An Introduction to this Essay Series

PLEASE SHARE and SPREAD THE WORD!:

HELLO FRIENDS and WELCOME!

Even though I have published plenty of books and articles (see Lewisporter.com, plus brief bio below), I still have LOTS of never-published research, often with previously unknown audio or video, on everyone from Jelly Roll Morton through Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and beyond. I am now frequently posting these items in this Substack series of essays. This material is only available here.

In addition to never-published items, I will also be posting:

-Research that I published somewhere but that did not receive attention.

-Research by others that I consider significant and that did not receive attention.

-An occasional guest post of new research by someone else.

-My general thoughts on research, and unconventional research tips.

-Rarely, I will post my research on other kinds of music besides jazz.

-Very rarely, I might comment on non-musical affairs.

All Essays are Indexed! Just click on Index on the top of the home page.

As is typical with Substack newsletters, there is a free week available if you wish. When you decide to subscribe, there are two tiers: Free subscribers will get most of the content. Paid subscribers ($5 per month, $50 per year) will also get access to additional audio clips, newspaper clippings, etc., and of course you are supporting my work! (It is understood as a kind of “honor system” on Substack that paid subscribers will not forward posts to free- or non-subscribers.) You can easily find these because every post with a bonus item has +Bonus in the title.

For those who wish to contribute more, Substack allows anyone to become a Founding Member, who can participate in exclusive occasional Zoom hangs with Lew and other Founding Members. Some of the Founders are accomplished musicians, so at the Zoom meetings there are always several short presentations by myself and some of the Founding Members. The suggested fee is $200, but if you click on that option it should accept anything over $50/yr or over $5/month.

All subscribers will have the ability to comment on and discuss the postings, and to participate in what I expect will be a very lively discussion area! (As with all such online discussions, no insults will be allowed. I will delete any such comments, and I reserve the right to ban anyone who is discourteous to others.)

My first post was a NEVER HEARD audio interview with Charlie Parker!

I already have about 100 future posts ready to go. So that you’ll have an idea what to expect, here are just a few of them, in no particular order:

-Evidence that suggests that Black American music may have had an influence in Africa as early as 1906!!

-An audible and funny mishap on a famous Monk recording. (Now Posted!)

-Miles’s experience of losing his voice. (Parts One and Two Now Posted!)

-Jelly Roll Morton’s claims about his age. (Now Posted.)

-Evidence that Billie Holiday knew vocal technique exercises.

-Art Tatum plays “out” (some of these are audio clips that I once posted online, but I have new ones too). (Five Essays Now Posted.)

-The truth about trumpeter Freddie Webster.

-Information about newly discovered Coltrane recordings that are not yet available to the public nor even to collectors.

-And MANY, MANY more!!

This will be great fun! I’m looking forward to writing for all of you!

All the best,

Lewis

Lrpjazz@gmail.com

Lewisporter.com

P.S. I thank my friend Evan Spring, who came up with the title I chose, as well as about 100 other friends who suggested various options, all of them good. And a special “shout out” to Ted Gioia, The Honest Broker on Substack, for his many helpful suggestions.

P.P.S. Please note, everything that I post is copyrighted intellectual property. For those subscribers who are also writers, my work should be properly cited when referred to in print (online or otherwise). And for sharing, the bottom line is: Share the link, Not the content. Please don’t forward the entire email that contains my essay. Instead, help me by directing readers to Here (Substack) for the content. It’s easy to do—just one extra click: At the bottom of every email it says Share: If you click on that, one of the options is Email (or you can use one of the other options—Twitter, Facebook, etc.). Just click on that and it automatically makes an email with the link in it. Then you can send that to everyone--I appreciate it!! 

Do that for any essay that you want to forward. That way they can subscribe to me if they are interested, instead of waiting for you to send each post to them. And they can look over what I’ve already posted—over 100 essays to date—because those won’t be emailed again. Also, you can send to them the link to All of my essays—just click on “Share Playback” which is at the bottom of every post.

BIO:

Lewis Porter, Ph.D., is a leading jazz historian, best known for his two books on John Coltrane—a celebrated biography and a co-authored reference book--but he has also published two jazz history books (one is co-authored), two on Lester Young, and he co-wrote Dave Liebman’s autobiography. He has authored many articles, and his more recent research appears regularly in this Substack newsletter. He is also a pianist and composer on over 35 albums (as of Sept. 2022) with Liebman, John Patitucci, Terri Lyne Carrington, and many others. He has performed across the USA and Europe with such artists as Joe Lovano and Jerry Bergonzi, and given two-piano concerts with Vijay Iyer and with Ethan Iverson. He is a long-time college jazz educator (31 years at Rutgers, tenured; 9 years at Tufts; also Manhattan School of Music, Brandeis, NYU, The New School, William Paterson U, etc.) and although he retired from full-time teaching in 2018, he continues to guest teach worldwide. Dr.Porter has received many awards and a Grammy nomination.