Author's posts
Talking Pictures 2-25-26
“Primate” (2025 Horror) and “How to Make a Killing” (2026 Thriller/Comedy) with Hollis Monroe, Phil Brown and Monica Schmidt.
Soundtrack to the Struggle – Mannenberg Is Where It’s Happening
Oppressors hate jazz. Whether in the U.S. or abroad, jazz has always made the right enemies. The Soviets and Castro tried to stomp it out. Hitler was no fan, and you don’t hear much about a Chinese jazz scene. Jazz requires, promotes, and symbolizes a kind of democracy, an exchange of ideas that dictators can’t …
Soundtrack to the Struggle – Gil Scott-Heron’s Revolution
It’s 2021, and jazz poet Gil Scott-Heron is inducted posthumously into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for his “early influence” on rap. Scott-Heron bristled at the “Father of Rap” distinction, saying, “I don’t know if I can take the blame for rap music. I listen to the jazz station.” An artistic polymath, Scott-Heron …
Soundtrack to the Struggle – June Richmond Makes the Mold
It’s 1937, and June Richmond steps to the microphone for Jimmy Dorsey’s big band. Doing so, she makes history as the first Black singer in an all-white orchestra. Richman caught the attention of Dorsey and Bing Crosby during a set at the Los Angeles Cotton Club. They invited her to their table, made Richmond an …
Soundtrack to the Struggle – Malcolm X’s Influence on Jazz
The powerful oratory and evolving political views of civil rights leader Malcolm X deeply influenced jazz musicians in the 1960’s, including John Coltrane, who saw parallels between his own search for liberation and Malcolm X’s message. As a young man, Malcolm was famously passionate about music. In his autobiography, he boasts of how, as a …
Soundtrack to the Struggle – The BLM Suite, Cal Massey’s Magnum Opus
The 1950’s was a hopeful decade. People like Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr. each successfully battled against segregation. Philadelphia’s bebop scene was blossoming. Cal Massey’s touring days were over, and he had started his own band with Albert Heath on drums, Jimmy Garrison on bass, “C” Clarence Sharpe on alto sax and …
Talking Pictures 2-18-26
“Iron Lung” ( 2026 Horror/Sci-fi) and “The Great Santini” (1979 Drama with Robert Duvall) with Hollis Monroe, Phil Brown and Ron Adkins.
Soundtrack to the Struggle – The Real Jazz Ambassadors
The Real Ambassadors was a vibrant mix of humor, social commentary and swinging music. And it couldn’t have existed if Dave Brubeck hadn’t taken over the world with Time Out, his epochal 1959 record with alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, bassist Eugene Wright and drummer Joe Morello — because The Real Ambassadors was a passion project and almost certainly a money …