Sam Smith - During four decades, most while engaged in journalism in Washington, I played in jazz bands. I recommend this to any journalist who finds their work over-stressful. But the other thing I came to realize was that jazz was also a metaphor for the sort of democracy we still hadn't achieved.After all, many … Continue reading Jazz and democracy
Music
Finding music
Sam Smith, 1977 – My earliest musical memory is of sitting on the john and singing "I got to Kansas City on a Friday; by Saturday I'd learned a thing or two. . ." That and the big posters my parents had of all the instruments of the orchestra and going to a children's concert … Continue reading Finding music
The attack on jazz
Sam Smith - A strange thing is going on about jazz, of which John Halle, director of music theory at Bard College, makes an interesting FB comment: John Oliver last night: "Congress is like jazz in that most people hate it and anyone who says they don't is lying." Someone needs to get to the … Continue reading The attack on jazz
Louis Armstrong and the civil rights movement
Sam Smith - Louis Armstrong, given his great popularity among whites, would, from time to time, come under criticism for not doing more for civil rights. Ben Schwartz in the New Yorker sheds some interesting light on this in a new article, including Armstrong's response for not having taken part in a protest march: “My … Continue reading Louis Armstrong and the civil rights movement
Thelonius Monk
Born Oct 10, 1917 Sam Smith, Multitudes- Just as the Harlem Renaissance has been treated mainly as a literary phenomenon, so it was with the beat era. After all, it is writers and not artists and musicians who get to tell the story afterwards. I never paid much attention to the writers and poets. While … Continue reading Thelonius Monk
Upright falldown
Sam Smith - This is not a good year for Steinway. First the company was taken over by a hedge fund. Now David Jenson, my piano tuner tells me that the wood on my 115 year old Steinway upright has dried out and isn't holding things like screws like it once did. I asked David … Continue reading Upright falldown
Jocko Henderson
Sam Smith More often than should be the case, I get distracted by Google and start looking into something or someone who just happens to cross my mind. Most recently it was Jocko Henderson. By the late fifties, the hounds of change were on radio's traces. Television was seizing for itself the stories, the vaudeville … Continue reading Jocko Henderson
Why we need a natural music movement
Sam Smith As part of a debate over people ripping off music downloads, the Trichordist ran a post by music economics professor David Lowery that made some striking points: Recorded music revenue is down 64% since 1999. Per capita spending on music is 47% lower than it was in 1973. The number of professional musicians … Continue reading Why we need a natural music movement
Music’s real problem is downgrading, not downloading
Sam Smith Missing from the righteous outrage over the attacks on the Internet by the film and recording industries has been fact that movies and music are quite different. From its beginning, music has been the one the few forms of art intended to be replicated and shared and not just absorbed. There are no … Continue reading Music’s real problem is downgrading, not downloading
Factories of fame
Sam Smith 2011 Attempting to find some justification for my continued viewing of “American Idol,” it finally dawned on me that I was actually watching a detailed exposition about the manufacturing of one of the last products made in any significant quantity in our country: fame. I had initially assumed the show was about music … Continue reading Factories of fame
I can’t hear the music. . . There’s a lawyer in my ear
Sam Smith I recently went to the Progressive Review's music page and clicked on a link to a jazz video from many years ago. Instead of the video I found this: "This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated." I began clicking other links - to … Continue reading I can’t hear the music. . . There’s a lawyer in my ear
How the recording industry killed popular music
SAM SMITH, PROGRESSIVE REVIEW - No one in the major media or at RIAA is going to admit it, but the remarkable decline in music buying provides more evidence that when you turn a creative task over to a bunch of lawyers and greedy executives, everyone loses. The music industry has been killing itself for … Continue reading How the recording industry killed popular music
Where the music went
Sam Smith, Progressive Review - A striking chart accompanying Charles Blow's NY Times recent column on music sales raises questions about how important unpaid downloads actually are. For example, in 2008 paid downloads of singles brought in about one billion dollars. The best year for CDs was 1999 when there were roughly $15 billion of … Continue reading Where the music went
Punk and protest
DURING THE DEMONSTRATIONS IN WASHINGTON IN APRIL 2002, SAM SMITH SPOKE AT A PUNK ROCK PERFORMANCE AT THE KAFFA HOUSE ON U STREET IN DC. THESE ARE HIS REMARKS. ONE OF THE BANDS THAT PLAYED AT KAFFA HOUSE DURING THE DEMONSTRATIONS - BLOWBACK - ALSO SHOWED UP THE NEXT DAY ON THE STREETS OF DOWNTOWN … Continue reading Punk and protest
Music & politics: The sound of changes, the power of changes
This was the chart used to riff some comments at a performance by the punk rock group Blowback on March 10,2006 at the Club Asylum in DC's Adams Morgan Sam Smith - When he was 25, Colin Wilson wrote The Outsider, a book about those who see too deep and too much. I suspect some … Continue reading Music & politics: The sound of changes, the power of changes
Sam Smith's Essays 