Brownout at the Austin Chronicle Music Awards last night. I was there with my brother in groove, Elias Haslanger, accepting the Best Jazz Group of 2012-13 award for Eli’s Church on Monday band (Eli, James Polk, Jake Langley, Daniel Durham, and moi).
March 14th, 2013
September 21st, 2012
Drummer Harold Jones on swinging Basie, Bennett, and life
Legendary drummer Harold Jones talks with me about growing up in Chicago with legends Herbie Hancock and Frank Strozier, and touring with Count Basie, Sarah Vaughn, Duke Ellington, and countless others that would make your jaw drop. He reflects on the great clubs of the 1950s and 60s and the fertile ground they offered young musicians seeking to grow and learn. And he waxes philosophical about playing with dynamics and understanding what the music calls for. A great chat with a great musician. We spoke on September 11, 2012 in Austin, Texas when Harold was in town for an Austin City Limits recording with Tony Bennett, who he has toured with for many years.
Download MP3 file (28:43/13.9mb)
Read more about Harold at haroldjonesdrummer.com
September 20th, 2012
A Beatiful World in sight and sound
I haven’t written on here in a long while but I’m re-energized with a quest to publish audio, and sometimes video, interviews with interesting people with a particular emphasis on fellow musicians. The first one will post soon.
I talk with Harold Jones, a legendary drummer for Count Basie, Sarah Vaughn, Tony Bennett, and countless others. We spoke for a half-hour in his Austin, Texas hotel room during a tour stop with Tony Bennett for an Austin City Limits recording. Harold talks about growing up in Chicago around other legends, touring 12 months a year with Tony Bennett, and the delicate relationship of bassist and drummer. Watch for it soon.
June 29th, 2012
As soon as I child is born, he or she should be issued a dog and a banjo.
Charlie Brown
May 30th, 2012
Casapatas Flamenco, Madrid. Watching this beautiful, powerful performance in a small club with about 60 people was a highlight of my Madrid trip. The dancers and musicians operated with a breath-taking organic synergy of passion and precision. They truly moved and created as one. It reminded me, deeply, of what I love about the performing arts — their function, at their best, as a fresh breeze blowing away the fog that makes us think we are separated from the divine, from the essence of Being. It is right where we are, each moment, as close as I was to the feet of the dancers in that club. And it is passionate, and precise, and perfect — a rolling, continuous creation.
September 2nd, 2011
Week’s of work trying to setup a home closet for podcast video production. Feels like it’s coming together. In addition to the IBM podcast work I’m doing, I hope to finally launch a podcast I’ve wanted to do for a very long time — conversations with fellow musicians about all of the humor in the musician’s life, and chats with other creative types about … well … creativity, and more humor, of course. I think it is finally going to happen. Watch here for the first episode of The Moosecast in the coming weeks.
August 8th, 2011
Waiting for some tasty Moonlight Pizza in cool Salida, Colorado.
August 6th, 2011
West Texas county road on our off-the-beaten-path trip to Colorado. Amazingly suspended in time out here with no traffic, dry ground, and shot in black and white.
August 1st, 2011
I’m sure glad Chilis makes an exceptison when you lock your keys in your car.
July 31st, 2011
