John Coltrane and Louis Armstrong found themselves seated on a park bench overlooking a city. Music drifted through the air from every direction. None of the musicians were visible. ARMSTRONG: […]

Most of the time, growth is invisible. Then, one night after a concert, another musician approaches. Not a fan. A peer. Someone who knows what it costs to arrive at […]

The open stage: A retired accountant arrived with a Martin guitar and sang a ballad about his wife of forty-three years. His voice wandered in and out of tune as […]

Socrates was sitting beneath an olive tree when a man appeared wearing round purple glasses, black clothes, several silver crosses, and an expression suggesting he had survived both history and […]

There are concertsno audienceever sees. The morningyou manageone page. The afternoonyou stopbefore forcing it. The eveningyou deciderestis not surrender. I used to thinkpracticemeant repeatinguntil mastery. Nowit sometimes meansreturning tomorrow. The […]

“Have you heard Foreign Dialogue yet?” asked Martin. “It’s fantastic.” Elaine sipped her coffee. “I heard it.” “Do you agree?” “Depends.” “It sounds like Some Girls.” “That’s a problem.” Martin […]

The musician wasn’t opposed to activism. Some of the greatest songs ever written were acts of protest. They opposed wars, exposed hypocrisy, confronted racism, and gave courage to people who […]

They told methere would be empty chairs. I believed them.Empty chairs always honest companions.They never ask for encores.They never wait by the merch tablepretending not to look. I rehearsedfor absence. […]