Esperanza Spalding’s Commencement Address for Berklee College of Music’s Class of 2018
https://youtu.be/kIjGh-wsPEg
Reflections
I see little of more importance to the future of our country and our civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist. If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him ... the highest duty of the writer, [...]
Hartford area musicians well represented at Newport Jazz Festival 2017
The complete photo gallery from Newport Jazz Festival 2017 can be found at this link. The Newport Jazz Festival is perhaps the most respected and historic jazz gathering in the US today. Now in its sixty third year, this iconic festival has featured many of the greats that make up the legacy of this art [...]
Native Americans in Jazz—Present and Past
The purpose of this post is to illuminate the contributions of Native Americans—present and past—to the art form we love: Jazz. This is an important subject that has not been given adequate attention in the published jazz histories we are most familiar with. Yet, as the sources below make evident, these contributions have been authoritatively [...]