Savion Glover Although the bulk of my time these days is spent in Portland either teaching or spending time with my family, I'm g...

My new Yamaha P37D Pianica I just received a nice surprise in the mail; direct from Japan, a brand new melodica! The Yamaha P37D Pian...

I recently performed at Jimmy Mak's in Portland with trombonist Steve Turre. In addition to having drummer Charlie Doggett on the b...

DRUM GENIUS! As a full time music teacher and father of 2, I have time finding the time to practice. I used to play and tour constant...

Sinne Eeg I've had a busy May in terms of playing. I did a Northwest "tour" with my band Theoretical Planets; we did a c...

Saxophonist Joe Manis turned me on to this video. Vocalist Joyce Kwon has done more than simply learn John Coltrane's solo on ...

The great Hal Galper Portland State was recently lucky to have the great pianist and educator Hal Galper for a masterclass. Galper pai...

When I was starting out as a pianist in Baltimore and Washington D.C., I worked with quit a few singers. I never considered myself a ...

The jazz community is saddened by the loss of the great trumpeter Clark Terry. One of the first jazz trumpeters I ever heard as a middl...

It's a few weeks to go until Spring Break, and I can feel the home stretch. I am enjoying my teaching; many of my students are reall...

"Man those cats be playing some THEORY!" I'm finding that one of the huge challenges for teaching jazz at the higher lev...

Chris Rock in "Top Five" I recently wrote about my disappointment in regards to a movie I went to see with my wife; part of ...

The older I get, the less I care about what others think of me. I'm not saying I don't care at all; I'm saying that it conc...

We've lost a number of greats in jazz recently( Charlie Haden, Joe Sample, Horace Silver, Gerald Wilson), but I wanted to mention th...

I was sincerely shocked to hear of the recent death of pianist Kenny Drew Jr. I was aware that Drew had a number of health problems, but...

Although I've had more than my share of luck and success as an accidental jazz pianist, I was very interested in the drums. I recall ...

Soweto Kinch Sometimes I'm just late to the party; I recently discovered a wonderful musician from England named Soweto Kinch, who...

Joe Manis We are continuing to have some great Jazz masterclasses at PSU. So far this year, we have had saxophonist Hailey Niswanger,...

Hailey Niswanger Even if you have a stellar full time or adjunct faculty at your college or university(which we do in the Jazz Departm...