I heard the poet Maya Angelou and then Stew & Heidi Rodewald of the indie group, “The Negro Problem,” say the same thing last week which I took as a theme to explore. They all said, say yes to the creative project and then figure out how to do it. Say yes then do it. [...]

Some folks I know had this video on their Facebook pages. The Roots are funky and the aesthetic of the video reminded me of the style of jazz artists like Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and the way they were photographed in their day. Tweet

Selected Clips from the Louis Armstrong Jazz Oral History Project is a treasure trove of interviews with various jazz musicians. DocBop hipped me to this one. Makes me want to take a trip to New York to see the other full length interviews. click here to see Selected Clips from the Louis Armstrong Jazz Oral [...]

DocBop turned me on to this site with its jazz and music quotes. The quotes change automatically or you can click reload page to change them. I like the simple design of the pages and the quotes have me nodding my head. http://www.barstardo.com/ Tweet

Her comment about my music making being good for my communication stuck in my mind for several days. I asked her about it the next time I saw her and got the whole rundown of how making music opens my self expression channels. It was one of those weird moments when what someone says makes [...]

I had promised one of my friends that I would let him hear some of my music. I played two tracks for him and his wife yesterday and felt a resurgence of energy in my musical self. My music has been off-and-on the table behind my writing for the last several months. Beats and melodies [...]

This is really cool. The fact that they did this after their instruments had been stolen is a testament to their creativity. Rock on Atomic Tom. Tweet

A friend sent me a link to this artist who composes a beat on the spot and then sings with it. Talk about creating on the edge. It rocks. Tweet

It’s still father’s day and I was reminded of how my father’s interest in music has influenced my life until this day. My friend told me how he would tell his guitar students to find out who inspired their idols and to listen to those people. (This is actually good council for anyone pursuing a [...]

One of my creative friends, a musician, just sent out an email stating he is giving away his music for free. (You can find his music and the thread of the “free” conversation here on his website.) We traded a couple of emails about how artists can make money in an age when it’s possible [...]