I graduated from Northwestern in 1964 with no idea what to do next. I most certainly didn’t want to continue in academia. I knew what I’d be doing if I didn’t get married or hook up with a graduate school – I’d get drafted. I decided, in my half-assed fashion, to allow that to happen, […]
I’d started something I was pretending was a novel up in Denver, and I continued with it for a while. I’d been reading, or at least pretending to read, the “new novels” of Alain Robbe-Grillet, and catching the films of Antonioni and Bergman, so I was up to date on pretentious, intentionally obscure anti-narratives, and
I’d been told that some former Colorado Springs poets laureate were going to read at the old Knights of Columbus hall. Some of them were old friends, so I’d overcome my distaste for public gatherings and come down to hear them. When I’d walked into the hall, I’d found a bank of folding chairs set
The Other Way from You Read More »
At about 2 a.m. Saturday morning, October 23, 2010, outside the residence of Brandon Savage (street name “Ghostface”) at 1843 North Harvard Avenue in Tulsa, Oklahoma, two people were shot. One was Carlameisha Jefferson (street name “24”), and she was treated in the emergency room and survived her wounds. The other was Dominique Jasper (street name
Guilty Until Proven Innocent: The Unjust Imprisonment of Channen Smith Read More »
“[I]t’s impossible for me to say – as much as I loved him – that in his most productive and influential period Art Tatum was the only guy. How could I leave out Teddy Wilson? How could I leave out Hank Jones? How could I leave out Milt Buckner? How could I leave out a
Gemini — Ruby Braff Read More »
When Hoagy Carmichael and his friends Bob Gilette and Bix Beiderbecke went on a road trip to Chicago, their first stop was Lincoln Gardens, the club where King Oliver’s band was appearing. Many years later, Carmichael wrote about that night: As I sat down to light my first muggle, Bix gave the sign to a
Tuba Skinny: Back Down on the Ground Read More »