Porter, Lew's Memories

Ornette Coleman: My Memories of Him, 2—A Day at Brandeis University, 1985

In the previous essay (see the Index), I told you about the first time I met Ornette Coleman, when I was a student at the University of Rochester in the…

Nov 19, 2023 •

Ornette Coleman: My Memories of Him, 1—University of Rochester, 1970

I once heard Denardo, Ornette Coleman’s drummer son, say that his father made everybody feel like they were a close friend of his. So I suppose I was…

Nov 14, 2023 •

Beastie Boys: I Was Asked to Be Their "Expert Witness"

In the Introduction to these essays, I mentioned that sometimes I might post an essay that’s not about jazz. Here is an experience I had in music, but…

Sep 26, 2023 •

Coleman Hawkins Tribute: My Second Memory of the Village Vanguard (+Bonus)

(Paying Subscribers, a lesser-known audio interview with Hawkins is your gift, at the bottom.) My first “memory” essay, about Pete La Roca, was one of…

Sep 17, 2023 •

Coltrane: A Love Supreme, Part 1—Background Information, and My Personal Memories

THIS IS the first of what will be a series of many detailed essays exploring the beloved album A Love Supreme. This recording is very important to me…

Sep 10, 2023 •

Pete La Roca: He took me on my first trip to the Village Vanguard

(This is the first of what will be an occasional series about my experiences in the jazz world.) The first time I was at the Vanguard was in most…

Aug 20, 2023 •

#nojs-banner { position: fixed; bottom: 0; left: 0; padding: 16px 16px 16px 32px; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; background: red; color: white; font-family: -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; } #nojs-banner a { color: inherit; text-decoration: underline; } This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts