| Most Recent Newsletter | August-September 2020
 | You hear it all the time: This or that jazz artist is "underrated." What does it mean? A more useful, more objective term might be "overlooked," perhaps even "forgotten," and, for whatever reasons, there are plenty of those in jazz. And that brings us to Beverly Kenney. |
Past Newsletters | | April-May 2020 | Pandemic is a word few of us have said or even heard until barely a couple months ago. And now our l ... |
| December 2019-January 2020 | Listening to the songs of the Great American Songbook, especially the stories they tell and the way ... |
| October-November 2019 | It never ceases to amaze and amuse me, the trivial things that bug some people. Why take offense at ... |
| August-September 2019 | We know from his words and his deeds, his tweets and his policies, that Donald Trump is a sexist and ... |
| June-July 2019 | In nearly two and a half years of the Trump administration not a single note of music of any kind ha ... |
| April-May 2019 | Sorry, Rachel Maddow, Maxine Waters, David Corn, assorted liberals, and erstwhile leftists, but ther ... |
| February-March 2019 | For thirty-five days in December and January the American labor movement was faced with a singular o ... |
| December 2018-January 2019 | Earlier this month a Cleveland radio station announced that it has stopped playing the seasonal favo ... |
| October-November 2018 | There has been a lot of loose talk lately about invoking the 25th Amendment to the Constitution — sp ... |
| August-September 2018 | In political science, "reaction" refers to an extreme conservatism that advocates the reversal of so ... |
| June-July 2018 | Henry Mancini titled his autobiography, Did They Mention the Music? Coming from a writer of m ... |
| March 2018 | In early February the website, Vulture, published an interview with composer-arranger-bandleader-pro ... |
| January-February 2018 | Sometimes people, especially liberals, really make me laugh. I've actually heard some of them sa ... |
| December 2017 | The most overused — and least understood — words of 2017 are treason, fascism, and impeachment. But ... |
| November 2017 | Here's something I don't get: vinyl records and the fetish that "audiophiles" — and even som ... |
| October 2017 | I am not just "pro-gun control," I am anti-gun. And only in recent years has the Supreme Court endor ... |
| September 2017 | In past few months we have witnessed in this sick, sad nation the rise of a more active, more embold ... |
| August 2017 | Eddie Jefferson is understood to have invented the vocalese genre. Jon Hendricks is the genre's ... |
| July 2017 | I actually believe that Russia did hack the Democratic National Committee, et al. But to assert that ... |
| May-June 2017 | Recently Pop singer Bruno Mars stated, "When you say 'black music,' understand that you are ... |
| April 2017 | I just finished reading a book I hated and I want to tell you about it — and why. According to it ... |
| March 2017 | People ask me all the time, "Is Frank Sinatra a jazz singer?" The short answer is, "Yes — and no," a ... |
| January-February 2017 | I am proud to say that I hope Donald Trump fails as president. Having said that, the only reasonable ... |
| December 2016 | Hillary Clinton may have "won" the popular vote, but she didn't run to win the popular vote. Lik ... |
| November 2016 | Trump has been insisting that the election, which will end in his certain defeat, is "rigged" agains ... |
| October 2016 | Why isn't Hillary Clinton running away with this election as she, her supporters, and most of th ... |
| September 2016 | Bribes are illegal and campaign contributions are messy, so how do you create a legal, tidy high lev ... |
| August 2016 | Has a well-meaning person ever tried to soothe your disappointment and pain with those empty words o ... |
| July 2016 | Just before Congress' July 4th break House Democrats broke the rules and staged a twenty-five ho ... |
| June 2016 | Even Hillary Clinton's allies admit weaknesses in her candidacy. That is not a winning combinati ... |
| February 2016 | Ted Cruz may be a "natural-born citizen" of the US, and so constitutionally eligible to run for pres ... |
| January 2016 | If that mess called "the Republican Party" were still an actual political party with actual leaders ... |
| Sinatra (December) 2015 | After a month off the air I've returned to the radio (and the Internet, too) and, after a month ... |
| October 2015 | Yoenis Céspedes of the New York Mets is the Most Valuable Player in the league. No player has made a ... |
| September 2015 | Why isn't Tommy John in the Baseball Hall of Fame? Why are so many young pitchers today having T ... |
| August 2015 | Of the cartoon cast known as "the Republican presidential candidates" no more than three or four of ... |
| July 2015 | Where do domestic terrorists get the motivation, the inspiration for their acts? Their hate-filled l ... |
| June 2015 | The easiest, most effective way to prevent a candidate from being elected is to buy into the argumen ... |
| May 2015 | In its twenty-eight years in existence the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra never has had a permanent w ... |
| April 2015 | "Nothing was more perfect than what she was. Nor more willing to fail. ... Sometimes you are afraid ... |
| March 2015 | Whenever you encounter racists, spouting their racist venom, it's important that you call them o ... |
| February 2015 | There is only one thing Americans hate more than a loser, and that's a winner. "Oh, how the migh ... |
| January 2015 | Remember George Carlin's "The Seven Words You Can Never Say on TV?" Well, here's my own list ... |
| December 2014 | Last year at this time I told you about a terrific charity that does wonderful work, and recommended ... |
| November 2014 | Americans, you do not possess an absolute and unfettered "Second Amendment right" to own a gun. Noth ... |
| October 2014 | October 11 marks the seventieth anniversary of the release of my favorite film of all time, Laura ... |
| September 2014 | Last month the incidents in Ferguson, Missouri, managed to occupy the so-called "24-hour news cycle" ... |
| August 2014 | In 1936 Count Basie and his free-wheeling band from Kansas City came east and took New York by storm ... |
| July 2014 | I have managed to catch "World Cup Fever." While watching the matches I've discovered quite a fe ... |
| June 2014 | Hilary Clinton's latest book, Hard Choices, comes out in June, an "inside account of the crises, ... |
| May 2014 | Centuries ago someone invented theatre. The next night, so that the audience would have something to ... |
| April 2014 | Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, is offering a summer course called — seriously — "Th ... |
| March 2014 | Arizona's campaign to be the most bigoted state in the union was derailed when its governor vet ... |
| February 2014 | Maybe you've heard, I've just begun teaching "Black American Music Since 1900," an undergrad ... |
| January 2014 | The New York Times sucks because of the shabby, disrespectful way it treats our music.
... |
| December 2013 | Since it was formed in 2009 Brass for Africa has donated over 150 instruments to Africa, has initiat ... |
| November 2013 | Solomon Northup was a freeborn African-American who in 1841 was drugged, bound, and sold into slaver ... |
| October 2013 | You know when people tell you to "save the date?" Well, whether you are a jazz musician, teacher, st ... |
| September 2013 | People in every corner of the globe know and revere the brilliance, the stunning eloquence of Dr. Ma ... |
| August 2013 | My August Artist of the Month is my late friend, Benny Powell, best known for his twelve-year tenure ... |
| July 2013 | Normally in this space I throw my fastball (jazz) or my curveball (politics). But this month I'm ... |
| June 2013 | For years I'd thought that the woman president would be a Republican. And then along came Hilary ... |
| May 2013 | It was with amusement mixed with disgust that I watched, on April, 25, the dedication of the oxymoro ... |
| April 2013 | In Facebook World all you have to do it paste a famous and respected name onto a bit of fortune cook ... |
| March 2013 | You already may be aware of the immense regard that I have for Antonio Carlos Jobim But after having ... |
| February 2013 | Since last November's election Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal has been telling fellow Republica ... |
| January 2013 | A dentist acted legally when he fired an assistant that he found attractive because he and his wife ... |
| December 2012 | It was some years ago, only a week or so before Christmas, I
had gotten back to Brooklyn on t ... |
| November 2012 | He's the man I call "America's Poet": Johnny Mercer. And on Sunday, November 18, the anniver ... |
| October 2012 | In 1982 my very good friend, Toronto-based soprano saxophonist-flutist Jane Bunnett visited Cuba fo ... |
| September 2012 | I always enjoy having musician friends join me in the studio for Just Jazz, so I'm happy to anno ... |
| August 2012 | Impeccably dressed in the inevitable tuxedo, more often seated at the piano than posed at the mic, B ... |
| July 2012 | After making wholesale and arbitrary cuts in numerous ethnic music categories in the most recent Gra ... |
| June 2012 | If you're a regular Sunday night listener to Just Jazz on 91.9 WNTI or wnti.org then you know ab ... |
| May 2012 | May 11 marks the eighty-fifth birthday of the great and groundbreaking comedian Mort Sahl. ... |
| April 2012 | Do you hate the phrase "let's agree to disagree" as much as I do? What does it mean? Why do peop ... |
| March 2102 | This month I want to pull your coats to three new and highly recommended books about my favorite sub ... |
| February 2012 | Have you heard? It's outrageous! For this year NARAS, the organization that gives the annual Gra ... |
| January 2012 | Wow, is that Newt Gingrich guy really something, or what? I mean, he's accomplished more in one ... |
| December 2011 | I've always wondered, when the three wise men brought that Jesus kid those gifts of gold, franki ... |
| November 2011 | Texas Toast" Unbuttered: A Guide to Understanding Rick Perry ... |
| October 2011 | Bob's List: 10 Movie Quotes That Should be on T-Shirts (because I have nothing particular to say ... |
| September 2011 | Maybe you heard — last weekend we had a hurricane in the eastern US. ... |
| August 2011 | As you probably heard by now, tenor saxophonist-composer-arranger Frank Foster died on July 26 at th ... |
| July 2011 | This year, "Just Jazz, Inc." (a subsidiary of jazzbob.com) is dedicating its Summer Film Festival to ... |
| June 2011 | Regular listeners to "Just Jazz" on 91.9 WNTI or wnti.org are familiar with my "Just Jazz Presents.. ... |
| May 2011 | In April the Recording Academy announced that for 2012 it has cut its Grammy Awards categories from ... |
| April 2011 | You've heard the news: just because some mugs in Congress hate pubic radio — I mean really hate ... |
| March 2011 | Last year marked the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of pianist, composer, and arranger Mary ... |
| February 2011 | Last month I attended the second annual Jazz Education Network conference in New Orleans. It was a b ... |
| January 2011 | Well, the blizzard that hit the NYC-NJ area the day after Christmas kept me from doing my annual "Th ... |
| December 2010 | This is the final newsletter of the year and that means it's time for my "Best New Jazz CDs of 2 ... |
| November 2010 | "Janet Jackson says despite winning numerous Grammy Awards, gracing the big and small screens and ha ... |
| October 2010 | This month marks the 80th anniversary of "Body and Soul." Jazz instrumentalists and singers particul ... |
| September 2010 | "Friending." To quote Henry Higgins: "I ask you, sir, what sort of word is that?" I'll tell you ... |
| August 2010 | Anyone who knows me, knows that there is no one in the jazz world whom I hold in higher regard than ... |
| July 2010 | Abrazos y besos to my friend, singer Amanda Martinez. A
Toronto native and a rising star on t ... |
| June 2010 | From May 20 to 22 I had the great joy of attending the
inaugural conference of the Jazz Educa ... |
| May 2010 | Welcome to "Bob's List." What is "Bob's List?" Something
I'm going to subject you ... |
| April 2010 | I've been trying to think of a way to increase my listening audience, to "broaden my base," as t ... |
| March 2010 | For more than five decades pianist Morris Nanton performed in clubs, lounges, and restaurants throug ... |
| February 2010 | Last month I received news of the passing of two eminent members of our jazz community, two lives we ... |
| January 2010 | News Item #1:
An angry purist attending the Sigüenza Jazz Festival in Spain called the police ... |
| December 2009 | One of the things I enjoy most this time of year is putting together my two special year-end Just ... |
| November 2009 | Did you know there was a New Jersey Hall of Fame? Well,there is, and this year Count Basie and Les P ... |
| October 2009 | Trumpeter Valery Ponomarev had a dream: to play with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. But Valery li ... |
| Septermber 2009 | My friend, saxophonist Sue Terry, is someone who always has something valuable to say, something wor ... |
| August 2009 | On July 6, Oscar Gustave Mayer, retired chairman of one of the world's most famous wiener and co ... |
| July 2009 | I have something very special planned for my Just Jazz program of July 5. Since it's 4th of July ... |
| June 2009 | I'm delighted to announce that on Sunday, June 14, I'll be joined in the Just Jazz studio by ... |
| May 2009 | At the end of March I attended Slide Factory 2009, a terrific classical and jazz trombone festival i ... |
| Aprl 2009 | April 29 marks the 110th anniversary of the birth of Duke Ellington. And so, to commemorate Duke' ... |
| March 2009 | It's up and running and ready for you: my new website! I'm very happy with the design and ab ... |
| February 2009 | For February I'm doing something a bit different with my "Just Jazz Artist of the Month." For th ... |
| January 2009 | The Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra once told a teammate, who suggested they eat at a popular restau ... |
| December 2008 | Four years ago, only a week or so before Christmas, I had gotten back to Brooklyn on the Monday afte ... |
