John Edwin Mason: Documentary, Motorsports, Photo History

#FunkyFriday: Kait Dunton & TrioKAIT

When I made this portrait of Kait Dunton 10 years ago, she was a promising young pianist and composer who had just graduated from the University of Virginia. Four years earlier, she had arrived in Charlottesville as a gifted classical pianist, but she thought that her future would be in... Read more →

Funky Friday: Barbara Bruckmueller, "Missing Your Kissing"

Straight outta Vienna, Barbara Bruckmueller and her big band. Barbara's one of my favorite composers and bandleaders. Some people (that is, some Americans) think that European jazz is always cold and calculated. I don't believe it for a minute, and this song proves the point. Barbara's got soul. And a... Read more →

Funky Friday: Dolly Parton, "Jolene." (Really.)

I first heard this a few months ago, and it still blows me away every time. Slow down Dolly Parton's original recording of "Jolene" -- slow it way, way down -- and it's transformed into something deep, dark, and funky. Love it. Dolly Parton, "Jolene." Wow. Amazing groove, isn't it.... Read more →

Funky Friday: DJ Li'l Miss Dolemite, Part 2

This is the second time I've had the honor and privilege of featuring the fun and fabulous Li'l Miss Dolemite on Funky Friday. I love the mixes that she puts together -- great grooves with sprinkling of the absurd. "Up in Flames (What-a-Gas)" is especially trippy. Enjoy. Li'l Miss. * Read more →

Funky Friday with Barbara Bruckmueller: Big Band Album of the Year, 2013

And the Big Band Album of the Year for 2013 is... The debut recording of the Barbara Bruckmueller Big Band. Yes, 2013, and I'm only half joking. I've been a fan of Barbara and her band for a couple of years. I love her sensibility as a composer. She's deeply... Read more →

Nadine Hutton: I, Joburg

I spend a lot of time wishing I were in South Africa. Yes, I know: Be Here Now. Screw it. I'll take South Africa, preferably Cape Town. Except for today. Right now -- 5 September 2012 -- I'd rather be in Johannesburg for the opening of Nadine Hutton's first solo... Read more →

Kait Dunton, "Mountain Suite."

Slow Music for a Fast Food World Kait Dunton must know what she's doing. Either that, or she's ever-so-slightly out of her mind. Because here she is -- amid of the clutter and noise of the internet age -- whispering. Mountain Suite, the mesmerizing new album from the LA-based composer... Read more →