do alone, and things you can only do with somebody else. It's important to combine the two in just the right amount.” ― Haruki Murakami, "After Dark"

Take 2 Define jazz? Sure: Art Blakey's shuffle beat. youtube.com/watch?v=vE4i... Blakey was born 10/11/19

Take 1 Define jazz? Sure: Billy Higgins' cymbal beat. youtube.com/watch?v=FkuG... Higgins was born 10/11/36