Jazzhouse Diaries

By Lyn Horton

Logos and Language: A Post-Jazz Metaphorical Dialogue
by Steve Dalachinsky and Matthew Shipp, 97 pages, Rogue Art, 2008

Getting to the bottom of things requires stamina and focus. The medium for this process is crucial in distilling the essence of the pursuit, and when it comes to music, words often pave the way to penetrating its whys and wherefores. But because words can act as musical entities themselves, words and music have a unique bond. What both imply can fit into the narrowness of definition or explode into the breadth of a spiritual universality, simultaneously. It is simply a matter of point of view. Continue Reading »

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By Lyn Horton

In March of ’08, an email came into my inbox from The Jazz Institute in Darmstadt, Germany about a three-day panel discussion on jazz journalism.
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By Lyn Horton

Reading Ben Ratliff’s 200-page book, Coltrane: The Story of a Sound, is close to being on a roller-coaster ride. The subject matter of John Coltrane alone has absorbed the energy of countless students. Yet Ratliff makes an effort to enter the mystery of how Coltrane generated his music. But, the author’s consciousness takes a vacation.

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By Lyn Horton

What does the jazz writer know about the creative experience? That is the first question that the writer must ask himself when attempting to write about music that is fashioned spontaneously, intuitively, from the heart, from the gut, from the spirit, from living…the struggles, the hardships, the joys and the love.
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UMass Amherst, MA

Nov. 18, 2007

Crossover music may carry a listener to a destination where one kind of music is embellished by the accoutrements of another. But, how often does it happen that two musics are performed within ethics that define their breadth and similarity? And the exchange goes in both directions?

These questions were answered in a relentlessly musical two hour performance at UMass Amherst of The Dakshina Ensemble, a collaborative effort between Rudresh Mahanthappa, alto saxophonist, and Kadri Kopalnath, Indian classical music figure, also an alto player. This was the first concert for the annual Magic Triangle Series, now in its eighteenth year.

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