 ....and this just in to the Newsroom:
 convicted of fraud, sexual assault and other awful crimes - guilty in the hearts and minds of many as the chief seditionist of January 6th, 2021, and yet 'enough' Americans wanted this, a 2nd term for this bastard! What would Dr. King think of having a racist, a bigot, a xenophobic mean-spirited person like this inhabit the White House.... AGAIN? One can only wonder. The utter stupidity of the voting public is hard to believe, and yet, not so hard to believe. In the end, people are just stupid to ignore everything that they should know to be true and STILL, for many them, while holding their noses, they voted for this pig anyway.All of this after his horrific 1st term from 2017-2021 where the damage that he caused both domestically and internationally will take decades to recover from! And so, this January 20th becomes a "dark, dark day in the history of the USA!" And now, he is going to pardon many, if not all of the seditionists and traitors who tried to violently keep the peaceful transition of power from happening. It is so shameful - all of it. He is in control of ALL of the branches of government: executive, both houses of congress and the Supreme Court - there are no guardrails this time. No checks & balances! Nothing to stop him as 1/2 of this nation lets out a mournful cry! I, for one, will not watch or listen to one-second of the inauguration nor whatever happens immediately afterwards. Then I have to spend the next 4 years trying not to see him ever again, or listen to all of his lies, exaggerations and twisted truths, alternative 'facts'! What a nightmare this is going to be. BIG LOVE, from a despairing and still despondent, Steve  Of course, as a musician, I had always owned a couple of real component-based stereo systems with powerful amps (100w per channel) and a multi-CD player in the living room system.As a kid, growing-up in West Los Angeles, I remember that during every Holiday Season, my father would always break out the most wonderful LPs of Christmas songs - all sung by the greatest singers from the '40s, '50s and '60s. And so in present day, I attempted to create Christmas Samplers, 3 volumes of them, within my iTunes. Of course, I became rather sentimental about all of this music - remembering various people who are in my life or who have passed through my life. Eventually, I would burn CD-Rs of the Christmas Samplers and would place them in the multi-CD player and just hit the "random" option and enjoy whatever songs came up - because they were all special to me. And so now, here we are, and it is 2023, and through Facebook and the great popularity of Spotify I have sought to share these playlists, perhaps expanded a bit, with friends near and far so that those who care to can now enjoy what I've been enjoying most of my life. Once again, wiith the help of my close friend, pianist Antonio Mazzei, who now lives in Barcelona, Spain - after having spent many years here in New York - and who IS well-versed in Spotify - we would assemble these Christmas Sampler Playlists, and he would create them for me @ Spotify. As I had already created 3 of them, I felt that this would be more than enough songs to serve people over a seasonal period of 3-4 weeks. The music would be perfect for quiet mornings, or evenings surrounded by family and friends. As I alluded to, Antonio and I created 3 playlists - all coming to a total of as much as an hour plus of music. There will appear to be as many as 20 or more songs per playlist because of the short nature of Christmas songs, as opposed to our previous Jazz Sampler Playlists where each song can be very long. Here, with Christmas/Holiday music, I don't know that people will have difficulties getting through listening to one single song without being interrupted by their damn smartphones, or some other contemporary distraction! [Welcome to Short Attention Span Theater] So, why bother to put so much love and effort into these playlists? I suppose that the best answer that I can come-up with is that, these Samplers are seasonal, aimed at one brief period of weeks per year, and that, this time, LOTS of people will enjoy them as intended. Over the expanse of these 3 Playlists, you can hear masterful interpretations by artists as diverse as:Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Nat "King" Cole. Tony Bennett, Harry Belafonte, Nancy Wilson, Ray Charles and Lou Rawls. Those songs take me back to childhood and a lot of great sentimentality for this old "fool." For me, nothing says Christmas more than hearing Frank Sinatra singing "I'll Be Home for Christmas" which opens this presentation - always so warm and special. More wonderful Holiday vocals come from great stylists: Take 6, Natalie Cole, James Taylor, Michael McDonald, the heavenly voice of Alison Krauss, Patti Austin and Nora Jones. The list would not be complete without also mentioning the Jazz elements: Kenny Burrell, Jimmy Smith, Wes Montgomery, Don Patterson alongside guitarist Pat Martino, Keith Jarrett, Joey Calderazzo, John McLaughlin, arranged and orchestrated by Jim Beard, Dave Stryker and the Caribbean Jazz Project. From Brasil: Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso singing together, Joyce and the great João Bosco. From Puerto Rico: Cheo Feliciano. And, Gilberto Santa Rosa in a duet with Milly Quezada(República Dominicana). From Venezuela: Oscar D'León and Ilan Chester only accompanied by the late, great Aquiles Báez. Last, but certainly not least, from Colombia we have the Vallenato of Diomedes Díaz with Colacho Mendoza. Sending along Seasonal Greetings and good wishes to one and all - and I'm going to be keeping my own most closely held wishes that 2025 will bring us the kind of peace, domestically and globally, that we would all want to see. Honestly, I don't know how we can all do our best to make this a better country, a better world right now given who was elected to the presidency, but... Let's just hope that we can somehow survive these next four years!!! I don't even know if that is possible! As Frank Sinatra sings to us each year.... "Oh, by gosh, by golly - It's time for mistletoe and holly"....... BIG LOVE, Steve When I saw the title and read a brief blurb about this series, I thought that, perhaps it was a different take on the concept of the 1978 film, "SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR" which starred Ellen Burstyn and Alan Alda. Other than the basic concept, I don't recall anything about it. However, "ONE DAY" is really quite unrelated to this film.  There had been a film version of the 2009 novel of the same name by David Nicholls, but I was never inspired to see that film. "ONE DAY," the series, seeks to chronicle the relationship between the two principal characters: Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew, who meet at a graduation ball after graduating from the University of Edinburgh. The Netflix series stars Ambika Mod and Leo Woodall in the lead roles. It all commences on that one day of July 15th, 1988, and the story follows these two young souls for some 16 years.Emma begins as young college-age person who doesn't think too highly of her looks and generally feels invisible on campus. She is incredibly intelligent, bright and with a sometimes caustic sense of humor. But it is those character traits that serve as a defense from expressing her feelings and from being hurt or disappointed. All causing her not to act on what she feels. Dexter, on the other hand, comes from extreme privilege and has always gotten by with his charm and good looks, but he is, at his core, shallow, dense, directionless and not at all sensitive to what others might be feeling - especially young girls, later younger women. In her way, Emma helps Dexter to find a path to being more open and sharing - something it seems that he can only arrive at with her. She can feel that but he will only come to realize this over time. In brief, I found it to be very touching, very moving and so many moments and little phrases and gestures reminded me of people and moments that had passed through my own life. I can't tell you how often my eyes welled-up with tears during many of the episodes. I can't say that I felt any kind of kinship with character of "Dexter" but, I could certainly relate to having done and said clueless, insensitive and stupid things in my life. Never intentionally meant to be hurtful - and yet, they were. It was Emma's journey that I found to be so much more moving. She served to remind me of many things and moments in my own life. Though it took forever, Dexter finally finds himself and becomes a far, far more empathetic and sympathetic character. One of the great and impassioned things that Emma says to Dexter, in Ep. 12, is this: "....Our time has passed.... and I'm not just something you can resort to when every option has been exhausted! I am not the consolation prize, O.K.?! I also can't forget that, in Ep. 1, Emma said this to Dexter while coming down from Arthur's Seat, "I'm not being a footnote......in the story of your life!" And, she was so much more than that, so much more! The series served to remind of just how awkward, and even hurtful it can feel when certain 'titles' are given to someone when introducing them to family, friends and/or acquaintances. For example, "This is my friend, Emma!" What does one say that is meaningful and validates the importance of the other person, when there is no real agreement on being "girlfriend" or "boyfriend"? In real life, such moments happen all the time, especially when a relationship, involving some form of intimacy, is in its early stages. As the piece chronicles the passing of the years, and changes in hair, fashion and music, I barely recognized any of the songs the were used throughout. Then, suddenly, at the end, as Dexter is remembering many things and hanging onto beautiful memories, he comes upon an old cassette, a mix of songs, that Emma had made for him, and he plays "Waterloo Sunset" by The Kinks, which is from 1967.... Probably, during the chronology of this series, a part of time when young people were going retro and discovering music from the past. When I young, that song was a favorite of mine, and when I hear it, to this day, I can still feel all of those old feelings from being 20 yrs. old when it first appeared. Perhaps, in the end, it all serves to remind me that, just because two people can have a moment, maybe over a brief time period, it does not mean that they both experience it the same way, nor do they feel the same way about it. And they can drift apart. As life is always going forward, people can't go back to something that was and expect that it will still be there. Something might be there but it will be different and will have changed. Anyway, perhaps this is a series that some of you out there might enjoy? For those who do? I don't know that I found it to be uplifting, or touching and sad. I'm still wrestling with that, but I believe that it will be well worth the ride. John Harris and I have known one another for over 70 years now. It all began at Warner Ave. Elementary in West Los Angeles. Since those initial encounters as children, we have been best friends, close friends, dear friends for all of that time.  We went to Jr. High and High School together, and afterwards John went to U.C. @ Berkeley and I stayed closer to home, attending U.C.L.A. It is hard to imagine all of the adventures/misadventures, the highs and immense lows during all of these years. But, here we are still best friends and in constant communication. In all that time, I have come to see John as a "Renaissance Man" for these times, as he has embraced the worlds of literature (writing & publishing); art; food/cuisine/cooking; film and music (a long-standing love affair with the classical guitar). It stands as remarkable what he has been able to achieve during this one life that we are given.For the longest time, John has tried to make a yearly trip to Paris because of his great love for that city and everything that is the French culture. John and I studied French in high school under Madame Starrett and Monsieur Libenson. Perhaps it all began there in those classrooms, plus the intellectual desire to understand the great French films from the '50s and '60s. And so, it was on one of these trips probably in 2015 that he happened to stumble upon a remarkable painting, an unsigned portrait of a young girl that had been thrown out with the trash - just placed on the street. That painting was dated: 12-1-35 which probably translates to January 12th, 1935. Yes, just pre-World War II. And while lovingly saving this painting from certain doom and destruction, he cared for it and brought it back with him to Berkeley and the USA. Eventually he had it beautifully framed and placed above a fireplace in his new home. Somehow, during these early moments, just 'owning' the painting was not enough, and so he sought to learn everything possible about it and its origins. That search, with all the anecdotes and stories has become this new book, "PORTRAIT IN RED: A Paris Obsession"(Heyday) - beautifully put together with the same love and care that John puts into any such project. At some point during the early stages of his process,  John began to call this painting "THE GIRL IN RED"!!! I couldn't believe it!!! And, I objected strenuously to this notion. If for nothing else, simply because of all of our cultural references to "THE LADY IN RED" - or any woman wearing red - obviously NOT a very flattering reference. Here is a little girl, perhaps not older than her teens? And, she's only wearing a red head covering, or a scarf - not a beret - but it is perhaps the smallest part of her 'look'! From centuries before, there is of course Dutch master Johannes Vermeer's famous "Girl with a Red Hat" ca. 1669. You have to understand that John is a super-intelligent person, an intellectual, and of the cultural elite - even at a young age, he could see the 'deeper meanings' in everything: literature and films just to name two of them. I admired him then as I do now, because I did not possess such gifts - I tended to see the surface and not beyond it. Thank goodness that has changed with the passing of the years. So, his original title was, to me, beneath John's intelligence and intellect. And, as you now can see, the publisher and John somehow adjusted the title to the one that is seen on the cover. I still don't like it because, as I view the painting, the portrait, it is NOT "in red" - not at all. In the end, our disagreement goes on, but we have both let it go, more or less... I am simply here to celebrate and praise the publication of this, John's latest book. I wish my old and dear friend all the success in the world.On a fun side note, at some point during this 9 year journey, saxophonist/composer Ada Rovatti took an amazing photo of her beloved daughter Stella Brecker,  dressed as this same young girl from 1935. It has to be noted that Stella's father and Ada's husband is none other than trumpeter/composer Randy Brecker. This gorgeous photo appears on Pg. 193 of the book, adorned by the wood frame that I labored to create with my rather humble Photoshop skills! When Ada first sent me the photo, I was overwhelmed by just how very touching it was - not to mention adorable and creative. I sent it along to John, and it has now become one of the many wonderful stories in the book.If this has piqued your interest in John's book, just click on the book cover photo above and you can purchase it via Amazon. It really is a most beautifully crafted edition. Wishing John all the success and kudos in the world..... Love from your very old pal, Steve There's an eerie quiet hanging over Manhattan this morning. I feel sick to my stomach, and it is as if I am walking around, sitting around in a complete and utter fog. I remember in 2016 and having tears in my eyes from the sadness that we, as a nation, could have possibly elected someone like Donald Trump to be our 45th President. Cynic that I am, I remember telling friends all over the world: "You can never underestimate the stupidity, the ignorance of the American people!" And, here we are yet again, for a 2nd time, we, as a nation, have elected Donald Trump to now be the 47th President.  Can I believe that this has happened? Yes, of course I can..... I don't know that I was ever "optimistic" about the results, but I was certainly hopeful that we could do something wonderful and elect Kamala Harris to the presidency. But, it was just not to be. I had hoped to have the same tears of joy in my eyes as when we elected Barack Obama in 2008. On that night, I was so proud to be an American. Today, I feel ashamed.Last night, I had a terrible, terrible feeling when, with the early results coming in, it appeared Kamala was NOT doing well enough in Georgia or North Carolina to carry those crucial states. Worse than that, she was having trouble in Virginia which should have been a solid "blue" state. My hopes started to fade then - and it only got worse. I could not watch any of the coverage at that point. And when the "blue wall" of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania seemed to be collapsing before our eyes? All hope had faded! I was as sad as sad can be! As a New Yorker of well over 50 years, I have known exactly WHO and WHAT Donald Trump was and IS..... He was always a joke here in New York. And then, somehow, this boorish lout of a clown had become President of the United States, not once, but now TWICE!!! And THIS is what a majority of the voters have stated that they wanted and decided in large numbers to do. Long before election day, I had become numb to all of the "words" - even those that, on a daily/nightly basis, called out Trump for what he is, what he was saying, and/or what he had done. It all just became a haze of words, meaningless words - one piled upon the next - affecting nothing - spoken or written to people who felt exactly the same - but persuading NO ONE who might have been 'on the fence' - the two sides were not to be moved. Now, I don't care what is being said on either MSNBC or CNN as it really doesn't matter anymore. It won't change the fact that we are facing 4 years of Trump with a majority in BOTH the House and the Senate.  He can do whatever he wants, push through legislation as he sees fit, pardon anyone and everyone, and appoint judges and justices without anyone to stop him.Europe must be trembling and Putin must be smiling a most smug and cynical smile, because he will now be free to do whatever he likes. I feel for everyone here and around the world for what is to come. Though he never should have run for re-election, being far too old, I feel terrible for Joe Biden that he is going to have to "welcome" Trump back to the White House, and sit with him for some very uncomfortable and stupid photo ops and, above all, begin to share our daily security briefings with someone who constantly abuses that privilege. I feel for our 'free' national press corps that will now have to engage in press conferences, almost daily, only to be insulted and abused by this bully. I won't listen to a word of any of it. One only has to view the past to know what this future is going to hold. In the final analysis, you had a LOT of VERY angry white people, young and older, who were furious at Biden over the economy, immigration and other considerations, and it was these issues that brought those same angry voters in vast numbers to Trump - even though they knew that Trump is a narcissist and a horrible and very dangerous person. They voted for him anyway! I am not contesting anything as THIS is the 'direction' that we have chosen. I am not whining and complaining about a thing. I am NOT crying "Foul!" I am on the other side and now helpless to change this course. That I could be living the last years of my life with this fool as our president is hard to accept. But accept it I must. felt that I needed to say something, because this is it. There will be no more posting of witty political cartoons, as they no longer matter. Honestly, I'm going to struggle for the foreseeable future, but we all have to carry on - even knowing what lies ahead. PEACE & LOVE from this old hippie.... Steve Khan, New York, NY - November 6th, 2024 Addendum: Last night (Friday, November 8th), I was watching Bill Maher, someone I like, enjoy and respect because, generally speaking, he often expresses what I feel and think. He's well-informed and well-read, and he's capable of poking fun at both Conservatives (Republicans) and Liberals (Democrats), but last night he said something, while addressing the Why the Democrats and Kamala Harris lost... that really made me angry.  In his monologue, towards the end, he said this: "This country had enough of the anti-common sense woke bullshit....!" It made me stop and think to myself: "Does he really know and understand where "woke" and the greater expression "STAY WOKE" comes from?" I seriously wonder...I remember very much the moment that I first heard the expression "STAY WOKE" - it was during a post-game interview in 2013 with basketball superstar Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat, when he looked into the camera, away from the interviewer, with very serious and sad eyes he spoke to those listening and he said, as a call to mobilize and save lives: "Stay woke!!!" When I first heard it, I had no idea what he had said, or what it meant. But it had to be something related to perhaps, "Stay awake!"; "Wake up!"; "Pay attention to all that's around you/what's going on!" It wasn't long before I connected the dots and realized that in 2013, the Black Lives Matter movement had begun after the uproar over the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. The movement started out with the goal of connecting African-Americans who share a similar battle with racism and injustice. In general, after that, being "woke" became a rallying cry for black America, and it has stayed that way right to the present. However, as someone wrote: "Now this phrase and/or word, wokeness, is used by racists to be a catch-all term for anything that they don't like!" And it is this very thing that upsets me so much, because it shows that things have gotten so far away from the origins of the phrase. When someone like Donald Trump and all of his acolytes constantly threatened the "radical left" and the "enemy within" - both projections of his own venal persona - and 70+ million people buy into it? We only have to view the result to see where we are as a nation. On the other hand, when even the very bright and witty Bill Maher can seem to be speaking as if he doesn't truly "get" this one aspect and its origins - that to me is so sad and disappointing. In his very famous song "Scottsboro Boys" from 1938, revered blues singer Lead Belly, at the end of the song during a spoken passage @ 4:29, he says the following: "Stay woke. Keep your eyes open!" to anyone going down to Alabama!!! The song addresses, in the great tradition of the blues/history telling manner, that "The Scottsboro Boys were nine African-American male teenagers accused of raping two white women in 1931. The landmark set of legal cases from this incident dealt with racism and the right to a fair trial. The cases included a lynch mob before the suspects had been indicted, all-white juries, rushed trials, and disruptive mobs. It is commonly cited as an example of a legal injustice in the United States legal system." Needless to say, it was and is a very powerful thing to hear, to listen to, born of great pain, sadness, and anger. Perhaps, it's not my place to be addressing such a hugely important topic, but I was inspired to say something - and so, I have done just that. Thank you all for reading this. Perhaps in the smallest of ways, it will remind us of what is said and written that is real, and what is not?" I'm going to hope so. And, to my horror, even one of my favorite editorialists, Maureen Dowd in her column, "Democrats and the Case of Mistaken Identity Politics" for the esteemed NEW YORK TIMES used the term "woke" three times in the piece beginning with: "Some Democrats are finally waking up and realizing that woke is broke." In her analysis of what happened to the Democrats and Kamala Harris, even if I might agree with many of her points, her misuse of this term is most upsetting. Having several of her books in my library, I can only say that, she's much too intelligent for that! And now, I see that, in his video response, Dr. Omekongo Dibinga has taken her to task for this!!! I was thrilled to listen to what he had to say!  Stefan Pfeifer.My personal connection to and friendship with Mike Abene goes back to probably 1971 and a long lost drumless trio gig at the famous restaurant/bar Bradley's in the West Village. Having barely been in New York for one year, I was probably subbing for the great Joe Beck during these nights. Mike was, of course, on a form of an upright piano and we were joined by the magnificent Eddie Gómez on acoustic bass. What an honor that was. I remember so many things about those nights, but musically speaking, I have never forgotten seeing Mike's lead sheets for various standards - the titles of which I knew - but when I began pouring over the the chord changes, the harmonizations, I remember saying to myself: "What the hell is this? What's going on here? I don't recognize these changes at all!" I didn't realize what a reharmonization was at that time. I was young and extremely inexperienced to have been sharing the bandstand with Mike and Eddie. But, there I was. It was a most formative and enlightening, yet humbling experience. How well I remember that on a rather beaten, battered, and not always tuned piano, Mike was always chain smoking, and in the midst of playing, he would leave a burning cigarette on the very last key in the bass register - and that one key had the burn marks from Mike's cigarettes and other pianists as well. It was kind of a funny image. I also recall that during those nights, once, or more times, Bradley Cunningham, the owner of Bradley's would slink over to the piano, and would leave a little handwritten note to us - probably mostly directed at ME - saying: "Cool the decibels!!!" Another introduction to the world of small room Jazz and the combative relationship between club owners and musicians. However, Mike's impact on my life, the personal side of things, was about to begin because, it was during those nights that I met and became captivated with one of the waitresses there, Erika - and somehow, in 1973, together, in some form though never married, we had my son, Heath. Needless to say, this series of events completely changed the trajectory of my life, personally and musically. Over the years, jokingly, I have reminded Mike Abene of this on countless occasions - and we roll our eyes and laugh together about how these 'things' can happen in the life of a musician, young or old. So, needless to say, I come to this piece of writing with a great, great love and affection for Mike Abene. Within this great arrangement, of course, Mike has weaved in fragments of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn classics like "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good"; "Lush Life" and "Sophisticated Lady" just to name three. The arrangement also becomes a feature for the most wonderful Rhodes playing of Billy Test, who has been with WDR for over 6 years now. You don't often get to hear remarkable Rhodes playing of melodies and a great solo too within the context of big band - but here, you have it. It's yours to now treasure and enjoy!!! Fantastic playing Billy, BRAVO!" This kind of playing embodies everything that being a great musician, having superb musicianship should be!!! A goal, a standard for everyone who plays or hopes to play. By the way, pictured in the image is the great bassist, John Goldsby. I hope that everyone who sees this post will listen and enjoy Mike Abene's arrangement, Billy Test's playing and the superb musicianship of ALL of the players within this great band - they are a treasure!!! Warmest wishes on this Tuesday, October 8th, 2024 Peace & Love to all, Steve  roasts Donald Trump's September 10th debate performance vs. Kamala Harris. What a great political cartoon this is.... Kamala baited the hook, and that moron took it, as they say: "hook, line and sinker"..... then, she reeled him in! He consistently took the bait and made a jackass of himself, as he always seems to do! It's just easy for him!But, as we prepare for election day, NEVER FORGET that it was that malevolent jerk Donald Trump who appointed Louis DeJoy to run our Postal Service, and between the two of them they actually come close to succeeding in dismantling everything that had been functioning so that it would be 100x harder for voters (mostly Democratic) to vote by mail. Never forget this!!! If you are/were fans of SHOWTIME's "THE CIRCUS" - you MUST go back and watch Season 5 (2020) Ep. 13, titled "GOING POSTAL" and see/listen to Alex Wagner's probing interview with a Philadelphia area postal officer, who discusses frankly the effects of Trump/DeJoy taking the sorting machines first OFFLINE and then? Destroying them!!! The USPS has still not recovered from this!!! If someone out there knows someone on MSNBC's Alex Wagner's staff, PLEASE remind them to remind Alex of this too!!! She should be talking about this - and OFTEN!!! You can view this episode via Amazon Prime, though you have to pay $2.99 for it, via Paramount+, or via Hulu. From electric/eclectic bassist MonoNeon we have THIS! Couple some monstrous creativity with a fervent dislike for Trump  - and you could get something like this..... A wickedly funny musical work of art that takes Trump's own insane words within a little rant about immigrants and immigration, and makes him look like the absolute fool that he is - and has always been. Just click on the image or the link and you can view this tremendous 2-minute piece. Trust me, you will be holding your sides from pure laughter and wizardry of using so many contemporary media techniques to accomplish this satire. My sister's impression was that this sounded a bit like Weather Report. Maybe it does reflect echoes of that great group?The Trump "eating dogs & cats" story seems to have legs, as the great political cartoonist Serge Chapleau from "La Presse" has drawn an image of dogs & cats from the USA desperately lining-up to emigrate to Canada so as not to be "eaten by Trump's perceived illegal immigrants." It's very witty too. And yet, there remain some 70+ million citizens of the USA who support him and will vote for him - thinking that a guy with gold-plated bathroom fixtures actually cares about their plight. And, of course, all of his terrified sycophant enablers in our House and Senate who helped to cause horrors that the rest of us will be dealing with for the next 50 years or longer. Lucky for me, I won't be around to have to witness too many more of them. The people that came in They're eating the cats They're eating.... They're eating the pets of The people that live there And this is what's happening in our country!" Geez, how much more absurd can anything be? And so, I have already signed-up to vote early by mail and I am ready to go to support Kamala Harris for the good, the betterment of this USA! It is my hope that many of you will do the same. BIG LOVE to all, Steve  Included within this collage is a very funny drawing of my late father, lyricist Sammy Cahn. When you have collections that offer the songs of: Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and Rodgers & Hart, just those mentioned is enough to fill volumes of words of praise. Not to mention, hours upon hours of memories of treasured listening. However, WHO, in my opinion. is missing from these collections?When you compare to anyone else the partial body of work and the profound nature of just these nine(9) songs by: Jimmy Van Heusen, mostly with lyricist Johnny Burke, those songs alone can stand up against the full body of work of any other composer. Look at these songs, and then think about the fact that most of the great Jazz players have played and recorded them. Here's the list: "Here's That Rainy Day"; "Like Someone in Love"; "It Could Happen to You"; "Polka Dots and Moonbeams"; "But Beautiful"; "Oh, You Crazy Moon"; "Darn that Dream" (w/ Eddie DeLange); "I Thought About You" (w/ Johnny Mercer) and "Nancy (with the Laughing Face)" (w/ Phil Silvers). If these 9 songs were someone's entire body of work, one could rest easy and feel exceptionally proud. These are all remarkable songs. Love me some Chester Babcock!!! That's Jimmy's real name!!! So, if you are intrigued and so inclined, just click on the collage image above and that will take you to another page with a much larger image of the full collage plus links to performances of all of these great Jimmy Van Heusen melodies by some of our greatest Jazz musicians. I hope that many of you will enjoy these wonderful Robert Risko caricatures and the great, great songs of these fantastic songwriters. BIG LOVE to all, Steve _375.jpg) comes the 1st political cartoon that I've seen of Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her recent choice of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. I knew nothing about this guy before Monday, and the ONLY measuring stick of how good this choice was will be WINNING in November. Defeating that despicable bastard Trump is all that matters! So, in that contentious spirit I say, "Go Harris-Walz!!! Go, go, go!!!" By the way, I love Trump's ORANGE JUMP SUIT in the cartoon.... suitable for a prison near you or me!!!For those of you who are fascinated by the artistic process, I know that I am, here is the "How I made this cartoon...." courtesy of Ygrek and "Le Journal" I hope that you all enjoy it as much as I did. To view the video, just click on the image above. Have a great day everyone.... and I hope that amidst the chaos and sadness over so many global events, some people can find the time to enjoy the triumph of the human spirit during the Paris Olympics! A big "Bravo!" to all of France for putting on such a wonderful Olympic Games!!! Still days more to go of spectacular events. I still remember as a kid at University High School in Los Angeles in my French class having to learn and sing, "Rosssignolet du bois." This version is a bit more like what I remember, but my memories of this have faded a bit. I believe that Madame Starrett was our teacher way back then. PEACE OUT, Steve  has been what is often labeled as: Indian classical music, and the sounds of that music would or could include some of these instruments: sitar, sarod, surbahar, veena, tanpura, shehnai, sarangi, violin, santoor, pakhavaj and tabla. Instruments typically used in Carnatic music can include veena, venu, gottuvadyam, harmonium, mridangam, kanjira, ghatam, nadaswaram and violin. One just expects these sounds and delights in hearing them while eating.However, what I was hearing most often in my favorite restaurant was a 'strange' kind of Hindi electric keyboard music, for example, the music of Hindi film composer K.L. Saigal from a CD titled: "HARMONY Soft Instrumental: Favourite Selection of K.L. Saigal Vol. 3" with the artist listed as Hindi Instrumental Group. The music bordered on some kind of 'smooth' Indian music. One might say that it sounded like a kind of Indian muzak - but with no sitar, no tamboura, no tablas to speak of - using more Western sounds. So, as this kind of music was bothering me during my meals, I began to assemble playlists and create CD-Rs for my friends at the restaurant of what I knew to be Indian classical music - and even some contemporary Indian fusion, which has evolved, perhaps since Ravi Shankar first influenced George Harrison and The Beatles. So that becomes some 60+ years of the blending of cultures. Jazz and classical music in the West has always embraced multi-cultural endeavors such as the collaboration of Ravi Shankar and Yehudi Menuhin. As the antiquated stereo system in my neighborhood restaurant continues to deteriorate, because of the CD player accumulates dust and cooking residue, and can no longer be cleaned fully by CD cleaning discs - which I supply too - I think that one day soon they will have to convert to, for better or worse, a digital system. So, I wanted to prepare a Music Menu via a Spotify playlist that would give them great music and atmosphere each night. Once again, in putting together this playlist I sought the help of my close friend, pianist/keyboard artist, Antonio Mazzei, now living in beautiful Barcelona, Spain. I could not have done this without him. Mil gracias Antonio!!! I've chosen to title it: INDIAN RESTAURANT and, as you will see it embraces some 5 hours of music - and, like a good meal, it is to be enjoyed SLOW-ly!!! I pass it along to you all with my best wishes and lots of love and good vibes to one and all. PEACE & LOVE, Steve I have now come to feel that the online version of the piece looks much better than the print version. I don't know that there is anything exactly 'new' that is revealed within, because there was not a new album or much else to promote when Wolf and I did the interview. However, Wolf did a great job and included 3 transcriptions of solo excerpts, with his commentary, that included: "Zancudoville" from "PARTING SHOT"(2011); "Hackensack" from "SUBTEXT"(2014) and "Naan Issue" from "PATCHWORK"(2019). In addition to Wolf's very scholarly analysis, his aesthetic commentary was very much appreciated. Of course, Wolf presents some biographical data and includes topical suggestions such as: Essential Listening; Essential Viewing; Essential Reading; and Sound [referring to my guitars and processing gear. It is all very nicely laid out and one only has to continue to scroll down to be able to read everything. In the end, it becomes a very nice read, I believe. So one huge "Thank you!!!" goes out from me to Wolf Marshall for having worked so very hard at making such a wonderful presentation and in two separate formats. He did an absolutely FAN-TAS-TIC job. My thanks to everyone who visits these pages and who took a moment from their very busy schedules to wish me a Happy Birthday on April 28th. I remain most grateful to each and every one of you.  More often than I would like, I am contacted in various ways by well-meaning people, fans of my father, writing to express their love for his songs that have meant so much to them and their lives. In the end, it's all very nice, but, it does get annoying.Another point of chronological interest is that this all took place ONE YEAR before my parents would get divorced!!! In those years, this was a great rarity. Not the kind of thing that you want to be the "first" at your school to experience. But, that's where we were. In the documentary, you get to see a couple of views of the house, mostly the back of it, where we grew-up. Our neighborhood was Holmby Hills, NOT Beverly Hills as stated in the piece. If you haven't read this before, Laurie and I attended all public schools. This was the best thing our parents ever did! You will also see the small vacation house that we had in Palm Springs. On a stroll down Manhattan memory lane for my father, you get to see a glimpse my father's childhood neighborhood, where he grew-up in the most humble of beginnings - having next to nothing. Dad is also shown attending a Los Angeles Dodgers game @ Dodger Stadium. Getting his haircut and a manicure @ Drucker's. And writing with Jimmy Van Heusen at Jimmy's house in Palm Desert. Mostly, he is seen in the company of close friends and colleagues: Frank Sinatra; Dean Martin; Sammy Davis, Jr.; Vic Damone; Juliet Prowse and several others. At that moment in 1962, he had already won 3 Oscars® and he would go on to win one more in 1963 ,and receive 7 more nominations, bringing his total to 27! Kind of amazing, right? On a side note, the documentary is narrated by John Willis whose profound voice and serious tone makes this piece sound like it is footage from a World War II documentary. When I hear a voice like that, I always think that the person must have been a smoker for most of his life. No matter what, what a voice!!! On an ironic side note, at 25:15, you see my Mom sitting on the lap of a gentleman named David Haft (who owned a chain of Norge Laundromats) while my father is entertaining at the piano. This is all very strange to me now. As it turned out, my first job as a kid was driving to David Haft's laundromats and collecting the coins from the machines that people had spent on washing their clothes!!! I don't know how a 16 yr. old kid could have had responsibilities like that!!! But, I certainly learned something about taking one's job seriously and being careful. For those of you who visit here regularly, and I know and understand that that number is very small, you now have the chance to see my father at work, in all facets, and hear his voice as he reflects on his life at that moment in time. Again, strange that it was all a heartbeat away from being turned upside down.  This time Robben is supported by a super-fantastic arrangement by Ed Partyka that embodies everything that sets the jewel of Robben's fantastic playing sitting on a satin pillow of gorgeous harmonies supplied by brass and woodwind textures. This video was not released to YouTube until 2021. I was inspired enough to want to transcribe Robben's solo, and then write an analysis piece for KHAN'S KORNER 1 at my website.Through the good graces of the super tenor saxophonist Paul Heller (WDR Big Band), I was able to exchange e-mails with Ed Partyka, and Ed shared with me some great details as to what inspired Robben to choose to interpret this great song. In brief, it turned out that Robben was inspired by tenor saxophone giant Archie Shepp's version that appeared on his 1968 album, "THE WAY AHEAD"(¡mpulse!) In the piece that I wrote, I offered my own feelings about the importance of Archie Shepp, his playing, composing and politics as he has been a significant figure in my musical life as well. Just added, and thanks of el. bass giant Jimmy Haslip, Robben was kind of to send me his own personal reflections on this project and the performance so you have the rare treat of reading the artist's own words. Don't miss it! Beyond my analysis of what Robben played, you get some storytelling as well and lots of internal links to a variety of interpretations of this same, oft-recorded song. My personal favorite vocal version is by Nancy Wilson. Included are links to versions by: Ella Fitzgerald; Lou Rawls; Julie London; Sarah Vaughan and Tony Bennett. From the purely Jazz instrumental side, I have always loved the interpretations by: Thelonious Monk; Donald Byrd featuring Pepper Adams (Bari Sax) w/ Herbie Hancock; Kenny Burrell and Art Tatum to name a few. Though this is the very same blues giant Robben Ford, here he reveals a much more gentle side while still maintaining his own brand of the blues language. However, if you're one who is expecting overdrive and certain classic blues/rock mannerisms? They don't appear in this solo. What is here is still absolutely fantastic, so take your time with it and enjoy it to the fullest. BIG LOVE to all, Steve  Today, I am sharing with everyone McNeely's brilliant treatment of, what many see as a hymn, the classic "Just a Closer Walk With Thee" - often played in the hymn section of traditional New Orleans Jazz funerals. When played at a very brisk tempo as we have here, it allows the melody to be stated almost as if in the expected manner.Somehow, Jim McNeely gets an entire big band of brass & reeds to be incredibly malleable in their phrasing and bend and move together in a way that embraces what one gospel singer might do. It's remarkable. Just give it a full listen and see if you don't "feel the spirit"!!! One huge "BRAVO!" to all the members of the fantastic Frankfurt Radio Big Band, Jim McNeely and Cory Henry for this jewel of a performance. This song has been interpreted many times by lots of great voices, some would cite the recordings of: Patsy Cline & Willie Nelson; George Jones; Mahalia Jackson; Ella Fitzgerald; Louis Armstrong; Charley Pride; guitarist Grant Green and even the Foggy Mountain Boys. Why today Steve? You might ask.... Well, as that carnival sideshow huckster Donald Trump just began selling autographed Bibles for $60 - it just felt as though one had to say something. There are still some 70+ million stupid people who are gullible enough to fall for this kind of 'bullshtein'! And all from a guy who is NEVER seen going to a church of any kind - barely there for the funeral of his wife's mother recently. And people who really do believe in something just stay with him ignoring this fact. As a young musician, long ago, I spent parts of my early years in both Los Angeles and here in New York, playing songs like this in churches and even on recordings and I was always moved by the music and the spirit of the people singing - you could feel it all over. These experiences stay with you for a lifetime! Small wonder because some of the greatest music as composed was commissioned for the glory of one God or another - chanting to a spirit goes back even further to more primitive times - but, it's all there. And it depends on what one believes, or chooses to believe. BIG LOVE to one and all - stay the course, stay united and VOTE come November!!! Don't let this happen to the country again.... Steve  Jim was always a very quiet and introspective person, never seeking to be the biggest personality in the room. So, it is small wonder that he would have kept his health concerns quiet and only amongst his very closest friends. I'm just so shocked and saddened that Jim is not going to be here with us any longer.I suppose that I first learned of Jim Beard's talents through saxophonist Bill Evans when we rehearsed and did some gigs on the road during the mid-'80s. Even then, I quickly came to appreciate the unique nature of Jim's voice on keyboards and his unique approach to harmony and orchestration. It wouldn't be long thereafter that Jim would be appearing as a sideman on tours and albums for the likes of: John Scofield, Mike Stern, Bob Berg, Michael Brecker, Wayne Shorter, John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny and many others. In recent years, he could be seen and heard touring with Steely Dan. Jim and I worked closely together on the two albums that I produced for Mike Stern, "TIME IN PLACE"(1988) and "JIGSAW"(1989). It was not long thereafter that Jim would release his 1st album as a leader for CTI Records, "SONG OF THE SUN"(1990). About that album, I would say that it is one of the great, great albums of all time! Whether you want to categorize it as Jazz or Jazz-Fusion doesn't matter, because the music, compositions, production, audio, and the performances by a collection of brilliant players, specifically chosen for certain songs, are all stellar. To me, this is the kind of album where all the players should forever feel proud to have been a part of such a work. I can't urge you all strongly enough to find your way to going out there and buying this album in whatever format you can find it. Of course, I would push you to find a CD and have that forever and always. The album contains 11 of Jim's fantastically unique songs, all brilliantly orchestrated within a small group context. It is simply masterful. If you want to read my full TRIBUTE to Jim, just click on the link and it will take you to that page. I am going to miss knowing that he is out there playing and doing great work. Rest in peace dear Jim, to me, forever and always, you were a giant of a musician and a wonderful person. With love, your old pal, Steve After I had learned of Jim's passing, it became yet another time of great reflection on just what Jim's loss means to so many musicians, and to me personally. I've been thinking about Jim's approach to colors, textures and accompaniment a lot, and those thoughts reminded me of one particular piece of music that we worked on together back in 1989  while recording the "JIGSAW"(Atlantic) album with guitarist Mike Stern. As part of the repertoire of the album, the song, dedicated to Miles Davis, "Chief" was recorded. Long ago, I had transcribed Michael Brecker's magnificent EWI solo on that tune, and I remembered now that I had all of Mike Stern's lead sheets for that album in my music closet. I thought that this might be the perfect moment to share this Lead Sheet for "Chief" with everyone here, knowing that it would reveal something very special about Jim Beard.Often times when recording an album like this, no matter how well-prepared the composer might be from months of thought about how the piece might unfold in real time - when rehearsals begin, and the group, this time including: Mike Stern (Guitar); Michael Brecker (EWI); Jim Beard (Keys); Jeff Andrews (El. Bass); Dennis Chambers (Drums) and Manolo Badrena (Bongó) enters the studio and starts to run down the song again - the form, the format, the solo forms begin to morph, develop and eventually change. The 4-page lead sheet, as you now can view it, is filled with my old markings of those alterations from the original layout. Everyone was playing from the very same lead sheet and had to make similar markings that would make sense for them. Of course, the tune is written in a Jazz musician's shorthand, trying to save space wherever it is possible.  super-inventive group Knower which is, in essence the brainchild of drummer Louis Cole and vocalist Genevieve Artadi. The group was founded during 2009-10, but I did not become aware of their music until I happened to see the video of their performance with Bob Mintzer the magnificent WDR Big Band from Köln, Germany of
"Gotta Be Another Way." It was so unique and vibrant that I became a fan instantly.As the new wave of Knower videos was released in mid-February, 2024, I was immediately taken with their song, "It's All Nothing Until It's Everything." Sometimes I wonder if, after having experienced the video, I would ever be able to just listen to the song without seeing it too? Fortunately, even though I have purchased the songs from Apple Music, this can wait. However, when I heard their song "I'm The President," I was just overwhelmed with a feeling of pride in the youth of this country - that there can still be a wave of creativity with a political conscience that just goes out there into the ether and can affect hearts and minds. That would certainly be my hope based upon the cynical and satirical lyrics of the song. And, you MUST pay attention to the lyrics! This song is appearing at just the right moment when everyone with the mental tools has to come together and STOP TRUMP by any means necessary." The song, and its video presentation, might make one smile and laugh - but these times are so serious that there's not much time for smiling and laughing. November might seem like it's quite a long ways off, but prepare yourself to VOTE!!! Like many great songwriters and/or songwriting duos, Cole and Artadi have arrived at a very particular way of song construction, using some familiar formats and a wonderful mixture of R&B, Rock and Jazz influences. As I have come to view their songs, at least the ones that I respond to the most, there is always an Intro,  which unveils the often wild rhythms with very idiosyncratic sounds for many of the instruments for most of the piece. The main Verse arrives with lots of syncopated rhythms and very wordy lyrics - but always worthy. So again, PAY ATTENTION to the lyrics! Then, there is usually a very melodic Bridge section where the harmony moves in long notes and is filled with often lush harmonies - which I always can't resist - and the lyrics and their melodies slow down into something very singable. After that? There could be some kind of ensemble instrumental - and these two songs featured very virtuosic acoustic piano solos. One by Rai Thistlethwayte and one by Paul Cornish.I burned a CD-R for myself of these two songs, because I wanted to hear what they actually sounded like on a high-end audio system - and the results were interesting. Louis Cole, as a producer, has his own sense of musical sounds and audio and it is certainly successful for the music of Knower. Like most artist self-mixed/self-mastered projects, they tend to put to use their own sense of audio. The mastering job was VERY loud and, on my stereo system, I barely had to engage the volume knob very much at all. It depends upon what one is hoping to achieve from an audio perspective, and just who the listening audience is intended to be. When I first became exposed to the songs and music of Knower, I wondered to myself if their music had some musical relationship to something/anything that I might have heard from the past? Suddenly one day, it came to me. I remember the great, great song from the group Missing Persons which featured the super drummer Terry Bozzio and the voice, and vocal stylings of Dale Bozzio. If you were not alive in 1982, take a listen to "Words." I am not at all saying that Knower was, in any way, influenced by Missing Persons or this particular song - but, in my mind and ears, I can draw some kind of an artistic link. See what you think. Oh, and by the way, Genevieve Artadi was only born in 1982! And so, in these troubling times, surely with more to come, looking at a possible rematch of two old white guys: Biden vs. Trump, I would want to find the proper injection of youth and place into nomination: Genevieve Artadi for President!!! And so, in that spirit, I created a little graphic!!! Love to one and all, more or less, Steve - February, 2024  To commemorate this spectacular unveiling this past February 3rd, 2024, I tried to create a small collage that offers a view of the sculpture from the front and also from the back. To my set of eyes, it is wondrous in its creative construction putting to use various element, including meticulously created blown glass in various producing an autobiographical vision on Michel himself trying ever so hard to do what he can to raise awareness about the vital need to save our planet. As it is with almost all of his work - a globe of the earth is in a central place of focus.In my travels, earlier in my musical life, I don't know that I've ever passed through Creusot, but I have certainly played in various cities within the region of Bourgogne. I have always loved playing and traveling within France. Many unforgettable nights of music and friendships, new and old. To have been able to have lived this kind of life, one of travel and music, has been a rare gift and privilege. I only wish that, at times, in my younger years, that I had truly been able to appreciate all of it. But, as the years passed, to be in the presence of such a rich sense of history and natural beauty never escaped my view. France and the other European nations have enriched my life immensely and I am eternally grateful. So, if you happen to be traveling in France anytime soon? Maybe it might be worth the effort to visit Ville du Creusot and experience Michel's sculpture in person. Congratulations Michel!!! I remain a huge fan and admirer and find your work, the love and effort put in by one and all to be so very inspiring! BIG LOVE, Steve  from the Songs of Steely Dan" by author Alex Pappademas and artist Joan LeMay which had actually been published last year in May of 2023. Why am I always late to the party? I might never have known about the book had it not been for a message that I received from my good friend, Fred Goaty, the publisher/editor of France's renowned "JAZZ" magazine. In the photo he was holding up what appeared to be a page from a book with a caricature of me - one that I had never seen before. I ended-up buying the book via Amazon - and while investigating Joan LeMay's wonderful website, I wrote to her to thank her for including my portrait amongst many Steely Dan group members and sideman musicians. It really is a great honor to have been included in this book because there were many musicians, engineers, and singers who were somehow left out. It could have easily been me joining their number.In the second chapter of the book titled, "Walter" - obviously about Walter Becker, I am quoted from a conversation that I had with Donald Fagen, during the "GAUCHO" recording, where I felt confident enough in my working friendship with him to finally ask him: "So what is it exactly that Walter does?" - and when I asked this, I was not joking around! To this question, Donald responded by saying: "He finishes the things that I can't seem to finish! It could be a line in a song, it could be a missing chord somewhere." In that moment, this seemed to make great sense to me. Feeling very inspired by what I saw and read, I decided to create a collage of some 15 of Joan's musician portraits to feature at a special page at this very website. I always enjoy the challenge of doing justice to the artwork while trying to use my modest Photoshop skills to resize each photo uniformly and created a layout that appears to be balanced and lined-up with some small degree of precision. At this new page you can view that work and a bit more about this wonderful Steely Dan book featuring very creative and factual writing with wonderful impressions through artwork. This book becomes a must have for any and all Steely Dan fans. It is a treasure. So, get out there, find it, and enjoy it.  All of that music seemed to branch out from a single trunk, and one delicious part of it all was the music of The Impressions, a vocal trio that featured the voice and songs of Curtis Mayfield. I suppose that it was in 1961 that this 14 yr. old boy first heard "Gypsy Woman" and became a huge fan right then and there. Not just of the style and the song, but Curtis' guitar playing was to influence me in subtle ways. Along with countless others, you can hear the influence of Curtis' style in Jimi Hendrix - you hear it all over the place. A song like Hendrix' "Little Wing" is a perfect example. It was a particular kind of barre chord/hammer-on style that had a way of darting in and darting away from the lead voice. Pure magic!Just before New Year's Eve 2023 was to arrive, I was @ YouTube, and I happened to stumble upon the announcement of a new WDR Big Band concert, from Köln, Germany, that was to be a "TRIBUTE TO CURTIS MAYFIELD"! Of course, I had to immediately hear what they had done featuring the arrangements of Vince Mendoza. In advance, I saw that the featured voices were to be: Ledisi and Bilal. To be 100% honest, I was not really familiar with either of them, and worse than that, I had always thought that Ledisi was a group. Bilal? I knew nothing about him. As you will hear and witness, they were both simply outstanding in this performance of what is almost sacred music for many of us. It is hard to imagine that any male singer could have done a better job, because Curtis Mayfield's very particular tenor voice (often singing in falsetto) is pretty much impossible to approximate, especially the timbre, but Bilal was totally great, and very natural at delivering these songs. In trying to do some proper research about both singers, I learned that fairly recently, they have both won Grammys! Augmenting the great big band were: Mike Scott (guitar); Will Lee (el. bass); Rani Krija (percussion) and Jason "JT" Thomas (drums). JT really lays down a huge big beat - his snare sounds like it is a gun shot or something. Very powerful, and he drove the big band with great spirit and precision. Featured WDR soloists included: Billy Test (keys); Paul Heller (tenor sax); Johan Hörlén (alto sax); Karolina Strassmayer (alto sax) Ruud Breuls (trumpet) and Andy Hunter (trombone). In the final analysis?  This was an extraordinary concert event. Something that is not to be missed, as it is of great cultural importance!Hearing all of these great songs transported me back to another time. But in my heart & soul, that period of time from my youth is always with me - and with me no matter what kind of music I was to play. I often had tears in my eyes when the lyrics to certain songs appeared. In the blurb @ YouTube about the program, it gave the set list and, I was shocked that many of my favorite songs were not included. In the end, as absolutely FAN-TAS-TIC as this concert was and is, I had to ask myself. HOW can there be such a great tribute to Curtis Mayfield, and it was GREAT - without including some of these songs: "Gypsy Woman"; "It's All Right"; "Keep on Pushing"; "I'm So Proud"; "You Must Believe Me" or "I'm The One Who Loves You?" And yes, I left off "Amen!" on purpose. These omissions make little or no sense to me. But obviously, I would not be recommending that you immediately bookmark the link and eventually experience this concert in all of its glory! It is a magnificent achievement. The hard work, the effort, the details, the expertise of Vince Mendoza can never be minimized! To restate it, Ledisi and Bilal absolutely killed it! And, if you are not feeling the spirit by the time they hit it with "Move On Up"? You are flatlining and you ain't alive!!! On a bit of a side note, while doing some research on the scope of what I was going to write here, I discovered that so many of my favorite tunes by the Impressions were arranged by Johnny Pate, who, by the way, just turned 100 years old this past December. Pate was the arranger for tunes like: "It's All Right"; "I'm So Proud" and "Keep on Pushing." And, speaking as a guitarist, two albums that are very close to my heart, B.B. King's "LIVE AT THE REGAL"(ABC) and Wes Montgomery's very brassy "MOVIN' WES"(Verve). After any number of wonderful love songs, in 1964, Mayfield and the Impressions released the single, "Keep on Pushing." it was to be the first of Mayfield's Black pride anthems! One must remember that this song was some 7 years ahead of Marvin Gaye's monumentally profound "WHAT'S GOING ON"(1971) album, which changed our world. Mayfield's words and the feeling that his voice projected served only to inspire and fortify the human spirit in times that probably seemed far more dark and daunting than today. But here we are, some 50 years later, and it is as if we, as a nation, have learned absolutely NOTHING from the not-too-distant past. Compared to many supposedly civilized places on this earth, we come off as bunch of mass murdering barbarians - full of bigots and racists.  It is as if all of the things that we, those of us who were once hippies, strived for have ended in accomplishing little or nothing. Now we are all fighting to save this nation from itself, and one wonders if we possess the strength of character to accomplish that. For some of us, things feel as though they are that dire! In 1965, Malcolm X used the phrase: "By any means necessary..." I hope that it does not come to that.It must never be lost that, amidst the struggle for basic human rights and equality, the spiritual nature of Curtis Mayfield's gospel and church upbringing never left his music. And 1965 saw the Impressions have great success with anthems of another nature: "Amen!" and the much beloved "People Get Ready." The latter has now been covered many, many times, and those cover versions garnered more sales success than the original. For me, the most reverential treatment of "Amen!" is without question the version by our Take 6 from 1991. So here we are and it is now January 2nd, 2024, and I am as uncertain and terrified of what could befall the USA during the coming months. It is almost impossible to believe that this country could have a wannabe dictator/authoritarian as a candidate from the Republican party. Since I was old enough to vote, I have never ever voted for a Republican. But, we have arrived at what is potentially the most dangerous moment in our history - which is really not all that long. It becomes incumbent on every single citizen, those with a conscience and some good sense, to get out and VOTE!!! Let your voice be heard! More than ever this is NOT the time to sit on one's couch and be a spectator hoping that things will turn out O.K.! Or that all of this madness that, in 2020, some 70 million people actually voted for will be enough this time to take over the nation. All could be lost in a heartbeat, and if that becomes our collective reality? We will have no one to blame but ourselves. Yes, if things continue on the path that they seem to be on, we will be faced with a choice - a choice that doesn't inspire much enthusiasm or energy. However! One choice would be so awful, so very, very dangerous that there becomes NO CHOICE at all!!! And so, on this most nervous note, I want to wish everyone a very, very: HAPPY NEW YEAR 2024!!!!!! BIG LOVE and PEACE OUT - Steve I vividly recall being at University High School in West Los Angeles, California, and walking towards Mr. Libenson's French class. I remember someone running by me and telling us that President Kennedy had been shot! Like everyone else in that moment, I thought that it was some kind of cruel and stupid joke. However, when I arrived at the bungalow for my class, there was an unusual sense of quiet, and Mr. Libenson sat in stoic silence at his desk. I had never seen him quite like that. As my French teacher, he had me totally terrified!!! After a time of quiet, he rose, and began to speak to us. I had never heard him speak like this, so much emotion, fire, and passion in his voice, and especially his words. I remember as his extemporaneous speech rose in intensity, he actually said the words, "They killed him!" As a young, and not particularly politically worldly person, I really didn't grasp the gravity of those words. And then, for the first time, the only time, I saw tears in his eyes, and his voice choked with emotion. I had never seen any of my teachers like that. I never saw any them like that again. It was very moving, and obviously unforgettable. Like everyone else in the U.S.A., during the hours and days which followed, I was glued to our television set. I had never seen respected newsman, journalists of great dignity on the verge of tears before: Walter Cronkite; Huntley and Brinkley; Frank McGee, and many others. And, like the rest of our nation, I desperately wanted to know how this had happened. Did a man named Lee Harvey Oswald really kill the President all by himself, in a moving car? HOW could this have happened in my country? I remember the following Sunday morning, sitting in my father's library, by myself, and watching the TV, waiting for the Dallas police department to transfer Lee Harvey Oswald. Then, all of a sudden, I was actually witnessing a man being shot, killed, right in front of my eyes on 'live' television! HOW could that be?  I couldn't possibly realize that this moment would send our nation into 40 years of feeling deprived of possibly knowing what had really happened during those days in Dallas; and perhaps during the days, weeks and months leading up to that moment. We would never really know what information died that morning with Lee Harvey Oswald.I am obviously not alone in being of the opinion that there had to have been other shooters that day. That Lee Harvey Oswald was, as he stated himself, just "a patsy." I'll never forget the first time I actually visited Dealey Plaza in Dallas, and went up to the 6th Floor of the Texas School Book Depository; and then, stood close to the window [You are not allowed to stand near "the window"!] where one 'shooter' surely was. It seemed like an impossible shot to me. And I, of course, know nothing about guns and rifles. Then, I went down and stood behind the fence on the "Grassy Knoll" and that seemed like such an 'easy' shot! Being there brought back all those old feelings to me. Time seemed to freeze for a moment. Like so many Americans, more or less of my age, I too feel like "hope, and our national innocence died" that day in Dallas; and that we, as a nation, as a people, have never been the same since! On the other hand, I am now reminded of a couple of things which my father always used to say: [1] "The key to life is 'paradox.'" And, [2], and I'm going to be quoting him rather loosely here, "Just because an event seems as though it must be totally impossible, improbable; that is the very reason why it can be, and therefore is! Real life is just like that!" So, in his view, this is precisely why Lee Harvey Oswald could have made all those shots, and did do it......alone! But then, after spending an afternoon watching the entire documentary series: "THE MEN WHO KILLED KENNEDY" on the HISTORY CHANNEL, it is impossible for me to adopt my father's curious wisdom. Oh well, you'll have to decide for yourself. Addendum: When I sat down to write the above recollection, it was 2003 and 20 years ago. I'm stunned that it was THAT long ago. I am stunned that I don't even mention Mark Lane's book  or documentary. Shocking!!!. This year, 2023, it is now the 60th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, 1963 - a singular moment that changed all of our lives forever.It all caused me to think back to Mark Lane's brilliant book, "RUSH TO JUDGEMENT"(August, 1966), and his subsequent documentary film by the same title in 1967. The book and the film changed my perspective and thinking, and how I was to view all of these events right up into the present. Of course, the "government" didn't want the public to read the book or see the film as it would surely cast doubt on the Warren Commission Report - so, as quickly as they arrived, they seemed to disappear - and became very hard to find. Just recently, and suddenly, video excerpts from the film began to appear at YouTube - and I started to watch these fantastic interviews by Mark Lane with various eyewitnesses to the events in Dallas and Dealey Plaza that day - and they all still stand as remarkable, and completely believable - and that 'things' are just not always what they might seem to be - or even appear to be. For those of you who have feelings about that moment in our history, and questions - I urge you to take the time and seek out these Mark Lane interviews via YouTube. Just remember they were conducted within a year or two after the assassination. - Steve Khan [New York, November 22nd, 2023]  - record labels didn't know what to do with it. So, in the end, it was a bit of a miracle that it finally came out here in 1983. And then, it was released at a time when we had already recorded "CASA LOCO" - very weird - and tough to deal with it. For me, it was hard to doing interviews about "EYEWITNESS" when we were, as a group, some 2 steps ahead. But, that's the way things go sometimes. When all is said and done, I am just grateful that it came out at all.I can only thank Max for his super-duper page and all of the very kind words about the music that Anthony Jackson, Steve Jordan and Manolo Badrena and I were able to come-up with some 40 years ago. We are very grateful to each and every person who has supported our recordings, who came out to see us play, and those who have since written letters and e-mails of ongoing support. Without you? None of this would have been possible. Thank you all so much!!! - BIG LOVE, Steve  I spent lots of nights, usually Thursdays and Saturday night at THE LATIN QUARTER, which was located then on Broadway between 95th St. and 96th St.! I used to go with a small notebook and I would write down all of the songs that I was hearing the DJ play while inspiring the dancers to get out on the floor and bailar!!! Then, after arriving home, I would initially take that information and go out on CD buying sprees. As my knowledge began to grow about the vast and rich history of Latin music and Salsa, I began to realize that, for the most part, the clubs in New York were playing a mixture of the contemporary Salsa Romántica, and some tougher sounding and feeling Salsa from the '70s and '80s, which most experts saw as the great Fania epoch of the music. Everyone, especially musicians told me that THAT was where I would find the best music and the best songs and albums. Armed with that, the buying sprees and explorations continued. I even went downtown to take some weekly Salsa dancing lessons. I learned a lot, but most of it did not seem to be too useful in the clubs! It was a source of tragi-comic laughter often times.Fast forward and around 1997, after having seen a magnificent and unforgettable concert by Issac Delgado and his remarkable group in Central Park, suddenly I was more immersed in Cuban music than I had been before. It wasn't too long after all of this that I happened to stumble upon a tribute CD titled, "¡GRACIAS, FORMELL!," and I bought it not really knowing what it was going to be. Though I did know that the great bassist and bandleader Juan Formell was the guiding light behind one of Cuba's most visionary and important bands, LOS VAN VAN. Best of all for me was hearing his wonderful song, "La Habana Joven," here interpreted by, Ángel "Angelito" Bonne, and all within a fantastic arrangement by Juan Manuel Ceruto. Sadly, Juan Formell passed away in May of 2014, so, this month, at KORNER 2, we are presenting what becomes my own little tribute to the great Juan Formell in hopes that others will enjoy his beautiful love song, "La Habana Joven" that, perhaps in reality, is his own beautiful love poem to his Havana, to youth, and to the innocence and beauties of being young - and in love. These are all things to be celebrated in words and song.  Too most, Reich is seen as an American political commentator, economist, professor, and author. He served in the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter and was Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997. He was appointed a member of President-elect Barack Obama's economic transition advisory board. He has published 14 books, including the best-sellers: "THE WORK OF NATIONS"; "REASON"; "SUPERCAPITALISM"; "AFTERSHOCK" and a best-selling e-book, "BEYOND OUTRAGE."Just this past Sunday, August 13th, 2023, something caught my eye at YouTube and so, I clicked on the link and watched what I might describe as a 7-minute documentary attempting to ask and answer the question, is Trump a Fascist or an Authoritarian? In such a brief time, I think that Reich did a fantastic job of presenting an answer. And, as it always is, it is up to us, those who choose to watch, to listen and then to think for ourselves to decide. And so, I offer to you all this link and guide you to watching and listening and then, you can decide for yourself. But no matter what you decide or choose to think - it is upon all of us as citizens of the United States to decide what kind of country exactly do we, or a majority of us, want this nation to be? What kind of people are we? It can not be forgotten that in 2020 some 70+ million people, citizens actually voted for Trump! One can continue to ask the question, "HOW is that possible?" But, it doesn't matter because, it was and is possible. It happened - it is still happening! Keep thinking, but above, mobilize and make certain that you vote in the coming elections - wherever you might be! It is essential for us all. So now that Donald Trump has been indicated for a fourth time, how do I see this playing out? What is Trump going to attempt to do? He's going to continue to behave like the petulant schoolboy who WANTS TO get thrown out of school - just as he behaved during all of those presidential debates way back when, for a position that he never really wanted! He did not want to become President, he just wanted another TV show or to pump-up his garish and tasteless hotels and golf courses. During those same debates, he behaved like someone who wanted the Republican party to expel him from the race - but NO ONE did - everyone just capitulated to him, took his insults, and then later endorsed and supported him. Cowards, all of them! During this carnival sideshow, somehow, the public loved this crap all the more each time. And, as we all know, this unworthy jerk became President - and in doing so has been and is, the most dangerous person on the planet. Here we are In 2023, while running again for President, if only to keep himself out of jail, what is he going to do? In a different way, and VERY different circumstances, he is going to continue to push the envelope of legal civility by hurling insults at all of the judges and prosecutors, and making not-so-veiled threats of violence towards anyone involved who is against him. What is he doing? In essence, he is DARING ANY AND ALL OF THESE JUDGES TO ARREST HIM - and put him IN JAIL!!! Of course, I could be wrong, but I believe that THIS TIME - he will go too far - if he hasn't already, and one of these very judges will jail him - for how long? I don't know.... But, I think that this is where this is all headed in the short term..... - Steve  Every so often, one of my guests would ask me, "Steve, what is that that we are listening to right now?" And, of course, I would tell them the name of the artist, the song, and which album it comes from. Those were always happy moments for me. But, with the virtual end of THE CD ERA upon us, technologies and people's listening habits have changed and changed greatly. It now seems as though everyone, all over the world, listens to music in their own way - mostly through earbuds or headphones - or some kind of a sound-cube in their home/apartment - and, of course, in one's car. Mostly listening through streaming services all connected to personal smartphones. I have had to face the fact that fundamentally NO ONE these days owns a real stereo (with a powerful amp and two(2) speakers - plus a CD player or a turntable, or both. The contemporary world of music listening seems to have passed me by. I still don't get it.When a friend in India, who knew nothing about "Jazz" seemed to want to learn something about it, I decided that, with the help of my close friend, pianist Antonio Mazzei, who now lives in Barcelona, Spain - after having spent many years here in New York - and is, at the very least, conversant with Spotify - with his help, we would assemble these Jazz Sampler Playlists, and he would create them for me @ Spotify. I began with just 2 of them. Those first two playlists covered a total of 26 tunes, 13 on each one. Generally speaking, I tried to select music/performances that, for me, represented in some way, shape or form what "Jazz" sounds like to me. Of course, this is all very subjective. My friend in India knew nothing about my own recordings, so I tried to slip in a song of mine here and there. Another person, another musician might have selected a completely different list of tunes and artists. That's a given! What was I trying to accomplish? Well, I wanted to best represent, if possible, ALL of the various sounds, colors, flavors, textures, moods, attitudes, and vibrations (I'm sounding like an old hippie now) of the music that I have loved so much since I was a teenager. My criteria for most of the selections, no matter how physical or intense the music might be, was that THE MUSIC WOULD BE LISTENABLE - and, at any volume. I tend to listen to music, most of the time, at a level where I can FEEL IT in a PHYSICAL manner. MUSIC IS PHYSICAL to me, and SPIRITUAL in that way - but, it is NOT like that for everyone. For most people, listening to instrumental music, non-singing music, music without lyrics is really, really difficult. By and large, people need the "message" in or from the music to be spelled-out for them - beyond a song title, and within the lyrics or the "story" of the song. So, "Jazz" - which is, for the most part, instrumental music - becomes a more challenging listening experience. Does one have to "understand" something about music to enjoy and/or appreciate it? I don't think so! I believe that you just have to let your mind, or spirit drift somewhere with the music and the feeling(s) or memories that you attach to it, and those things become what the piece is about. In a sense, it is kind of simple - but some degree of an imagination is important. Just a thought. The brutal irony of all of this is that my friend in India has not listened to any of the playlists that I shared with her! It's pretty comical. If you are even remotely interested in accessing all of this wonderful music? Just click on the image above, and it will take you to a page that I created with, what has now become, 12 Jazz Sampler Playlists! Just scroll down, and if you click on any one of those Playlist images, it will take to you the specific Spotify Playlist for that page. In all, the gift of music now encompasses some 185 songs! A pretty great collection for anyone who IS a Spotify subscriber. At the page, I address why I am NOT a subscriber. And on that note, PLEASE enjoy these collections of this wonderful music with my best wishes for a peaceful and tranquil summer!!! BIG LOVE, Steve  The sequence of events and the history of those events is so remarkable and riveting that in advance of the film, I had to see and review all of the available documentaries about Oppenheimer and/or the Manhattan Project and all of the varied players and sites.I was stunned to learn that the Oppenheimer family lived in an apartment, where Robert and his brother Frank grew-up, attending the Ethical Culture School on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and their apartment was located at 155 Riverside Dr. @ the corner of 88th St. Once I had read this, I had to walk by with my little camera and take a couple of photos of the building's awning and of the building itself. It was an emotional sight. I found it remarkable, very sad, that there was no plaque to commemorate that Oppenheimer had lived there. But, with the indignities that he had to suffer at the hands of the U.S. government, humiliating him by revoking his security clearance, it's a wonder that he still led a productive life in the years post the end of WWII and the surrender of Japan. In the end, probably from the beginning, J. Robert Oppenheimer knew what he was creating, and the inevitable paradox of saving the world, but also giving human beings the 'tool' to completely extinguish humanity. This would torture any of us. And those who care to think about it and discuss it will argue about the pros and cons forever. It is in the nature of things. For me, I simply admire the genius and the courage of Oppenheimer to have been there, and to have been able to do what was necessary. How well I remember my father, Sammy Cahn, beaming with pride when the album "GETZ AU GO GO"(Verve) was released in late 1964,  after having been recorded LIVE on May 22nd, 1964 @ New York's Café Au Go Go. My father was so proud because, he had put lyrics to a Benny Carter tune that became "Only Trust Your Heart" and, on this album was sung by the one and only Astrud Gilberto, where she was accompanied by: Stan Getz (Tenor Sax); Gary Burton (Vibes); Gene Cherico (Ac. Bass) and Joe Hunt (Drums).The groundbreaking album "GETZ/GILBERTO" had been released in early 1964, and, in a sense, introduced the Bossa Nova to the world with the song, "The Girl from Ipanema." Both albums were produced by Creed Taylor and obviously the first one caused an international sensation - and that unforgettable feeling is still with us all - constantly transforming itself and captivating us all. Perhaps my favorite all-time album of Astrud's was her 1966 album "LOOK TO THE RAINBOW"(Verve) which featured arrangements by our beloved Gil Evans. Pay special attention to the very touching version of "Once Upon a Summertime." It goes without saying that Astrud Gilberto had a vocal quality to her voice, never sung above a whisper, that has really never been exactly replicated, though there certainly is a 'style' of female vocals that best comes from Brasil. Prior to these recordings, my father had travelled to Brasil, in hopes of becoming the English lyricist for Antonio Carlos Jobim - a 'gig' that he did not win. But, he did return home with the gift of vocalese contained within tons of Brasilian LPs that I quickly snatched from his collection. So, in acknowledging her passing and contributions to contemporary music, I wanted to extend my deepest sympathies to her family and loved ones all over the world. - Steve Khan, New York, June 7th, 2023  for his own unique channel there. I had no idea what to expect, but I was very happy that he wanted to do such a presentation about this rather strange and unique piece of music from 1981 which featured: Anthony Jackson(Bass Guitar), Steve Jordan(Drums) and Manolo Badrena(Percussion). Obviously, Paul was going to be painting a brilliantly presented homage to Anthony. Just click on the image to the right, and you'll be there.Honestly, what Paul did is really one of the nicest, most intelligent and insightful tributes to that music that any of us have ever seen, or will see. His sincerity and positive energy are so infectious that the video becomes like a well done documentary. It is a great mixture of his own feelings and impressions, and of the historical data that he extracted from the webpage. I could not have asked for any more than what he has done. What makes it all so wonderful is that it just came out of nowhere. No one asked him to do this - it is simply from his heart, and represents a piece of music and the brilliance of Anthony Jackson that Paul liked. Though I don't recall everything that I wrote about "Where's Mumphrey?" here at the website, looking back, I think that, in part, what we did was an "impression" of Latin music - respectful, a bit forward looking, but ultimately incorrect - as I, with my instincts, turned the clave inside-out - which should not have happened - Steve Jordan's bell pattern has nothing to do with the traditional mambo bell patterns. Anthony's tumbao was played correctly, but with his own unique spin on a bass tumbao. That low 'E' should be on beat 4! Manolo, genius that he is, could have played the piece from a conga tumbao perspective - but, what makes him so uniquely brilliant amongst percussionists, Latin percussionists, is that he can just go with the flow - and not question it from traditional perspectives - he just plays, MAKES MUSIC - and therein lies the great lesson - the great lesson for me! Looking at what I have done with the albums since 2005 - the feeling still goes back to the music of Eyewitness, but the more recent music is really using a rhythmic approach that keeps the performances en clave! I can only say "Thank you so much Paul!!!" Here's hoping that my post brings lots of traffic your way. As this is the week of yet another birthday for me, your video becomes the best "gift" that I could have received.  Randy Brecker(Trumpet); Bob Mann(Guitar); Victor Gaskin(El. Bass); Steve Hass(Drums) and Don Alias(Drums). Mike's solo is, as always, his uniquely personal blending of stylistic influences, Jazz, Rock, R&B, Soul, and Blues, from the most early days of his development. At that time, he was only 22 years old. The analysis features lots of links so that fans can purchase the songs and albums mentioned or pictured.Not only does this page feature the solo transcription, but because of the brilliance of how Mike and brother Randy played melodies together, we have offered the lead sheet for "Point of View" and, as a special treat, the lead sheet for Hal's incredibly creative arrangement of "Welcome to My Dream"(Jimmy Van Heusen-Johnny Burke). It is a very rare and special gift that, perhaps, only exists between two amazingly gifted brother who, at times, exhibit an almost uncanny ability to maneuver together as one - even with a carefully notated melody. It can sound and feel as though there were floating over the time, while still meeting their responsibilities to what was composed and arranged. Make sure that you take advantage of these pages that now appear here! I'm also very pleased to announce that brother Randy Brecker contributed some wonderful personal reflections on some of the topics addressed within what I wrote. Scroll down and you can't miss it!!! My huge thanks to Randy for taking a moment from his very busy schedule to write something for me. In the end, this solo transcription becomes an homage to Mike's incredible body of recorded work.  The performance by this legendary group which then featured: Randy Brecker(Trumpet); Michael Brecker(Tenor Sax); Barry Rogers(Trombone); Bob Mann(Guitar); Don Grolnick(Clavinet); Will Lee(El. Bass); Billy Cobham(Drums) and lead vocalist Eddie Vernon - though, as you will hear should you choose to investigate further, not on this particular song. Randy is the composer and vocalist.What we are now offering is a very rare 2-fer which was originally intended to only feature Bob Mann's wonderful 16-bar guitar solo, performed with a Uni-Vibe pedal plus a Vox Wah-Wah. But as it was followed so perfectly by Randy Brecker's muted trumpet solo, also 16-bars, I decided to transcribe them both and offer them here. Most of the original piece of writing was intended to be a tribute to Bob and some of his musical adventures from that period and beyond. Bob always possessed the musicianship and guitar talent to have done anything that he might have chosen to do. In the world of music, everyone's journey becomes different and Bob's choices took him down some really wild paths. Lucky for those of us who been his friend and colleague, some of the best of that work still remains available. I tried to offer you the links to pinpoint your searches. As is often the case, when you visit the analysis page, you're going find lots of fun stories, photos, some containing links for buying options or audio options and some containing references for songs and albums that get mentioned in the course of the piece. True to its title, the song contains a LOT of surprises - all worth your time, attention and energy.  caused me to go back to "SONG OF THE SUN" and listen, yet again, to "Baker's Annex."First, I became fascinated with Jim's playing and arranging of the 16-bar Intro and, just for fun, I transcribed that. Then I listened to the entire piece several times and fell in love with Mike's solo - listening as if it was the first time that I had ever heard it. It was then that I knew that I had to attempt to transcribe it too - despite the intimidating double-time passages. Scary stuff to try to write out in a reasonably accurate form. But, though it took some time, I felt that I had something good enough to present here. Along the way, I reached out to Jim Beard and he was so cooperative and helpful by sending me his lead sheets for "Baker's Annex" that it helped to make better sense of exactly what was going on. Jim and I discussed how several of the chords were labeled and, in the end, we were pretty much in agreement about how it all could be discussed. The solo section is actually 32 bars in length and is comprised of a repeated 16-bar form. What makes it all so challenging and tricky for Mike is that the chord changes move at a pace of 2 chords per bar. Make no mistake, these are complex chords that are not easy to connect, there are no ii-Vs in the traditional sense. But, as he always seems to be able to do, Mike Brecker played a completely engaging and melodic solo that makes us feel that we never want to see it end. After it has concluded within the discussed form, Mike continues to play over a 4-bar reprise of Jim's aforementioned Intro section which I have described as a denouement to the solo. In its soft way, it becomes the perfect ending and serves as a transition back to the melody. If you are now ready, just click on the collage above and it will take you directly to the analysis page for Mike's "Baker's Annex" solo. Please know that I consider Jim Beard's "SONG OF THE SUN" album to be essential to the CD collection of anyone who is a serious Jazz or Jazz-Fusion fan. The 11 songs contained within are a marvel of compositional ingenuity and textural magic. This is the kind of recording that anyone who was involved with it should be proud of that for the rest of their lives and careers. Yes, it's that good!!! So, if this piques your interest, by all means, seek it out and buy it to have in your collection of music! And so, on that note, here's wishing everyone a very, HAPPY HOLIDAYS and it goes without saying, HAPPY NEW YEAR 2023!!!  - especially for small artists. But, what it can do is that it can prolong the life of your album or song @ radio. And, in the end, THAT is still one's best vehicle to reach the ears of the people. After all, when you work so very hard at something, you just want a fighting chance to have it heard. Other people/artists seek other things, but not me. Though this is likely to be the last post about "Island Letter," I wanted to share with everyone a special page that I have created here for the website just this past weekend which offers a most unique musical perspective on just what kind of vocal artistry and magic Mark Kibble, my partner in this adventure, gave us all. Click on the image to your right and it will take you there! Once there? Just click on the BLUE BUTTON and listen.Quite some time ago, long after "Island Letter" had been mixed and mastered, and even released as a special COLLECTOR'S EDITION CD, I decided to see if I could create my own rough mix in Protools that would ONLY feature ALL of Mark Kibble's incredible vocals accompanied solely by Marc Quiñones' masterful and very swingin' Latin percussion. When I had arrived at a blend that I felt was decent, I shared it with a few select friends and colleagues. It was never my intention to share that mix publicly. But now, as we have arrived at this particular moment, I wanted everyone to have the opportunity to hear what this level of vocal artistry and creativity actually sounds like. Always keep in mind that EVERY SINGLE VOICE that you hear was performed by Mark Kibble! Yes, one guy did ALL of it!!! So, at the aforementioned special page that I created, you can now hear the soundclip of the performance. When you arrived there, just click on the BLUE circular button. If you have heard the FULL VERSION and are familiar with it, this is probably going to sound a bit stark, because now, there is no guitar; no Rob Mounsey (Keys & Orchestrations); and no Rubén Rodríguez (5-String Elec. Bass). Please enjoy this special version with all of our best wishes for a very, very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! BIG LOVE, Steve  He listened to it, and he loved it, and then phoned me about the possibility of a reissue. I was very surprised, but thrilled, and most excited to phone Rob with this news. We were both in agreement that we wanted to see this happen, and would do everything possible to make it so. It is important to be clear about one thing.The original release of this album on Mike Landy's SIAM Records was the victim of some very unfortunate circumstances. Just about 3 weeks after its initial release, the record company could no longer sustain operations and went out of business! When something like that happens, there is just no way to relaunch an album as if nothing had ever happened before. The truth is that you lose everything, all the energy and momentum once started is now gone. And the most sad truth of all is that, the album is gone, lost, in a sense, forever. It has remained "lost" until this moment. Rob did take it upon himself to do some great things to preserve the life of this music by, at the very least, placing it @ iTunes where it has resided for many years. Unlike its 1987 predecessor, "LOCAL COLOR"(Denon), where Rob and I were the only two musicians present, "YOU ARE HERE" saw Rob and I join forces with the most brilliant percussionist Marc Quiñones for most of the album. He add much needed muscle and the authentic Latin rhythms that this collection of music needed. If you want to read more about just how this all came about, take a moment and visit this recently updated page, The Khan·Mounsey Saga. There you will find the freshly written addendum that brings this saga right up to the present. We hope that you will enjoy following along with the story.  But, as this project took well over one year to complete, a situation appeared, and I felt most grateful to have been presented with this option, this glorious opportunity.Bassist Jimmy Haslip and I have been friends since Jimmy, Russell Ferrante and I played together on a U.S. tour in 1978. That now logs in at some 45+ years. It should not seem that remarkable that a friendship, both personal and musical would be able to sustain itself for all of that time. With the obvious successes of the Yellowjackets, Jimmy has gone way beyond that work and extended himself into other areas of music and the music business. It wasn't all that long ago that he struck-up a friendship with bassist Joseph Patrick Moore, who had launched his own label, Blue Canoe Records, and over time, Jimmy became somewhere between a consultant and a full-fledged A&R man for the label - finding talent and albums that Joseph could release. The label has been quite a wonder with very "artist friendly" agreements that end-up serving everyone well. Due to the exceptional nature of my one-song project with Mark Kibble, I asked Jimmy if he thought that Joseph might be willing to release a "single" (a one-song project) on his label. Jimmy, of course, told me that Blue Canoe had never done such a thing before, but he would investigate this possibility with Joseph - and, lo and behold, without having heard a note of music, Joseph agreed to do a digital only release of our "Island Letter"! Needless to say, I was thrilled, and greatly relieved because, at the very least, all of the hard work that Mark and I, alongside brilliant players like: Rob Mounsey (Keys & Orchestrations); Rubén Rodríguez (5-String Elec. Bass), and Marc Quiñones (Timbal, Conga, Bongó & Perc.), the "work" would be, in a sense protected - in the most basic ways. The point is that, as musicians/artists, none of us want to just "give away" our music, our work, because people, young and old, think that everything should be for free! Well NO! It should not be for free. People should have to pay for the work. But, of course, since the personal computer and file sharing came along - the genie has long since been out of the bottle, and we're all screwed with no reasonable solution to this in sight. As I do not want to be my own record label and go through all of the effort and work to maintain it - which would mean standing in long lines at the post office to mail out physical CDs - the option of having Blue Canoe Records releasing the "single" (the term used by many these days, but an uncomfortable choice of words for someone my age) was the best of all possible situations. I can only say that I am so very grateful to both Jimmy and Joseph for taking on this one most singular song! This song, "Island Letter" was composed by Shuggie Otis and appeared on his 1974 LP, "INSPIRATION IMAGINATION. Back then, writers chose to categorize his music as Psychedelic Soul. In preparation for a possible release, I had done a lot of non-musical work in advance, and part of that was to assemble a series of panels of images that would tell "the story" of "Island Letter" - images that are conjured up within the words of his lyrics. Those images mixed with photos of the artists and musicians, cover images and panels of information were all readied for the eventual release. I have learned that having a tool like this - even though a non-performing tool - enables the record label to better do its job - even if that is extremely minimalist. With the help of another great musician, drummer Jimmy Branly, we were able to assemble and edit this Video to accompany the music - as many people find it easier to listen while viewing something that is almost cinematic in nature. And so, here we are ready to present this video as part of the release. On the road to this release, I did a really crazy thing, against all the sage advice that I was given, and my own knowledge of the state of the record business - AND, worst of all, that, in essence, NO ONE owns a CD player any longer, much less a real stereo system. And, of course, computers no longer come with disc drives, cars don't have CD players, etc.!!! What does one do? Well, I had some special "COLLECTOR'S EDITION" CDs manufactured of "Island Letter" and Blue Canoe Records has made them available via their site. Just click on the link if you're interested, and you'll be there!!!  was an idea, or a suggestion that began in some correspondence with Terry Wachsmuth the president of Wounded Bird Records, one of the most respected names in the reissues area of Jazz and Jazz-related music. Terry and I began a dialogue about my 1980 Arista/Novus recording "EVIDENCE" on November 26th, 2015. At that time, and for the 6 years that followed, it just seemed that seeing a CD reissue of this album was really a low priority for Sony Music. Terry just could not get them to respond to his repeated inquiries on this subject. I wasn't aware that all of this was going on, so lucky for me, it wasn't hurtful.But then, suddenly, or so it seemed to me, Terry wrote to me again about "EVIDENCE" and a possible CD reissue on November 23rd, 2021. He asked me if I would PLEASE personally write to the key person at Sony Music to see if, hearing from the "artist" might get the ball finally rolling. Well, I wrote to that person and, miracle of miracles, things finally began to move in a positive direction. And now, here we are. As this is an album that has meant so much to me, seeing this 1st reissue on CD in some 30 years is a cause for great celebration. The album was originally recorded during the LP Era, and subsequently when the CD Era began, "EVIDENCE" was never released in that new format, except in Japan. It was not until 1990 when the Arista/Novus catalog had landed at RCA, that they decided to release a series of CD reissues, including "EVIDENCE." Those CDs were packaged with probably the most unattractive cover design artwork that I can ever recall. Of course, none of us, as the "artists" were ever consulted about any of this. I have written this before, but this is typical! The artist is almost always the last to know about everything. And people, the public continue to believe that this is not so. Well, they're wrong, very wrong! Though it is certainly not always the case, for me, working with Terry Wachsmuth and Wounded Bird Records has been a pleasure. When a problem has arisen, we have done our best to work it through in the spirit of just making certain that we were going to have a release of this reissue. We have been able to work things out amicably, and that's been great. The look of this package does its best to retain the original look with the artwork, a pen & ink sketch by Jean-Michel Folon front and center as it should be. Terry was able to recreate Michael Cuscuna's liner notes along with all of the credits in a larger font size inside the CD booklet, making it much more legible. When the original LP was mastered by the great Greg Calbi (Sterling Sound), he gave me the option of including a 'spiral' for each track of the 9-song Thelonious Monk Medley which occupied all of Side B. Even though the piece plays through as one long piece of work - as was the intention - then and now - a DJ, if he/she so desired could access any song within the medley individually - a nice option for radio. When the CD Era began, "EVIDENCE" was only available on CD in Japan - and they did a wonderful job packaging it, and the Monk Medley plays through as one performance, but, each track can be accessed individually - though that was never my intention!  However, when the personal computer was born, and eventually iTunes was created, problems with the artist's vision and the way iTunes was set-up were about to arise.What happened was that iTunes would automatically separate ALL of the songs individually, and some scheming by the computer owner was necessary to enable the Monk Medley to play through as one piece. So, when Sony Music, the newest owner of the Arista/RCA catalog, was going to eventually put everything up @ iTunes - which was certainly a good thing - I desperately wanted the Monk Medley to be presented as ONE PIECE, Track [6]. And so, in mastering for this format, that is exactly what we did. And, I can tell you that I very much appreciated the cooperation of those whom I worked alongside to make that happen. For this reissue, thanks to Terry Wachsmuth, to avoid any of the aforementioned issues, Terry allowed me to present the Monk Medley in the sequence as one piece of work. This is how I've always wanted listeners to hear it, and that is the way that it is going to be. Of course, I fully realize that, these days, most music listeners can barely allot the time to listen to one 3-minute song without being interrupted by something - usually their damn smartphones. So, I hold no illusions that people are going to actually listen to an 18:30 piece of music. But if there is that one person in 100,000 who will actually do it, know that I am reaching out to YOU! NOTE: None of this would have ever been possible without the help and encouragement of: Doug Epstein, who recorded and helped to produce this album; Warren Bernhardt and Steve Backer. I'm so grateful to you all.  Another piece of Bendik's, from that same album, "Lust for Life" conveys a similar aesthetic but in a different way. I am reminded of what a great experience this was, and I am moved to mention the engineering of Garry Rindfuss, who somehow sensed what the right audio direction was for these pieces.In the 30+ years that have come and gone since then, including a 2nd Steps Ahead album that we did together, "YIN-YANG"(NYC Records) [Please listen to Bendik's "Okapi" from this album], I have been thinking about many things - musical and otherwise - and, when it comes to assessing a musical "voice" - and that includes one's own - if one has one - I often ask myself when listening to various music and artists: "Is that a musical voice that I would want to hear playing any particular melody?" And when the answer comes back to me as "No!" That is, in the end, a really sad moment. It is not something that I would want to say about anything or anyone. But, when I listen to Bendik playing, and how he states a melody, any melody - I am reminded of the exact opposite, because HIS is a voice that I would welcome hearing playing any melody - any time!!! As I am writing this on Sunday evening, December 26th, 2021 - earlier today I was engaged in some wonderful conversation with a dear friend from Caracas, Venezuela, singer/songwriter Guillermo Carrasco, who, alongside many, shares a very particular open sensibility about music and art - ALL music and art. As our conversation was closing for this day, while trying to make a point, he happened to send me a YouTube link for, of all things, a Bendik Hofseth piece titled: "Underground Inventor"(to Fela Kuti), where he shares the artist credits with guitarist Eivind Aarset, a superb texturalist and inventor of soundscapes. Before I had heard a note, I was struck by the beauty of the album cover photograph for their album titled: "ROOTS"(C + C). I loved the stark nature of this photo as it communicates something that each person can take away something very personal from it. And so with that, I listened, and once again I was transported by the lyrical and atmospheric beauty of Bendik's music - his usage of textures and space. It was music that breathed, a quality that I have always aspired to. Inspired by what I heard,  I immediately went to iTunes and purchased both "ROOTS" and an earlier album, "TRUNKS"(C + C). The latter also features a beautiful photo, I'm guessing of a Norwegian forest. Spectacular.While listening to all of this newer music from Bendik, I was reminded of a guiding thought and principle of mine - to which I aspire - and that is that.... Music can be in the abstract, presenting moments of dissonance, perhaps even improvised clutter - but, given all of that, it can STILL sound BEAUTIFUL - it does NOT have to sound ugly to be 'artistic'! I am often reminded of the old arguments about the presentation of audio. When one asks the question, what does an instrument really sound like? Does any instrument really sound like it does if you were to place your ear right next to the bell of the saxophone or trumpet, or as close as you can get to the speaker cone(s) of an amplifier or speaker cabinet for a guitar, or placing your head just above the bass drum and in between the tom-toms and snare - is that what a drum kit sounds like? Well, I suppose it does, but..... In the end, is THAT was 'music' really sounds like? I don't know, but I would argue that...... For me, music, as a whole, perhaps sounds like what it might sound like to the person seated in the 5th row of smallish club - or somewhere between the 10th and 25th rows of small concert hall or auditorium. It should be a blend of all of those points of audio impressions. I am not saying that everything has to be swimming in reverb - but I am saying that certain dry perspectives of "audio vérité" do not exactly INVITE the listener INTO the music - and that, after all, is where we want them to be. We want the listener to BE a part of the music - not to be excluded from it. I would only say that as 2021 comes to its merciful close, and we all can look forward to the new year of 2022 - if anyone is motivated by what I have written here, please give a listen to what Bendik Hofseth has been doing. For me, it serves as motivation to work harder, and to just do better - if I can. Wishing everyone the best of everything in 2022 - especially good health, and the spirit of trying to work things out TOGETHER as best as we all can.  in Steve's own book from 1996, "CONTEMPORARY CHORD KHANCEPTS"(Alfred Music). Steve was honored to have been an oft-mentioned part of this book, which is certain to become the go-to resource for Latin Jazz guitar. It stands as a most scholarly endeavor worthy of the highest praise for research and inclusiveness. To best celebrate the publication of Neff's book, Steve has written a detailed analysis of the "Gracinha" solo which is sure to stand as one of Steve's best.The newly written analysis of that same solo, along with a freshly augmented soundclip, special for this webpage, appear there as well. Though this solo was played some 25 years ago, it represents as one of the best examples demonstrating the integration of free-flowing lines and chordal passages that stand within the same linear soundscape carrying the same melodic weight. As always, there is a story about the piece and the circumstances of its recording. Some 4 years later, what was once "Gracinha" became the more fully realized composition "Charanga, Sí, Sí" which appeared on the 2000 album from the Caribbean Jazz Project, "NEW HORIZONS." Here's hoping that everyone will take a moment to enjoy this presentation. As Neff's book was still in the early stage of production, I tried my best to help him to come-up with a cover concept that might best represent the serious nature of the work contained within the book's pages. Often times, music instruction books, or method books, have the worst covers that one could imagine. I would imagine that the theory, from the business side of things, is that musicians do not buy such books for their covers - only for the content. So, why invest in an artistic cover? Point taken, but.... Somehow in the midst of trying to be of some help, it led me down a path where, quite by accident,  I rediscovered the abstract expressionist work of the brilliant Adolph Gottlieb. And this carried me further to create another page for the website about this very journey that turned into a visual homage to a very small portion of the works of Adolph Gottlieb. It became a real labor of love.The miracles were still not finished, as Neff's publisher, the great Chuck Sher suddenly wrote to me directly and asked me if I would want to be a part of his recently launched series of books: THE JAZZ SONGBOOK SERIES. Each book contains 20 songs by the composer, and is only available as a digital download. There would be no physical books. The 1st series contained the music of 10 composers, many of whom are good friends mine and/or admired artists to be sure. I'm speaking of: Ralph Towner; Steve Swallow; Carla Bley; Oscar Hernández; and Horace Silver. My book would be a part of Series 2, and would include the likes of: Randy Brecker and Duke Pearson. That was enough of an incentive to convince me that this would be a wonderful thing to be a part of. And so, I was on board. With some luck, the new series will launch before the end of 2021. Eventually, you will see that Chuck was kind enough to allow me a little flexibility in creating a cover look that would not break too far away from the series, but would be something that I could embrace on a personal level because the look of all of my albums and books has always been of huge importance to me. I hope that everyone will enjoy this songbook, even though it is obviously only intended for musicians. On a final note, though I had always intended to get my Moderna "booster" shot, the fact that a beloved family member had come down with COVID and he had been fully vaccinated, I was convinced to move much more quickly and on Monday, October 11th, early in the morning, I went to my appointment @ Duane Reade and got my booster vaccination. As the pharmacist predicted, the reaction was very similar to shot #2, and about 12 hours after receiving the shot, in the middle of the night, I was feeling pretty damn miserable. Luckily, that only lasted another 10-12 hours. What a relief that things have normalized, whatever that might be. So, I urge everyone to get that extra protection and keep fighting against this scourge - a little discomfort is far, far better than landing oneself in a hospital and not being able to breath.  who asked me if I knew of any concertina teachers. He was asking because our good friend, producer Jane Raab, needed to find a teacher for the great Steve Martin, because in a forthcoming series, his character plays the concertina - not Steve's usual banjo! Jane's husband, the great engineer Richard Alderson, briefly became my go-between to Jane. I would finally speak with Jane directly on November 9th, 2020. At this point in time, I did not even know the name of this series.Well, of course, I did not know or know of any concertina teachers - and most embarrassing of all, as it turned out, I really didn't know exactly WHAT a concertina was. I guess I thought that it was somehow connected to the accordion family, but even that was not accurate. I thought that it would suffice if I just found an accordion or bandoneón (because of the buttons) player, and that this would be fine. But NO [John Belushi voice]!!! It would not have been fine. In my ignorance, I didn't even know that there were two types of concertinas, the Anglo and the English. I quickly learned that most of the great players play the Anglo, because it offers so many more musical options. And so, my search began..... However, my memories turned to childhood and how many times I had seen Kirk Douglas playing Ned Land in Jules Verne's "20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA" - and I remembered the scene where he sings "A Whale of a Tale"(Al Hoffman-Norman Gimbel). How about that?!?!? It was during the evening of October 24th, 2020 when I first reached out to guitarist/composer, Brian Keane, whom I have known for years, and not that long ago, I had been completely knocked out with his theme music and scoring for Barry Levenson's AMC series "COPPER"! I thought that it was totally great, and I wrote Brian to tell him so. Having heard all of that music, I figured that Brian had to know of someone. And he did! He told me that most of the best players in our area had gone back to Ireland because of Trump, the pandemic, and the better condition of the Irish economy. His highest recommendation was for Caitlín (pronounced Kotchleen) with whom he had toured in the past, and he gave me her website, which was so impressive. Aside from being a fantastic virtuoso on the concertina, she was also totally prepared to teach online lessons, etc. It seemed that I might have located the perfect person to become Steve Martin's teacher. And so, I wrote to her through her website - and, no response. I gave it some time, and I tried again, and again, NO RESPONSE! So, I gave-up!!! Then, it came to me that my Protools teacher, recording engineer/guitarist Bryan Smith had played in some Irish folkloric groups recently and that he might know of someone. I reached out to Bryan on October 25th, 2020, and it turned out that he did!!! He contacted violinist Tony DeMarco, and it was Tony who recommended the very young  Catriona Fee (pronounced Catrina), and I saw a wonderfully charming video of Catriona playing Irish music with her sisters. You can hear how great she plays! During the afternoon hours of October 25th, I was able to reach out to Catriona, and by then I knew that Steve Martin had gone out and purchased a concertina - but we didn't know which kind he had purchased. Yikes! As it turned out, Steve was coming into New York for a wardrobe fitting - and Jane Raab was able to confer with Steve's personal assistant - things began to take more shape. That was on November 9th, 2020. By November 11th, I knew that they were in touch with Catriona, and that Steve liked her very much - so, we were all set. At that point, feeling that I had done my job, and a great job at that, I just went on about my own business.As time passed, I learned that the series was going to be with Martin Short, and it would be called "ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING"(Hulu) and that shooting was to begin soon. Beyond that, periodically I would call or e-mail Jane to see how things were going, and she felt that they were going great. So, I was really happy for Catriona, and felt that this could be great for her growing career in some way. Just this past week, on August 31st, 2021, the series debuted on Hulu network. I saw a really nice post by Catriona, where she announced her own role in helping Steve Martin - and, though I can't be certain, it's even possible that Catriona actually played/recorded some passages for Steve to play/sync to while filming. I'm not sure about that. But, she was happy and thrilled by the experience - really a once-in-a-lifetime thing. So, it's all great. She said that Steve and his concertina make their debut in Episode 3!!! Once in a great while in this life, one is able to do something nice for someone else, and it all works out. But, as you can see by this story - to achieve this end result, a lot of nice people were involved. Rob, Jane, Richard, Brian, and later, Bryan, Tony and finally Catriona. As I said, the story has a really happy ending. As I write this, I have not seen one second of the series, but I plan on binging it soon!!!  Where does one find that? The answer seems to be pretty easy, just look to THE ARTS first, and in one of them you will find an answer.Such was the case for me the other day when I happened to stumble upon a performance by tenor saxophonist Bob Malach, who for decades I had always known him as Bobby Malach, with the superb WDR Big Band from Köln, Germany playing a very special Bob Mintzer arrangement of Stevie Wonder's "The Secret Life of Plants." It was Malach's 'moment' as part of the "FOUR TENORS" concert, alongside Mintzer, Paul Heller and Ada Rovatti. Bobby had requested this tune because of his great love for it, but also because he had spent years on the road with the magnificent Stevie Wonder. I found everything about this performance to be so very moving, because it exemplifies what is so great about the reading of a ballad when it is played with such emotional depth, feeling and a sense of space, time, and patience. It was so wonderful to hear Bobby playing like this, set within the lush harmonic support provided by Mintzer and WDR - especially the sonorous woodwind colors. For me, this became a work, a performance of transcendent grace and beauty. Something to be treasured. Throughout my life, since childhood, my father always used to say to me: "Steve, if someone does something that you like, always reach out and tell them!" Dad spent his life at the typewriter  and the phone writing and calling people whose work, in any field of endeavor, he had admired or been moved by. And, I have tried my best to do the same. And so, in that spirit, I reached out Bobby Malach, and just two days ago, we finally connected by phone and spent a wonderful hour together reminiscing about life - and he even reminded me of things that we had done together years ago, moments that I had completely forgotten about. So, it was wonderful on all levels. And I was thrilled that my call lifted his spirits.So, on that note, I would invite everyone to take a few moments and just listen to the sheer magic of Bob Malach playing Stevie Wonder's "The Secret Life of Plants" - yes, you can enjoy the video too. In order to do that, you must click on the first photo above, and that becomes the link to take you to the performance. I feel certain that you will be moved as well. If not, I will know that I have become more of an overly sentimental old fool, more than I already know! Lastly, if it even needs to be said, how GREAT is Stevie Wonder? How could any one person be given so much talent? Addendum: I forgot to include a little anecdote about my son, Heath, who back in the '70s, during the earliest years of his life, we must have been playing a lot of Stevie Wonder at home - albums like: "INNERVISIONS"('73), "FULFILLINGNESS' FIRST FINALE"('74) and "SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE"('76) would have been around then. Heath couldn't exactly say Stevie Wonder's name, so he would call him, "Tee-tee Wah-wah"!!! I have never forgotten that! As always, sending Peace & Love to everyone - Steve [New York, August 25th, 2021]  They had written to explain to me that they had decided to record, with their own group: OUTPUT / INPUT, an interpretation of Randy Brecker's brilliant composition, "The Little Ones" which appeared on my 1978 album, "THE BLUE MAN"(Columbia). Now, the actual launch for the music and video are upon us, and I'm really happy to be able to present the link here at this very site. For the record, the Triple H Horns are: Nick Mead(Trumpet); Jacob Shaw(Reeds) & Patrick Hayes(Trombone). As a whole, the group, while recording remotely, consists of wonderful international players from the London(UK), Los Angeles(USA) and Seoul(South Korea).Hearing "The Little Ones" get dusted-off and performed again really caused me to reflect and, yet again, appreciate the incredible performances by the original group that included: Randy, Michael Brecker, David Sanborn, Don Grolnick, Jeff Mironov, Will Lee, Steve Gadd and Ralph MacDonald. I still marvel at the playing of all of those mentioned.  But, the phrasing of this great, great mini-horn section remains a marvel after some 43+ years. The inner dynamics, the sense of moving together as one is just about impossible to capture. However, Nick, Jacob and Patrick played the arrangement, in their own way, but with tremendous respect for the original - obviously, their detailed work did not go unnoticed by me - and I have expressed this directly to them all. But I have to single out the solos from: Kanghyun Bu(Guitar), Daeun Kim(Keys), Jacob(Alto Sax) and Patrick(Trombone), and the big-ass rhythm groove anchored by: Melvin Lee Davis(El. Bass) and Jay Williams(Drums). And, their arrangement actually has a real ending - the original version has a long fade which featured the brilliance of David Sanborn.So, it is my hope that those who visit this page will simply click on the link, in this case, the OUTPUT / INPUT image above, and will thoroughly enjoy hearing this group's interpretation of Randy's tune. It is an amazingly detailed piece of music from the most unique musical mind of one of our greatest composers. Hoping that everyone, across this big ole world, has found a way to survive what has been a most brutal month of August where heat is concerned. Riding the subways on any given day when the temperature is 95°F and 90% humidity - is truly disgusting! Yuck!!! But, we do it as we must. Mercifully, Fall will be upon us soon!!!  even if the correspondence has been most infrequent. I have watched her career blossom in many ways, seeing her become one of the most respected and recognizable faces in the news business there. I'm very proud what she has accomplished, and it is an ever-growing list of challenges met.As it turned out, Amelia was wondering if I would help her out by becoming the subject for her maiden voyage into the world of podcasts. The element that intrigued me most was that, she wanted the podcast interview to be loosely based around a singular question: "What does Jazz sound like? What does it sound like to you?" When I heard that, during our phone conversation, I found that to be very interesting, especially philosophically. And so we agreed to record the podcast, our conversation, on June 9th with me also having to serve as engineer. Yikes! To prepare, I hastily tried to assemble a collection of no more than 10 tunes, limiting the time period to be between 1957-1968. Only 10 tunes? How on earth do you do that? Well, while trying to do that, I ended-up with some 45 tunes in a folder, ready to go. It was impossible to eliminate so much. But, in my personal story of falling in love with Jazz, my thoughts and energies kept drifting back to personal memories of hearing on late night Los Angeles Jazz radio @ KBCA and hearing "The Duke" composed by Dave Brubeck, with the recording of significance for me being the Miles Davis/Gil Evans collaboration that appeared on the classic album "MILES AHEAD"(Columbia). To reconnect, I listened to it several times, and allowed my imagination to begin to float within those magical notes played in 1957, and I asked myself, "I wonder what it would have felt like if I had been in the middle of that orchestra with my acoustic guitar? And so, I embarked down that most risky of artistic, musical, and technological challenges, and I wrote out a part for myself - adjusting it along the way, and recorded my Martin MC-28 guitar to the existing track. When that was completed to my relative satisfaction, I then tried to blend it in with what was there. It was strictly a linear part, no chord changes, no fills to be played - just try to be a part of the ensemble, nothing more. Now, you can read the full story, only here, by clicking on the link supplied above and here the full soundclip as well. I hope that everyone enjoys it. The podcast is now available to you. So, have a listen when the spirit moves you.  [1] John McLaughlin's "MY GOAL'S BEYOND"(Douglas)(1971); [2] Larry Coryell's "EUROPEAN IMPRESSIONS"(Arista/Novus)(1978); and [3] "EVIDENCE"(Arista/Novus) my own 1980 album. I was surprised and thrilled with this news. To be mentioned in the same article with both John and Larry is a great honor - and often never happens.Over the course of my career, the acoustic guitar has played an important role, and has periodically provided a certain cleansing from all of the electric guitar work and recordings. "LOCAL COLOR"(Denon)(1987) a duo album with Rob Mounsey was a uniquely conceived recording where I only played acoustic guitars. Then, some 10 years later, Rob and I recorded "YOU ARE HERE"(SIAM)(1998). In recent years, the acoustic guitar found a prominent place on "BORROWED TIME"(Tone Center)(2007)" appearing on 3 tunes: "Face Value"; "Have You Met Miss Jones?" and "Moon and Sand"(Luna y Arena). This was followed by "BACKLOG"(Tone Center)(2016) on Bobby Hutcherson's "Rojo" and more recently on "PATCHWORK"(Tone Center)(2019) on both Bobby Hutcherson's "Bouquet" and Keith Jarrett's "The Journey Home" and Jorge Estrada's "Huracán Clare." During the pandemic crisis, with so much recording done at home, the three projects listed below were all performed on my Martin MC-28 steel-string acoustic. This kind of work only continues. Thanks so much to Jeff Wilson for alerting me to his piece, again, it was simply wonderful to be included with these great artists.  When social security was created, those same 'wise' people were expecting most of us to have been gone, and quite some time ago. And yet, many of us remain. People all over feel the loss of their loved ones and dear friends, there is nothing unusual about that - but, for those of us who loved Don, cared about and cared for him - his loss still represents a great, great sadness. Even though well before his passing, Don's spirit and influence had been a part of everything that I had done, and since then, even moreso. We could not have known that his landmark Latin Jazz album, "MEDIANOCHE"(1995) would turn out to be his last recording as a leader. It featured: Michael Brecker (Tenor Sax), Mike Mainieri (Vibes) and Latin music masters: Andy González (Baby Bass); Milton Cardona (Conga); Steve Berrios (Perc.); Don Alias (Timbal) and Dave Valentín (Flute).The happenstance that brought me to record Don's incredible Cha-cha-cha "Rainsville" as a small homage to him felt so very right for me - and thinking about these dates, makes it of greater significance. This was to be a musical act of love directed at the memory of both Don Grolnick and Michael Brecker. I was also struck by another fact, and it pained me to note that, at this moment, the only surviving participants from the "MEDIANOCHE" album are Mike Mainieri (Vibes) and James Farber (Engineer)! it's too sad just to even ponder this. My own tangential relationship to this great album is one that I have written about at my website before - but a large part of the inspiration to record a Latin Jazz album came from Cal Tjader's classic, "SOUL BURST"(Verve)(1966) album. And who do think gave Don one of his extra LP copies of that very album years ago? Yes! You've got it! ME! Don acknowledged the influence of that album by arranging Chick Corea's tune, "Oran." What I am writing here is merely an introduction to the full story of just how this came to be. If this has piqued your interest, then you must click on the link, visit the page, and read what I wrote there. Here is that link: "Rainsville"  It's just that the other 99 are not people who write to express themselves. So, if one can take heart in such theories, then I suppose it's useful?One lost Sunday evening during May, perhaps it was the 9th, I was in the midst of a musical conversation via Facebook messages with a friend from Argentina about a piece of music that she was going to be recording one day soon. Because I knew that piece of music, this interchange inspired me to reinvestigate that song. The result of all of this was that I sought to see if I could, well after the fact, insinuate myself and my Martin MC-28 steel-string acoustic into an already existing piece of music and somehow make it sound as if I had been there from the very beginning. It was to be a test of my musicality as a guitarist, but then, perhaps the biggest test of all was, could a musical amateur at Pro Tools find enough skill and cunning to make this happen in reality as audio? The story of this adventure, complete with an edited audio soundclip, can be found at this page regarding Claus Ogerman's composition "Nightwings" which appears on the album "CITYSCAPE" and featured the great Michael Brecker on tenor saxophone. My imaginary contribution to this effort was all done between May 12th-14th. If you somehow find the time to read the piece, but above all listen to the creation, I sincerely hope that you enjoy it and find it moving in some way. Thank you for reading this far.  - we never spoke at any great length. Still, I collected myself and wrote my tribute to Chick at the TRIBUTES page at my website - and felt content with that.In the process of writing that homage, I reconnected with an older composition of Chick Corea's that, as far as I know, "Bleeding Orchid" only appeared on Joe Farrell's 1971 CTI album "OUTBACK" which had also featured: Buster Williams(Ac. Bass); Elvin Jones(Drums); and Airto Moreira(Percussion). My love for this tune was rekindled and suddenly, quite out of nowhere, or so it seemed, an idea for an arrangement was born - and I was driven to execute it, and complete it. As the tune was a Spanish-flavored ballad in 3/4, I knew that I wanted to do it as a Bolero in 3/4 - one that would travel in and out of a slow Afro-Cuban 6/8. More than anything I knew that the voice of the piece would be my Martin MC-28 steel-string acoustic. As I labored on the arrangement, I began to envision a cast of musicians that would include familiar names and musical presences to my recent albums, but also a couple of newer faces. I'm speaking of stalwarts: Rubén Rodríguez(Baby Bass); Bobby Allende(Conga & Bongó) and my ever-reliable friend and constant colleague Rob Mounsey to supply some beautiful orchestral touches. The co-equal role on Fender Rhodes would be the super-talented Otmaro Ruiz - someone whom I have known and greatly admired for some 22 years now. This actually became our 1st opportunity to do something musical together. You have only to listen to the end result to know how special this collaboration became. Finally, having worked with him on a recent project, I felt confident and comfortable that Jimmy Branly(Timbal) would be a great choice - and surely he was - he brought so much to the table. And, in the end, it was Jimmy who mastered the mix of this performance, and way beyond that, he also edited together our video presentation to accompany the music. What fantastic work Jimmy did! The mix was done by another old and dear friend, the very musical and artistic Malcolm Pollack. And so, here we are, it is April 16th, 2021 and we are all ready to present and share this musical creation in memory of Chick Corea and what his musical legacy might have brought to each one of us on a personal level. It is, in the end, and expression of great love and respect for the career of this musical giant. Rest in peace, Chick! All you have to do is to click on the animated image above, and it will take you to a page where you can listen to the music, and see the accompanying video. NOTE:(5/3/21): Just posted to KHAN'S KORNER 1, Steve Khan's Martin MC-28 steel-string acoustic guitar solo on "Bleeding Orchid." To read Steve's analysis and see the solo over 4 16-bar cycles of the solo changes, just click HERE and you will be there. Enjoy it with our best wishes.  Maybe 20-30 years ago, I might have wished that I could have done something with certain artists, but, looking back over the scope of a long career - how could I possibly say that I had been cheated in some way? No! Not all all!!! I have been extremely fortunate. In the past 20 years or so, I have lived from recording to recording, and seeing a project of mine begin from the small germ of an idea and expand to its fullest realization - as best as I could do that - that has been more than enough for me. But, something happened for me recently that just added a dimension to this aspect of the story that, in a sense, changed everything - and so much for the better.I hope that some of you will take advantage of the link supplied here, and will read my full essay/story of how I came to have the distinct honor and pleasure of collaborating with one of the most unique and special talents in music, I am speaking of WORKING WITH MARK KIBBLE! Many of you will know his name because he was a founding member and principal arranger for the brilliant vocal group, Take 6. You will read about how this all happened, because in late May of this year, I became involved in arranger/trumpeter Reuben Fowler's Big Band Project, which features his wonderful arrangements of Steely Dan material. Let it be noted that Reuben lives in London, England. At the top of the page, you will find a small BLUE BUTTON, and if you click on that button, you will be able to hear how Mark Kibble's vocal artistry transformed an already great arrangement of the iconic title tune from Steely Dan's, "AJA" album into something that becomes otherworldly. Please know that Mark performed and arranged ALL of the voices that you hear, HIMSELF. You will be listening to a rough mix that I worked on for a period of days after having received Mark's vocals. It is of an acceptable quality, but hardly a finished product. In brief, just know that being allowed to do this with Mark has been one of the great thrills of my musical life - and my spirit is bursting with pride about this effort. I don't believe that Reuben's full project will become available until, at the earliest, midway through 2021. So, be patient! But in the interim, you can have this little taste of the possible. Patchwork is a prime example of Khan's fluidity as a player, composer, arranger, soundsmith, and bandleader. His understanding of the many styles presented on the album results in a listening experience that is varied, musical, and rhythmically adventurous. The players all have excellent chemistry, and the guest artists add to the rich sonic tapestry. Khan never loses his blues overtones; as all great jazz players know, the blues language is an essential element of the jazz language. From the October 16th, 2020 issue of "Jazz Sensibilities," we now have a tremendous review by Stamish Malcuss. Most grateful for all of the high praise included within. "Each phrase of his "Naan Issue" solo lines between the chordal figures is an adventure in articulation. From legato bebop lines to bending blues figures, Khan effortlessly spins out the textures with flawlessly clean technique. His time feel is so relaxed and in the pocket that when he does push and pull the beat, it has such depth and purpose it makes the line have even more power. Khan is a tremendous improviser, and "Naan Issue" has five minutes of pure improvisational delight by Khan. Patchwork is a fantastic ensemble taking us through a series of beautifully arranged jazz tunes and one Khan original, all within the Latin jazz genre. The guest players add sonic variance and Khan's guitar sound pallet also adds to the many textures. Khan's improvising is astounding on every selection and a great study in modern Latin jazz guitar playing at a technical level. The ensemble is listening and interactive with each other, and each song has an exciting form. It simply does not get any better than that!" From the September 9th, 2020 issue of "The Jazz Word" a fine online magazine, we have Nolan DeBuke's wonderful review. Some great superlatives for the recording can be found here as well. "There is a saying among players "a musicians' musician." In essence, this is the player most respected by his or her peers. One such player comes to mind immediately guitarist Steve Khan. His breadth of command on his instrument is no less than a marvel to behold. ...... Overall, Patchwork is a masterful effort that proves Khan is a force to be reckoned with, a must-have for any collection." From the August 17th, 2020 issue of "Staccatofy" online magazine, we have Adorjan Horvát's 9.3 rated review. Amongst his stated superlatives for the recording are: "Steve's commanding aesthetic is evident in each tune. His authenticity of the Latin vernacular execution is as fluid and as embracing as his imaginative performances. Each displays the potent acumen of a true player." He concludes by writing: "Khan's expressive guitar playing is a masterful combination of chords and single notes, a pianistic approach on the guitar few can master with such elegance. His syncing with the rhythm section is also of note here. Khan has a deep understanding of the history of jazz, Latin jazz, and how to translate that language in a meaningful and eloquent way through the guitar. Patchwork is a beautiful project from start to finish, and that's the short of it!" To see the full review here at the site, visit our assembled a page for all of the significant "PATCHWORK" REVIEWS & INTERVIEWS. With the reissue of bassist Jimmy Haslip's 2000 album, "RED HEAT"(Blue Canoe), now receiving retroactive airplay from WBGO, I revisited a couple of my favorite tunes on that album, and as yet another experiment, I recorded my voice in specific sections, as I heard and felt them. At this new page, I tell that story of how this happened, and what has developed since I sent those experiments to Jimmy just to see what he thought. I hope that some of you will take a moment to read what I have written, and will then click on those blue buttons to listen to the provided soundclips for both Vince Mendoza's very romantic and beautiful "She Never Has a Window" and "Novelas"(Khan-Ferrante-Haslip). I hope that you enjoy what you hear. So much is possible if one just goes with their heart and takes chances. There is another part of this story that goes much further back in time, and if you choose to click on this link, you will be taken to an Addendum: that I wrote this past September 5th. This date was an important one within my family while growing-up. But, the story is connected to my father's first trip to Brazil and his bringing home LPs that gave me my first taste of vocalese which, needless to say, was never forgotten. However, my search for a possible year of when Dad's trip was taken netted something far more interesting and pleasantly surprising for me. I hope that everyone will enjoy this additional part of the story!  After our wide-ranging conversation, Jim set about the tedious task of transcribing what had been said. Normally, I insist on seeing and proofing the interview before it goes to press or up on the web, but this time, for some reason, I decided to let go of that demand. I just gave Jim the verbal O.K. to edit out all forms of colloquial expressions that function well in conversation, but do not read well as prose. He promised to try his best to do that. It was my intention all along that I would take that same interview from the pages of AllAboutJazz, which was officially posted on Friday, August 14th, and present it, in my own style, via a NEW PAGE at my own website, and that is what I have done.It was as if I was now transcribing Jim's transcription of our conversation and, as I went along, I made my own adjustments as to just how I wanted the interview to read. Doing things this way is also a great opportunity to complete or extend some thoughts or stories that I was expressing/telling with more details. This becomes hard work, long hours - I spent some 12 hours sitting at the computer trying to put the interview into the best form that I could. To enhance the storytelling aspects of the interview, as I always try to do, I wanted to present some photos that would be connected to the conversation, and so, some of the photos that you will see while reading I have never shared before - not at my website and not at Facebook. For example, the photo of my father and me, as my dear sister Laurie just informed me, was taken around June 18th, 1988 on the occasion of dad's 75th birthday. Looking at the photo now, I am struck by just how frail he looked then. It also occurs to me now that I am less than 2 years away from notching-up that number myself. How the hell is THAT possible? Oh well.... I fully realize that most people never bother to read 1/2 of what I write here at my website, but undaunted, I continue to write in hopes that someone out there is actually reading this stuff. To that person, or those people, thank you so much! In closing, I would want to thank Jim Worsley and AllAboutJazz for doing this interview and publishing it. It remains a great honor.  It could even be great as an impression - but who is to be the judge of that?I would contend that Carla Bley has given us a very loving gift with this older composition of hers - and from the title, "Reactionary Tango" - it is obvious that her liberal politics are still showing - and for me, that's a good thing!!! It is perfect for this moment in human history. So, I just wanted to be clear about this before we go further. In the far too many moments of incredible boredom, and not much creative inspiration being generated from within my soul and spirit - sometimes, a piece of music comes back to me, and I become energized to reinvestigate it. Such was the case with Carla Bley's beautiful "Reactionary Tango," which I first heard when recorded by Gary Burton on his 1981 album, "EASY AS PIE"(ECM). [Carla's own interpretation appeared first on her album, "SOCIAL STUDIES" - also from 1981] The album featured Jim Odgren on alto sax; Steve Swallow on el. bass and Mike Hyman on drums. I have always been struck by how very expressive this melody is, and how beautifully it was played by Jim Odgren, without ever being emotionally over-the-top. Some years ago, I decided to transcribe the piece and make a lead sheet - just for myself - I never ever had the intention of arranging it or recording it as an artist. Then suddenly, there was a post from a wonderful Argentine musician asking, in a global manner, for music on which to collaborate - and I thought that, for that person, this great song could be the perfect vehicle. In order to present the piece, I brought the Gary Burton version, which is nearly 12-minutes long, into Protools to see if I could edit out the 3 solos and then, it would become just one long melody statement. By some miracle, I was able to do it and suddenly the piece was about 4:20. I wrote that person a message and included my hand-written lead sheets and the edited mp3, but as it often goes, I received no response. As a day or two passed, I decided to just make an arrangement as an experiment to see if I could take the Tango-esque elements in Carla's composition, and give it the flavor of Latin rhythms in the form of an Afro-Bolero. And so now, I think that we could say that, I have created a Tangolero. I would also add that I have seen Carla's lead sheets, and the full piece, really a suite, is in 3 long sections with each one occupying a full pdf file. So Gary Burton did a fantastic job sorting out the sections with the most content as he heard them. As my arrangement continued to grow, there was a moment when I actually felt that, if I added in my acoustic guitar, it might fill out the harmony in places and add a very subtle sense of propulsion. Initially, I had no plans to appear on this piece - but, of course, I've said that before, most notably with "Nature Boy," the bonus track from "PATCHWORK." Still, the question remained, WHO could be "the voice" of this piece? After seeing several beautiful videos by Aca Seca Trio keyboardist and vocalist, Andrés Beeuwsaert and his partner violinist Sara Ryan, I thought to myself that THEY would be the perfect musical and personal combination for this effort -  IF, of course, the song resonated with them both. Lucky for me, it did, and here we all are.What I love about what Sara and Andrés have done here is that they artfully represent what great beauty there can be in the personal expression of a melody - at times, a most simple melody. They craft and personalize the contours of what Carla Bley had written. They have taken sections where there is just a simple repeated note, and with dynamics and playing, at times, warmly behind the beat they have turned it into something that is very emotional. You feel the undercurrents of the swirling harmonies underneath, because of their statement of the melody. For me, that is what this was all about. The feelings come back for me when I hear Sara and Andrés playing this way. This is where the fundamental emotions of Tango come into play. When Jazz began to be taught in music schools here in the USA, there were books and professors who listed amongst the key elements of the genre as: Improvisation and Interpretation, and during "Reactionary Tango" you hear the personalization of interpreting this melody in the moment. That was what I was hoping for, and Sara and Andrés brought it, big time!!! I must add that I love Andrés' improvised opening and closing comments on the melodica - these phrases were elegantly stated. Don't overlook them! As I am sharing the wonderful finished HD video, in both B&W and color, that Andrés and Sara filmed, you can access them by clicking on the photo above. Then, I decided to give anyone interested a chance to hear and play only the audio by pushing the blue button provided here. I hope that you will want to hear it this way too. At least now, the option is yours. Of course, for me, the brilliant and ever creative Rob Mounsey became involved and orchestrated the harmonies suggested by my arrangement. It goes without saying that, each time Rob and I do something, anything together, it is such a great thrill and most gratifying for me. As Andrés and Sara have their feet firmly planted in the world of contemporary video presentations, the final product rested with them. For my part, I am just so proud and happy that we could do something like this together - send the music out there - and hope that, in some cosmic From Sara, Andrés, Rob and me, we send love and good wishes to everyone along with the hope that you are doing your best to STAY SAFE & HEALTHY!!! Steve Khan New York, July 20th, 2020 NOTE:(7/20/20): As it was very possible that many of you would experience problems trying to load-in these HD quality videos for viewing on your smartphones, for those who don't really spend much time viewing such things on their computers any longer, with the help of both editors Phil Fallo and Paul Mounsey, we created video-light mp4 versions. We are confident that this will enable our more contemporary viewers to see this work close to as intended. Now, you can access everything via the newly created Sarah Cooper Page, in addition to all the links to her videos, you can read the progression of events as to just how we got here. Enjoy it all with my best wishing and my never-flagging hope that on November 3rd, this nation will do what must be done to save our democracy and our collective souls!  I went to the site, and saw that I was not familiar with many of the great banjo artists who were featured, but I certainly had developed a feeling for Ketch Secor from being mesmerized by the recent Ken Burns documentary "COUNTRY MUSIC" - so much so that I actually bought the DVD of the whole series. I thought that Ketch was really fantastic throughout. I had also seen Chris Eldridge many times on TV as part of The Punch Brothers. But, what made me feel much more comfortable was the fact that Kurt Rosenwinkel had done one, and he is much more in my zone of experience. Not to mention, he is a superb player.And so, on the afternoon of Friday, June 5th, Jonathan and I got together via Zoom, and had a wonderful time talking about music and life. He was so engaging and well-informed that it made everything flow in the nicest possible manner. I hope that some of you will venture there and listen to and enjoy the INTERVIEW. There might be those amongst you reading this and wondering to yourself. "Steve, what right do YOU have to be talking about the banjo?" Well, of course, I don't think that, in the context of the interview, Jonathan and I ever actually spoke about that instrument, nor my experiences with it here in New York - not that any of those experiences would qualify me to be in such a discussion. However.... In my career, trying to survive in New York, I was actually called upon to play the banjo a few times. Most of the time, in those years here in New York, the great Eric Weisberg, he of "Dueling Banjos" fame, was called to do all of the serious banjo work that existed. And alongside guitarist, Charlie Brown they formed a 1-2 country music punch here in the city. Early on, I learned a trick about how to survive when called to play the banjo. It was simple, just tune the 4 strings like the top 4 strings of a guitar: D-G-B-E and play it like that. And so I did. This happened a few times when recording, and I also subbed in a Broadway show, where I had to play banjo on a song or two - most of it was just strumming. But, if I might submit some evidence of my stellar work on banjo, you have no further to look than singer Gary Lemel's version of "Mack the Knife" from his album which was intended to be a tribute to Bobby Darin. The album was arranged by the great pianist Roger Kellaway, whom I saw conducting for Bobby Darin in Las Vegas when I was in college. Of course, I knew of Roger because he had played on Wes Montgomery's "BUMPIN'" album. That was more than enough for me! On the session, which was produced by Bobby Colomby, I was joined by heroes of mine: Bob Cranshaw (ac. bass) and Grady Tate (drums). So with that put out in the open, I humbly submit that there is evidence of my eminent qualifications to now be a part of the Banjo Studio Podcast. And, if it needs to be said, it was a real pleasure to be a part of the series, and I enjoyed speaking with Jonathan immensely. We had a great time. Back on April 16th, I saw that "PATCHWORK" had finally lost its spot in the TOP 10 on the JazzWeek 26-Week Chart falling to #12. Such things are inevitable, but having stayed at #8 for a number of weeks was really wonderful. No matter what, the staying power of this album was to be pretty remarkable - considering the sad fact that some key stations decided to never play the album at all, and in some key cities, the album was barely played. When you boil it all down, to have spent one-half of a year on the air, in one form or another, feels really great. I'm so very grateful to everyone who has been a part of this. Way back when December 26th arrived one week after the unique journey of "PATCHWORK" at Jazz radio, and its spot in the JazzWeek Radio Chart's TOP 10 had finally come to an end, I could only thank both Mark Rini and Josh Ellman of GROOV Marketing  for their gallant and Herculean efforts on behalf of this album. In all, the album made a sustained run that kept it on this esteemed chart for a total of 19 weeks!!! Perhaps nicest of all was that on the year end 13-Week Chart, "PATCHWORK" came in at #8 for the last quarter of 2019. All things considered, that is a pretty great accomplishment.To have been in the TOP 10 for a total of 5 WEEKS was so unexpected, and I will remain very pleased about this. The album had gone down to #15, and at that point, based upon my experience, I thought that the album had peaked and would go no higher - never to rise again. One can hope to ascend again, if that is even remotely possible, but that has never happened with any past recording of mine. As it is said, "What goes up, must come down!" Obviously, I had been expecting the latter. Given the present conditions at Jazz Radio, meaning that there are over 300 albums, new or recently released, in play - at this moment, I have to feel pretty good about this particular result. So, for those of you who have been asking me, "Steve, what happened?" - this is now the best answer that I can provide!!! Thanks so much to all the stations that did play the album, and to their music directors and DJs for supporting the album - some with such great consistency. To my friends and the fans of this music, I am so grateful for your positive vibes and energy from near and far!!! NOTE: For anyone who is interested, Steve has written an essay, titled JAZZ RADIO & RADIO PROMOTION which addresses many of the concerns of any artists with regards to taking the best possible care of your album and giving it every chance to be heard. We hope that everyone will take the time to read it and think about it. Needless to say, some days are better than others, and last night, disgusted by the sight of myself, I decided to pull out my hair trimmer and just bite the bullet, and see if I could give myself a haircut, and try to look a little less awful and stupid. I don't know that I succeeded, but the good news is that no one really sees me anyway! For a musician, one can be saved by moments of creativity that have some kind of a future. Sunday, April 12th was a day like so many others, and after some thought, I found myself inspired to see if I could possibly create a collage of all of the album covers of mine that have been graced by the artwork of the great Jean-Michel Folon. I actually finished one version and later realized that I had actually forgotten one of the covers, and had to adjust the collage to its final total of 17 covers. But NO!!! Just today, Sunday, April 19th, I had this strange feeling that I had forgotten yet another one of the album covers, and true to form, I had forgotten to include "THE SUITCASE"! And yet again, I had to adjust the collage. So now the final total, is actually 18 covers. Scary how important details like this can escape me at this stage of life. I really had not realized that there had been that many covers with a singular artistic point-of-view. I really hope that anyone who happens upon this page will click on the link above and enjoy scrolling through all of the covers and perhaps, when viewing some of them, a musical memory will come back triggered by an association to a particular cover. For me, I hear things when I see them. So, here's wishing everyone a safe passage along this seemingly never-ending road of doubt and fear - but, on we must go, ever onward. For now, just try to be SAFE and HEALTHY. What else is there to do? Around 2005, I was in need of a graphic designer, and Janet Perr came to mind. So, I began digging into the weeds of the web and somehow I was able to find her. Janet and I had known one another during my years at Columbia Records from 1977-1980 where Janet worked alongside art director, and great graphic designer, Paula Scher. Janet and I were actually also neighbors in the same apartment building in the Chelsea section of Manhattan - so our connection runs pretty deep. Since "THE GREEN FIELD" in 2005, Janet and I have now worked together on the designs for some 12 album projects. By the time that Janet and I arrived at 2011 and "PARTING SHOT" I wasn't certain in the least that I would ever be able to afford to do another self-financed album project. At the time, I had a wonderful long-standing relationship with Hiroshi Itsuno who had just started his own record label in Japan, 55 Records. As there were not going to be an secret 'bonus tracks' I had to do something to give Japan a little bit of a promotional extra. That was to be its own CD cover and CD booklet design. For me, this aspect was really a lot of fun and gave Janet and I the chance to work with different and unique Michel Granger images. This was true for the two albums that followed. They were: "SUBTEXT"(2014) and "BACKLOG"(2016). However, as the CD business was nearing its end, the end of an era, Hiroshi and 55 Records had to make the sad decision that they could no longer afford to release CDs in Japan, and so, as "PATCHWORK"(2019) was nearing completion, Janet and I had already designed two separate CD artwork packages, but there would never be a CD release in Japan. So, the collage you see below represents all 8 of the CD covers that Janet designed, even the one the lower right-hand corner that no one ever saw. Although, Janet did put to use that Granger image as the disc design for "PATCHWORK." I really hope that anyone who happens upon this page will click on the link above and enjoy viewing all of the Granger CD covers and perhaps, when viewing some of them, a musical memory will come back triggered by an association to a particular cover. For me, I hear things when I see them. So, here's wishing everyone a safe passage along this seemingly never-ending journey as a nation, as one world. For now, just try to be SAFE and HEALTHY. PEACE OUT!!!  of the great Bo Diddley recording a Dr. Pepper® commercial during the late '70s - probably between 1977-79. Of course, I had to investigate this, and there I was sitting next to guitarist John Tropea with Gordon Edwards (el. bass); Jimmie Young (drums) and Joe Shepley (trumpet). All under the baton of pianist/arranger Horace Ott. It should never be forgotten that it was Horace Ott who wrote the famous arrangement for Nina Simone's iconic performance of "I Put a Spell on You"! The background singers are [from left to right] Hilda Harris, Barbara Massey and the great Valerie Simpson.After some exhaustive research, consulting with Bill Eaton, Debbie McDuffie and Randy Brecker, it seems that we also have Buddy Terry (tenor sax); John Kelly (trombone) and Babe Clark (baritone sax). Given these days filled with social distancing and slightly loosened sense of quarantine, it becomes a fertile time for goofy research like this. For me, it was wonderful to be back in touch with people that I don't get to see too often. SAFE and HEALTHY remain the key words each day!!!  That part of this elaborate ruse was formulated by Steve Bailey. Other key players in making the real event happen were Danette Albetta and Victor Wooten. The idea was that there would a monstrous surprise for Anthony when many of his closest friends and colleagues showed-up on Zoom to wish him a very "HAPPY BIRTHDAYFrom the world of the bass, well wishers included: Victor Wooten; Will Lee; John Patitucci; Basil Fearington; James Genus; Chuck Rainey; Ron Carter; Darryl Jones; Yiorgos Fakanas; Neil Stubenhaus; Alphonso Johnson; Stanley Clarke and one of Anthony's earliest heroes, Jack Casady. These great drummers were present: Steve Gadd; Steve Jordan; Steve Ferrone; Dave Weckl; Simon Phillips; Cliff Almond & Lenny White. The piano was represented by Michel Camilo. The guitar was represented by Mike Stern, Leni Stern, and yours truly. Anthony's ever-present luthiers Vinny Fodera and Joey Lauricella were there. And one of Anthony's most supportive journalists, Chris Jisi was there as well. Everyone was very respectful of the space needed so that each person could, in some way, wish Anthony the happiest of birthdays and also, perhaps, share a story, some were funny, some were serious, but all said with love and warmth. I should have taken a screenshot during the proceedings, but I wasn't thinking clearly at the time - it was all very emotional in its way. The Richard Laird photo shared here is from 2011 and the "PARTING SHOT" recording, the last time that Anthony and I had played together. I would hasten to include that Anthony looked terrific, sounded terrific and was in great spirits surrounded virtually by so much love from friends and colleagues.  Of all the zany things, this is going to be the 1st Single from the album!!! That's really crazy!!! I'm certain that my father would have loved this! In another irony, the usage of the alphabet in the lyrics is interesting to hear at this particular moment in my life.My father, when speaking about air travel, used to always say this to me: "Steve, birds don't write songs - WHY should I fly?" In one of the great ironies of life, he ended-up flying all the time!!! Go figure!!! Songwriters take note!!! Thanks so much to everyone for the outpouring of love for my dad's song, interpreted in this most special way by the great, great James Taylor. James just makes every song, new and old, by personalizing it, become better than it ever was. JT is a national treasure. And, in some promotional material that I just saw, they couldn't even spell my father, Sammy Cahn's last name correctly - as Sammy Chan!!! This has happened many times to me - even in album credits. Even when I say: "O.K., here it is: 'C' as in Charlie, 'A' as in ant, 'H' as in Harry, and 'N' as in Nancy....." They then say, "Right, C-h-a-n!!!" It's hopeless because 'A' and 'H' just sound too much alike to most people!!! These misspellings continue right to this day. Over the course of my recordings, I've recorded some of my father's songs, but I've always tried to choose the more obscure ones, the ones that few people play, with one exception. Here is the list: "Dedicated to You" from "PUBLIC ACCESS"('89) and "THE SUITCASE"('94); "Autumn in Rome" from "HEADLINE"('92); "It's You or No One" from "CROSSINGS"('94) [The exception, but played as a love song!]; "The Christmas Waltz"(w/ The Brecker Bros.) from "JAZZ TO THE WORLD"('95); "The Last Dance" from "GOT MY MENTAL"('96); "You're My Girl" from "BORROWED TIME"('07); "Our Town" from "BACKLOG"('17). My father and I never enjoyed the best of father-son relationships, but when I have recorded his songs, for that time, it can feel as though there was a powerful connection. That is hard to escape! My love for music, the arts, my fascination with words and writing, his wit and very particular wisdom, and an unending appreciation for songs and their lyrics. All these things I carry with me every single day.  as one of his BEST RELEASES OF 2019.In his presentation, he divided those albums mentioned into several categories including: Jazz; Beyond Jazz; Unreviewed But Still Faves; Jazz Recordings (New & Archival); and Beyond Jazz Recordings (New & Archival). His tastes are very, very eclectic. In order to make the image fit within this space, I had to crop out the recordings by: Bill Bruford; Bill Frisell/Thomas Morgan; Marc Copland; and Phillip Johnson. My apologies for that, but, if you click on the link, you can see and read everything! If it needs to be said, this recording could never have turned out this way without the immense contributions of: Rubén Rodríguez (Baby Bass/El. Bass); Dennis Chambers (Drums); Marc Quiñones (Timbal, Bongó, Percussion); Bobby Allende (Conga); Rob Mounsey (Keys & Orchestrations) and guests: Randy Brecker (Flügelhorn); Bob Mintzer (Tenor Sax); Tatiana Parra (Voice), and Jorge Estrada (Keys) on his own brilliant composition, "Huracán Clare"!!! They all share in this equally. Needless to say, I would have been happy to have appeared anywhere on such a list - as my albums are often ignored when such lists are published. But, to have been singled out in this way is really a great thrill, and might well be one of the best treats I will receive this Holiday Season 2019!!! And so, on that note, once again, HAPPY HOLIDAYS This new recording represents the 4th in a series where Steve continues to enhance the role of the guitar in the context of Latin music and Latin Jazz. You can read a brief part of the story behind this album below. When "BACKLOG" had completed its run, and I had tried to pursue every possible avenue for helping it to reach the ears of people, there comes a moment when you have to let it go. If there is a 'reward' in any of it, it is simply knowing that, within reason, you did the best that you could, and that the recording represents where you happened to be at a particular moment in your life.  As things begin to then settle down, one realizes that they are completely spent, simply exhausted, and this begins a time, at least for me, that is always filled with the sense of being directionless, and having no answer to the eternal question: "What's next?" As I have never been the kind of artist who stockpiles material around the apartment, scattered about on various pieces of music paper, and even ideas or thoughts on notepads, what I put into the last recording represented everything that I had, and everything that I was capable of. I gave everything to it - for better or worse. But, now what? Hours pass into days, days into weeks, weeks into months, and yes, months into years - all with no sign of renewed inspiration. Where, oh where is that going to come from? Surely from within, but how? And when? I was resigned to feeling that it was never going to come to me again. That is, needless to say, an awful feeling for any artist to have.On one July, 2018 afternoon, I was having a conversation with drummer Mark Walker, and I don't even recall how the topic turned to the Thelonious Monk-Kenny Clarke classic, "Epistrophy" but, without my even being aware of it, I had been thinking about that tune from a rhythmic perspective, and I tried to point-out a moment to Mark where I felt that something that Monk was playing was telling me that it was, or could be, Afro-Cuban 6/8. Mark nodded in agreement, and for the moment, the conversation went on to other areas of life. But my thoughts about that tune continued to swirl around in my imagination. It was shortly thereafter that I dragged my old Yamaha DX-7 keyboard out of the closet and out of its case, set it up next to my computer, plugged in the midi to USB cable, and the next thing I knew - an arrangement was being developed! Where once I had nothing, not an idea, suddenly 6 other tunes that I had always loved came to mind, and work began simultaneously on each one. Days and nights just passed in and out of one another, and about 6 weeks later, I paused to take a deep breath, and realized that I had gone from nothing to having 7 completed, or nearly so, arrangements in the computer! I couldn't believe it. It was, for that moment, such a wonderful feeling - hard to articulate exactly how much it means to me - how much it meant to me - to my spirit. To have accidentally relocated my creative center felt like a miracle - because I was certain that it was never ever going to visit me again. Once I had arrived at that point, there was going to be no stopping me in taking the necessary steps to realizing yet another dream, making a recording happen - no matter what the cost might be emotionally, physically, and no less so, financially! But, this is my life, this is who I am, this is what I do - what else is there?  And thus began a series of the usual, for me, consultations with trusted colleagues and close friends: Rafael Greco, Rob Mounsey, Marc Quiñones, Rubén Rodríguez and James Farber. There is always a lot of back-and-forth, and in the process, the arrangements morph and change for the better. For me, it is always an immense learning experience, and an exercise in testing my flexibility.But, something was missing! How is it possible that I could have done all of this work, and I didn't have one original tune! Nothing!!! How is it possible that I couldn't even compose an acceptable blues?!?!?! What was wrong with me? I was so frustrated, and very angry with myself. And then, once again, seemingly out of nowhere, I was trying to find something, an idea, a blues-related tune to inspire a student of mine, and I decided to pull out the title song from Wes Montgomery's "MOVIN' ALONG"(Riverside) album, which involves a series of 7(9sus) chords in Eb. Once again, I saw the beauty in those harmonies, and felt that I could compose a blues, a melody using that chordal structure. And so, with lots of trial and error, I did it!!! And finally, I had an 'original' tune. At that moment, it filled the need from a rhythmic perspective for a Cha-cha-cha in the context of the album as a whole. Now that there were 8 tunes in total, I felt that this was enough. As we are so perilously close the end of "THE CD ERA" and no one really knows for certain just what is going to happen next, I felt that trying to do 9-10 tunes for an album was just more than I wanted to take on. Those "extra" one or two tunes can be really costly, causing more time spent recording, and later, mixing. It all adds up. And of course, knowing that NO ONE is ever going to listen to the album as I hear it - as one continuous piece of work, what is the real difference between 8 tunes and 10? People barely have the attention span to listen to one full tune without being interrupted and distracted by their damn smartphones. Well, that plan lasted but a little while - and suddenly, I was driven to include two 'extra' pieces of music that also had come to mean a lot to me. So, you will see that there are now 10 songs that make-up the totality of what I have chosen to now title: "PATCHWORK." Well, I have to amend this now because, almost without thinking, I had recorded over 85-minutes of music, and the limit that one can put on a commercial CD is just below 78-minutes of music. What is the solution for that? Simple, I suppose, one tune becomes a BONUS TRACK for downloads only!!! So, I'm going to have to try that approach. And so, on March 18th & 19th, we entered Sear Sound here in New York City, and recorded the album. With brilliant production coordination by Jill Dell'Abate, without whom I would have been completely lost, those gathered included: Rob, Marc, Rubén, Bobby Allende, and Dennis Chambers, plus the presence of guest artists including Randy Brecker, Bob Mintzer, Tatiana Parra and Jorge Estrada.  Eventually, we will see/hear just what we did!The image shared here is by the great Michel Granger from his breathtakingly beautiful series of mixed-media paintings titled "Herbarium" from 2016. Once again, the design is by my brilliant colleague Janet Perr, and now, you are seeing what the real CD cover will look like. As all of these friendships continue to the present, the photographs were taken again by Richard Laird. I'm so fortunate to be surrounded by warm and like-minded people, who represent their own work with tremendous artistic passion. I can also now reveal that the liner notes were written by Puerto Rico's own Rafael Vega Curry, who brings his unique perspective and perceptions to the recording. Over the many years, in interviews, and in private conversations, I've been asked about finding one's own voice on their instrument, or in music, and it took me a long time to formulate what has now become my default response, and that is this: "Don't waste time and energy thinking about or bemoaning what you can't do, concentrate on seeing what it is that you do do well, and rejoice in that!" So, with that kept in mind, and held in one's heart, I can say at this moment that, and I am speaking more about life than about music, "Yes, there are many things that I can't do, or that I don't do well, or that I do not do close to as well as when I was considerably younger - not for the lack of trying - but, I do feel a sense of great warmth in knowing that I can now say that, all my failings aside, I can do THIS!!!" Wherever this inspiration came from this time, I am eternally grateful for this moment in my life. I never thought that this could happen. For those of you who have stayed with me for all these years, especially since 2011, I am so grateful for your support and words of encouragement. Thank you all so much!!! "Patchwork, the guitarist's fourth installment in a most decided and inimitable exploration of the nexus point where jazz guitar and Latin/Afro Cuban rhythms meet. Now, one of the cornerstones of his ever-imaginative arrangements and much, much more. Khan's focus may, indeed, have leaned further away from original composition, moving more decidedly towards imaginative and innovative Latin-inflected rearrangements (both harmonically and, perhaps most importantly, rhythmically) of music written by artists including, most prominently, Thelonious Monk, Ornette Coleman and Bobby Hutcherson. But the guitarist's interpretive skills are so strong, so vivid and so inimitable, that even an evergreen tune like Monk's "Epistrophy" feels as much Khan's as it does the original (and similarly unparalleled) composer's." First reaction from Jazz radio! On the day of the radio mailing (8/29), both digital and CDs, Jerry Gordon @ WPRB-FM, Princeton, New Jersey wrote: "Another Masterpiece! Congratulations, Steve. Another great one! Listening now. Some great surprises like 'The Journey Home.' All great. Fusion? You were there first! Best, Jerry" What a wonderful way to start! And so, the ride begins... Reaction from France and Jazz magazine! Great writer, Frédèric Goaty opined the following in brief: Steve Khan T. & T. "Fort de son immense culture jazz, le guitariste new-yorkais a toujours le chic pour (re) mettre en valeur des thèmes un peu oubliés, tel celui-ci, d'Ornette Coleman. En y ajoutant bien sûr sa touche latin jazz très contemporaine. Où ça?" "PATCHWORK" Medio Mezclado(Tone Center) Import/USA, sortie 20/9. Some months ago, Peter Erskine sent me an e-mail asking if I would be willing to take a brief "survey" and answer some 6-7 questions for a book that he was putting together with Dave Black. Of course, I said, "Yes!"  and I attacked those questions with spirit and vigor right away. Sounds simple, right? A-ha!!! But there is yet another story to be told here. Allow me to make this connection for you with the following cautionary tale.....During my first year of college @ U.C.L.A. in 1965, yes, way back then, in one of my huge survey courses, 500 students in an immense lecture hall, there was a famous 'pop' quiz. Of course, everyone was in various states of panic and feeling that this was so 'unfair' to have this thrown at us - out of nowhere. As we all sat down, probably with our "blue books" in hand (though it could have been a multiple choice exam), the professor or his/her teaching assistant said one final thing to us, BEFORE we would begin, and that was this: "Make certain that before you start, you have read ALL of the instructions carefully! O.K.? You may now begin....." Well, there must been about 10 instructions, and, idiot that I once was, I read the first 3-4 of them and, as they seemed so simple and basic, I just skipped the rest. Little did I realize that, down at #10, was one that said this [more or less]: "Close your booklet, and bring it to the front of the class! You have completed the exam!" As I was taking the exam, I wondered why a few people had gotten up, turned in their exams, and left. [I can only shake my head and laugh at myself right now!] So, if you read the introductory story to my piece about the wonderful new book by Peter Erskine and Dave Black, "THE MUSICIAN'S LIFELINE"(Alfred Music), you will understand why, I am, yet again, laughing at myself because, perhaps, I haven't really learned a damn thing in all of these years!!! The book features fantastic insights and anecdotes from great musicians like [and this is only a partial list]: Randy Brecker, Bob Mintzer, Dave Liebman, John Scofield, Mike Mainieri, Vinnie Colaiuta, Will Lee, Luis Conte, Adam Nussbaum, Alan Pasqua, Carl Allen, John Beasley, Russ Ferrante, Jorge Calandrelli, Chuck Berghofer, Ignacio Berroa, Terri Lyne Carrington, Gary Burton, Nathan East, George Garzone, Joe Lovano, Jim Keltner, Bernard Purdie, Chuck Rainey, John Robinson, Danny Gottlieb, Lalo Schifrin, Janis Siegel, Leland Sklar, Kenny Werner, and Matt Wilson. BIG LOVE to all, and congratulations to Pete and Dave for this wonderful and immensely entertaining book, Steve  A partial list of those who have preceded me might include: Randy Brecker; Dave Liebman; Gil Goldstein; Peter Erskine; John Abercrombie; John Scofield; Ralph Towner; Jack DeJohnette; Pat Martino; Roy Haynes; Jim Hall; Bill Frisell; Chris Potter; Cedar Walton and just before me, Mike Mainieri.To have been allowed to share various stories from the past and the present with an audience of Dave's students was so very special for me. It's hard to explain how much it meant to me without getting emotional about it. At this stage of my life, for me, this is the way that things go. Before the interview, Dave and I spent a couple of hours together, which included a nice meal, and by the time that we were ready to film the interview, for me, it was as if I was sitting there with an old friend and colleague. It's rare that one feels this way. I can't thank Dave enough for having asked me to do this, and to the crew, and all of the wonderful students for their interest and their questions, which followed during the post-filming stage of the evening. I will hope that those of you who take the time to watch and listen will feel as though you were there with us, and that something, one small thing that I might have shared will resonate with you and be useful as your life goes on, especially if you are a person of the arts, an artist involved in music. In advance, my thanks to everyone who has offered such positive feedback on that evening. But mostly, my deepest thanks to Dave Schroeder because he made it all so easy!!! NEW PODCAST INTERVIEW!!!. More recently, on the very scary night before HALLOWEEN, October 30th, 2019, I was invited by Dr. Dave Schroeder to continue our original interview, picking it up around 1985, but this time in PODCAST form, which Dr. Dave has now made available via iTunes. If you've got some time to kill, this might be a fun way to do it. Hopefully, the storytelling about various experiences in music, especially going through how each new album came into being will be of interest and edifying to musicians young and old. That was my hope from the outset. Here's wishing everyone a very HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020!!! Addendum - June 1st, 2019: Jim Ricci a former student of mine, and one of my earliest, saw this entire video interview and was somehow inspired to write and post the following @ Facebook. It is perhaps, without question, the most thoughtful and kind thing that I've ever had written about me, and I wanted to share it with everyone here. It means a great deal to me... "I just watched a terrific interview with the fabulous jazz guitarist Steve Khan. Steve is a living legend, and I was extremely fortunate to have found him as a guitar teacher and mentor I when I was a young (but very inexperienced) high school student. It was in the early 1970s - a period that, in retrospect, was a pretty crazy era in music. The music scene in NYC seemed to boil-over with an artistic vitality that was powered by atomic energy. The city served as a giant incubator. It was also a virtual melting-pot of musical styles, cultures, and generations. 1970 was a time of radical change, when rock met jazz and everything else in-between. Fusion, confusion, and revolution were in the air. Steve's recent interview with Dr. David Schroeder at NYU includes some interesting details about this amazing period in history. His story is about how various forces, combined with good luck and a unique synergy among talented musician-friends, shaped the long journey of his life and career. There is a lot of wisdom for musicians in his remarks, and some rather entertaining stories about the giants he worked with throughout the changing phases of his personal musical evolution. He talks about growing-up as an ordinary kid interested in sports in a home with his dad, who was the famous Hollywood lyricist/songwriter Sammy Cahn. Their houseguests included celebrities such as Dean Martin, and to Steve at the time, that seemed normal. The sound of his father's constant pecking at the typewriter still seems resonate in his memory of a childhood in West Los Angeles. The son of a songsmith, only later did he fully realize the importance of knowing the lyrics of a tune on a tip he heard from Miles Davis. As a teacher, Steve was serious, demanding, and inspirational. He demonstrated to me by example how to live the life of a musician by doing it - every day - with a passion. I recall going to hear him jam with Gil Evans' experimental ad hoc big band, which was free and open to the public at the "Common Room" connected to the Westbeth artist studios in Greenwich Village where Evans lived. I still have Steve's detailed transcriptions of Wes Montgomery tunes, which prove, once again, that making transcriptions of recorded music can really go a long way in developing one's hearing and musicianship. Steve wrote a recommendation letter that got me into Berklee. I was accepted, and I moved to Boston where my own musical journey subsequently followed a very different direction in music. We lost contact until just recently. But I feel very lucky to have had this important formative experience with a musical master. I'm still discovering his music, which sounds as fresh today as it did nearly 50 years ago." - Jim Ricci No one was more shocked than Steve was when Antonio sent him an e-mail with the news that the editors had decided to make the piece their cover story. After many, many years of doing this,  Steve had come to realize that these kinds of public relations niceties were just not "in the cards" for him. It is truly one of those moments in life where one expects absolutely nothing, and then, out of the blue, something, something wonderful drops into one's lap from out of the sky - and there it is!!! It might never, ever happen again, and Steve is so very grateful to everyone involved, but especially to Antonio Gandía for his unrelenting positive energy and good vibes throughout.Queridos amigos: Hace ya bastante tiempo desde la última vez que hice una entrevista completamente en español. El verano pasado, el bajista / periodista musical Antonio Gandía me escribió y me preguntó si podía hacer una entrevista para la revista "MÚSICO PRO". Yo felizmente respondí "¡Sí! ¡Absolutamente!" Unas semanas más tarde, Antonio y yo establecimos una conversación telefónica/entrevista, y los resultados están ahora disponibles en la edición de septiembre/octubre de la revista. Por cuestiones de espacio, Antonio no pudo incluir todo lo que hablamos en la versión de la revista, sin embargo, el texto completo sin expurgar también aparece en mi sitio web, en una página dedicada, y todos mis amigos que hablan español pueden accederla a través del ENLACE que se proporciona aquí. Antonio hizo un trabajo maravilloso ya que nuestra conversación cubrió muchas áreas de mi vida en la música, y ahora, espero que brinde una buena lectura para todos los que se preocupen por tomarse el tiempo para leerla. Para aquellos de ustedes que se perdieron de alguno de mis lanzamientos de CD recientes, (porque mis anuncios fueron en su mayoría en inglés), ahora pueden aprender un poco sobre los CDs y en su propio idioma. Estoy muy agradecido con Antonio y la revista "MÚSICO PRO" por su interés en mí y por dar seguimiento para hacer que esto sucediera. La sorpresa más grande de todas llegó cuando Antonio me envió una copia de la portada, y, por primera vez, en años, décadas, allí estaba yo en la portada de una revista de música. Es notable porque este tipo de cosas nunca me pasan. Entonces, ¿cuál fue el nivel de mi gratitud antes? Ahora se multiplicó 1,000 veces. ¡Y estoy feliz de compartir esto con todos hoy! Los más cálidos deseos y un GRAN abrazo para todos. - Steve Khan (Septiembre de 2018) To make this reissue project viable, would there be a way to include all of the music from both "PUBLIC ACCESS"(1989) and "CROSSINGS"(1994) and somehow add in the 3 tunes recorded for "HEADLINE"(1992)? After great trial & error, there was one way to do it, and it worked! With the recording of "PUBLIC ACCESS" the Eyewitness approach to music-making continued with original members:  Anthony Jackson (Contrabass Guitar) and Manolo Badrena (Percussion & Voice), but this time with Dave Weckl (Drums) alongside Steve on guitar.After a complete break, and the recording of "LET'S CALL THS"(1991), Steve was asked to record again, with Ron Carter (Ac. Bass) and Al Foster (Drums), but to also do 1/2 of the new album with yet another incarnation of Eyewitness, this time including the great Dennis Chambers (Drums). And so, those 3 wonderful performances from "HEADLINE" are now included in this reissue package. Finally, in 1993, the group gathered together again to record "CROSSINGS" and this time, a special guest artist was added to the mix, and the best and most logical choice was Michael Brecker(Tenor Sax), who appeared on the 3 of the 10 tunes. In all, one can clearly hear the threads of contemporary Latin music being woven and carried forward right to Steve's present work on his 3 most recent albums: "PARTING SHOT"(2011); "SUBTEXT"(2014) and "BACKLOG"(2017)! Listen closely to the music contained in this wonderful reissue, and you will recognize the feeling and sounds of what was to come some 20 years later. As always, the beautiful reissue cover features the original cover images of Jean-Michel Folon in a gorgeous design by Janet Perr, and you are getting your first look at it here! As it has been in the past, the process to get all the details in order did not happen overnight, and our thanks go out to the good people at Universal Music and BGO Records for their interest, and spirit of cooperation. In his new and wonderful liner notes for this package, esteemed Jazz journalist Bill Milkowski wrote the following: "In his most recent outings - 2011's Parting Shot, 2014's Subtext and 2017's Backlog - Khan's blending of Latin rhythms and jazz have come to fruition with timbalero Marc Quiñones, conguero Bobby Allende and bassist Rubén Rodríguez providing the authentic Afro-Cuban grooves to the mix. The seeds for those cross-fertilization experiments were planted on his '70s Columbia albums and nurtured in the early '80s on Eyewitness, Modern Times and Casa Loco. With Public Access, Headline and Crossings, Khan makes the next incremental leap in that continuum. There was nothing like this music and approach to music-making in the '90s - and there is still nothing quite like it." It wasn't so long ago that the always thoughtful and informed John Kelman wrote a wonderful piece, Eyewitness Remembered, for AllAboutJazz.com, and that very same piece served as an inspiration to float the idea of an Eyewitness reissue to BGO Records. Now, here we are, a couple of years later, and now, an Eyewitness2 reissue has been officially released. Now, Mr. Kelman has written yet another brilliant Review of this new package. We hope that everyone will take a moment to read what he had to say about these recordings and the players. In this spectacular review, Mr. Kelman wrote the following: "If The Eyewitness Trilogy introduced a group whose concept was innovative at the time and remains so today, the essential "PUBLIC ACCESS-HEADLINE-CROSSINGS" takes it more than a few steps further, both in its move from original material to imaginative interpretations, and in acting as a bridge between the guitarist's earlier recordings and later, even more decidedly Latin-oriented albums. Khan, more than many guitarists alive today, demonstrates remarkable knowledge and breadth when it comes to jazz, and as an astute and individual interpreter of the Great American Songbook traditions. Eyewitness is often lauded for its unique (especially for its time) language and approach, deeply felt grooves and stellar playing. Still, the group's telepathic ability to engage with one another on a profound level must not be overlooked, its intrinsic conversational ability, a definitive one. It was the Steve Khan of his career defining "EVIDENCE"(1980), who introduced the concept for Eyewitness, whose approach would continue and evolve, and ultimately imbue other projects throughout the rest of his career. If anything, Khan's guitar gymnastics and light-speed phrasings have become all the more effective for the greater care with which he uses them. In the post-"EVIDENCE" world, nothing about Khan's playing could ever be considered superfluous; instead, every note counts, every note matters." As 2018 came to a close, John Kelman selected this reissue as one of the BEST RELEASES OF 2018. This development was most surprising and a big thrill as a reissue is almost never selected for such an honor!!! For quite a few years now, I started to notice that Rafa was posting some of his own photos. And I found them to be incredibly artistic, and very moving. I tried to encourage him to continue this pursuit. He recently took a series of photography classes to broaden his skills and perspectives, and the results have been most striking, spectacular. He is really the only person that I follow @ Instagram, and recently, I had been taking note of the photos that he "Liked" - and I would then take screenshots of those photos, and store them away, because they were all so great - each different, but wonderful to these eyes. Then, while waiting for the release of my new album, I decided to create a page of all of these various Great Photo Selections, and have them exist together as a kind of Mini-Gallery! If you choose to do so, you can visit that page now via this link, and take a tour by slowly scrolling down. At the top, I also wrote a little story about my father's own relationship with photography, and for me, that brings this topic full circle. Whatever he does in this life, Rafael Greco is a beautiful human being, I wish that I could be more like him in so many ways. He's great musician, a great husband, a great father, a unique and special composer, and now, a spectacular photographer too. I am proud to say that he is my friend.  , and after the first 3 notes, I knew that it was, in fact, my father's song. But, I could not stop listening because Wolfgang's interpretation was so beautiful! After writing back to Ricardo, I immediately wrote to my dear sister Laurie, to share Wolfgang's video, and an hour or so later, she responded by writing: "Best version of Be My Love EVER!!!"As is often my custom, I wanted to write to Wolfgang, though we have never met in person, and so, the only means that I could locate quickly was a Fan Page at Facebook. I wanted to share our exchange, which proved to be very warm and touching. It went something like this: [SK] Dear Wolfgang: I don't believe that, after all these years, we've ever actually met in person - but the older that I get, the more moments from the past I tend to forget - meaning that perhaps our paths did cross once or twice when I was touring Europe more often? If I am forgetting something, please forgive me. A dear friend in Brazil, guitarist Ricardo Silveira, just sent me your beautiful interpretation of "Be My Love" (though on the web it is incorrectly labeled as some other song) which was written by my father, Sammy Cahn, many, many years ago when I was a very little boy. The original "light opera" version sung by the Italian tenor, Mario Lanza is almost comical for all of its melodrama. But, your playing makes it sound like a wonderful standard that more people should play. I think that I've heard Keith Jarrett play it. Do you know the original? If you've never heard it, it's O.K. to laugh - especially when Lanza arrives at the word "ETERNALLY"!!! Though my father and I had a very difficult relationship, every so often, I find the proper sentimentality to interpret one of his songs as well - I almost always play them as ballads. Wishing you well now and always, you're a great, great player!!! Most sincerely, Steve Khan [Wolfgang] Dear Steve, your e-mail touched me deeply. First of all, because I have such a respect for you as a guitarist/composer/soundmaker, and also because you shared your feelings about this song and your father. I find it so incredibly beautiful that music always can transcend the borders or limits that we often struggle with in "real life" - and I feel that even if Mario Lanza really lays into it, he delivers something enthusiastic and ecstatic. I believe him, mostly because the song is so good.Thanks for reaching out! With warm regards, Wolfgang [SK] Dear Wolfgang!!! How wonderful to hear from you!!! It's so strange that reaching out like that actually comes from my father too!!! He always said to me: "Steve, if someone does something that you like - tell them!!!" And, in my way, I've tried to do this - at least for most of my adult life. From afar, I have admired your body of work greatly, but sometimes, I don't know the format in which to reach out to someone. My apologies for not having said something sooner. Warmest wishes always, and let's all hope that 2018 will be a MUCH better year for our beloved planet!!! - Steve In the end, there are moments when it really feels wonderful to be a part of the community of musicians - all of us trying our best to do something special, and of meaning and significance, never really knowing who, if anyone, is actually listening. I just wanted to share my experience with Wolfgang with everyone who visits these pages.  A series of old and dear friends, respected colleagues as guest artists added so much to the music, they include: Rob Mounsey (Keys & Orchestrations); Randy Brecker (Trumpet); Mike Mainieri (Vibes); Bob Mintzer (Tenor Sax) and Tatiana Parra (Voice). In all, they perform Steve's arrangements of compositions by: Thelonious Monk, "Criss Cross"; Greg Osby, "Concepticus in C"; Ornette Coleman, "Latin Genetics" and "Invisible"; Bobby Hutcherson, "Head Start" and "Rojo"; and Andrew Hill, "Catta." The recording features two gorgeous ballads: "Our Town" written by Steve's father, Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen, and "Emily"(Johnny Mandel-Johnny Mercer). Perhaps the great surprise of the album is the incredible interpretation of Stevie Wonder's "Go Home."Once again, the music was recorded by James Farber at Avatar Studios during January-April, 2016. Michel Granger's beautiful image graces the cover, and gives this 3rd album in the series its own unique look. As a matter of fact, there is a slightly different look for the USA, Japan, and Europe. For several reasons, the releases were staggered! 55 Records(Japan) released the album on September 21st, 2016, and then ESC Records(Germany/Europe) released the album on October 7th, 2016. The U.S. release on Tone Center Records was finally released on February 24th, 2017. If you already have both "PARTING SHOT" and "SUBTEXT" you will not want to miss adding this one to your collection!!! Offered by the great AllAboutJazz.com site, I was thrilled to read this great REVIEW of "BACKLOG" written by Mark F. Turner. And, in his just published review for AllAboutJazz.com, James Nadal wrote the following about "BACKLOG": "Steve Khan has undertaken the role of expanding and redefining the role of the guitar in the hybrid genre of Latin Jazz..... With Backlog, Khan rounds out the mesmerizing trilogy encompassing Parting Shot (2011) and Subtext (2014). Khan's music continues to evolve, and his quest to take the guitar into an uncharted trajectory has bestowed him with a singular style. No one plays or sounds like Steve Khan, his clever interpretations of jazz compositions shaken up with Afro-Caribbean rhythms is always on the cusp. He is the inquisitive jazz musician mastering the evasive art of reinvention and improvisation on his own terms, in his own time." From the "LATIN JAZZ CORNER" website, we just received news that Chip Boaz had named "BACKLOG" as its "ALBUM OF THE WEEK"!!! We could not be more pleased and grateful for this honor. His review of the album shows that he has a deep understanding of the genre, and what Steve has been trying to do in creating a broader role for the guitar within it. Mil gracias Chip!!! Un gran abrazo!!! In the August, 2017 issue of JazzTimes magazine, Steve was featured in their recurring column entitled "Overdue Ovation" and written by Mac Randall. The piece was conducted as an interview and offers some of Steve's unique perspectives on his career and his recent recordings. An August, 2017 issue of the UK's GUITAR TECHNIQUES magazine presents Steve's INTERVIEW, conducted with Jason Sidwell during January, 2017. Though very guitar-centric, it offers Steve's very philosophical answers to some general musical questions. Now, you can also view the original "Q&A." Once again, I am honored and really thrilled to have another spectacular review from Rafael Vega Curry, in Spanish of course, which appears in the March 31st issue of "Reseña" from "Fundación Nacional para la Cultura Popular de Puerto Rico." So, for all our Spanish speaking visitors, this was definitely something most special that we wanted to share with you. Yet another very perceptive, thoughtful and well-written combination review/interview arrived by England's Matt Phillips and it appears in the March issue of his great blog, "MOVING THE RIVER." One just never knows where a great review might appear. Many thanks to Matt for continuing to write about Steve's recordings! As it was released in Japan, "JAZZ LIFE" magazine wrote this of the album: "Cutting edge Latin jazz album with a completely new approach to wonderful compositions. Steve Khan's unique voice creates exciting music no matter what the material might be, or the group with which he plays. That is what makes him so great!" After its release in Germany, Ingo Andruschkewitsch wrote the following about the album: "Latin Jazz that is inspiring from the first second that you listen to it. You can hear pure joy from the musicians with every note. Steve's musicianship and musicality are unbelievable!!!" Not long after the aforementioned interview, I received an e-mail from NEWSWEEK's Zach Schonfeld about doing a phone interview for his piece about the "40TH ANNIVERSARY" of the release of "AJA" with the concentration on "Peg" and the search for a guitar solo. And so, inspired by, or annoyed by all these requests for interviews and comments about Steely Dan, I decided to just try to condense everything into two new pages for this site. Perhaps, fans can now just access and read these pages and be satisfied that these are my answers to all the burning questions? Those pages are now: Reflections on Steely Dan's "AJA" and also, Reflections on Steely Dan's "GAUCHO". Please enjoy them with my best wishes.  the number associated with this singular April birthday faces him like a huge neon sign. And that sign reads: #75During the prior discourse for #70, he sentimentally touched upon diverse topics such as: his years between 60 and 70; Barack Obama; life expectancy for baby boomers; his father and Frank Sinatra; his recordings released during the past 10 years; almost getting mugged on Broadway; one's looks; health issues; love and loss; and finally, what does his green field look like 10 years later. But now, with the passage of 5 years, even though things might not look all that different, newer, fresh perspectives arrive via various experiences. The arrival of a new one song project with vocalist Mark Kibble. Thoughts after seeing Kenneth Branagh's "BELFAST" and, last but not least, thoughts generated long ago by a single line from Billy Wilder's 1959 film, "SOME LIKE IT HOT." Hopefully, it all coalesces into something coherent and, in its way, moving. No matter what the number is for any particular birthday, there is probably always good cause for moments of great reflection. And one returns only to ask the repeated philosophical question: "Am I anywhere near where I expected to be by this time in my life?" How one answers that question tells us a great deal. Recently, of all things, I was in P.C. Richard, here in New York City, trying to buy a small portable AM/FM radio, and I got into a conversation with the young clerk. At a certain point, he asked me, "What do you do?" So, rather than trying to explain that to him, I told him that I was a guitarist, and tried to point him in the direction of my website, where he could listen to some soundclips from my recordings.  Because he can't access the Web from the store's computer system, he just used his handy/dandy iPhone. When he arrived at the Discography page for "SUBTEXT," I told him to scroll down, and then just "push any button" and he would hear the music. He said to me, "I don't see any buttons!" I couldn't believe it, but he was telling me the truth. When I arrived home, I phoned Blaine and described what had happened, and when he checked his own iPhone, he realized that the technologies for the iPhone, Android, Tablet, and iPad had passed our little website, and flown right on by!!! It is amazing to realize that, for the longest time, countless visitors to the site, employing their smartphones, never even knew that they could hear music soundclips at all the various pages. Now, all that has changed!So, Blaine got in contact with the Wimpy Player website and their technical support, and we were, within a matter of days of some back-and-forth, armed with the new tools to begin to upgrade some 800 music pages at both KORNER 1 and KORNER 2. Endless days of pasting in new code, and testing everything and, believe it or not, in a little over one week, everything was ready to go!!! How about that?!?!?! We decided to go with a slightly different look for our new Wimpy Buttons, and they are now blue, as you can see, and not the original gray buttons from our past. The final step, and I needed a long, long break after the KORNER pages had been done, was to finally, after all these years, offer soundclips for all of the songs at all of the individual DISCOGRAPHY pages. That immense task was recently completed, and now, everyone, after clicking on a recording's mini-CD cover at that page, can read my reflections about that album and, while doing so, can listen to soundclips of any of the songs! Give it a try!!! In the end, it is our hope that now everyone can enjoy hearing the music that has always been offered here, but finally available on contemporary devices that go beyond our normal laptop and desktop computers!!! Wishing you all happy explorations at the site!!! 
All 3 albums will be digitally remastered and housed on 2 CDs. Originally recorded between 1981-1983, these albums featured the seminal group of: Anthony Jackson (Bass Guitar & Contrabass Guitar), Steve Jordan (Drums) and, Manolo Badrena (Percussion & Voice), alongside Steve on guitar. This will be the first time that "MODERN TIMES" has been available on CD outside of Japan. And, of course, as we near the end of the CD Age, this might well be the last time these fantastic recordings will be offered as CDs. As always, the beautiful reissue cover features the original cover images of Jean-Michel Folon in a gorgeous design by Janet Perr, and you are getting your first look at it here! It was a long and difficult process to make this reissue happen, and our thanks go out to the good people at Universal Music and BGO Records for their interest, and spirit of cooperation. It wasn't so long ago that John Kelman wrote a wonderful piece, Eyewitness Remembered, for allaboutjazz.com, and that very same piece served as an inspiration to float the idea of an Eyewitness reissue to BGO Records. Now, here we are, some months later, the reissue has been officially released and now, Kelman has penned this superb Review of the package. We hope that everyone will take a moment to read what he had to say about these recordings and the players. If you care to, you are welcome to read them and take them with you for whatever they might be worth. Like many of my particular political, moral, ethical slant on life, I am extremely concerned about the future of the USA, and the impact that this is going to have on the rest of the civilized, and not-so-civilized world. I suppose that we can hope for better times ahead, but it is so very hard to see that right now!!! As some young people say: "Peace out!!!"  when Barack Obama was elected to become our 44th President. While so much of the rest of our world was rejoicing in our choice of a leader, I extended my congratulations to President Obama, as well as to our new First Lady, Michelle Obama, and their daughters, Malia Ann and Sasha.Once his election was a reality, I wrote an ESSAY which detailed my thoughts and observations. These were obviously solely my thoughts alone, and some of them might have resonated with some of you, and others might not have found them to be so agreeable. No matter what, it was the dawning of a new day, a new age, and hopefully better times ahead for everyone!!! Perhaps, dare I say it, an even better world for everyone!!! Addendum - November 12th, 2016: With the election now a few days in the rear view mirror, we all must accept the results of what has happened, people from all sections of our nation, and the world as well, now begin to assess the 8 years of President Barack Obama. During the run-up to the election, the campaign, and since November 8th, I have been hearing, and from far more well-informed people than I, the word legacy used for this president's term in office. And, for as much as I have heard, I have not heard one single person offer what I am about to say here. And that is this.... In 2009, when Barack and Michelle Obama took over residence in the White House, the United States was at one of its lowest moments in terms of its perception by the people, the countries, and the leaders of the rest of civilized world. For the years prior to President Obama's election, I had been traveling around the world, and really, for the 1st time in my professional life as a musician, I had felt incredible hatred and resentment coming at the U.S. from wherever I traveled. Everything felt so very different, unlike any time before.  It made me horribly sad, sad for all of us who, no matter what, love our country, and take great pride in being Americans, North Americans! So now, here we are, it is late 2016, and in only 71 days from now, Barack and Michelle Obama will leave the White House for the last time with their two wonderful daughters, Malia and Sasha, and I am going to miss this great, great family tremendously every day that will follow.For me, President Obama's greatest accomplishment during his time in office was that, around the world, he restored, and elevated to new heights, the dignity of the office of the president, and the kind of respect and even love that we all would hope that our president would command and deserve. He spoke beautifully, and always in respectful, dignified and measured tones, and people, and world leaders listened. Whether or not they agreed with what was said is not necessarily the most important thing. They listened. Virtually everywhere Barack and Michelle Obama traveled, and represented us all so well, they were our Global Ambassadors of good will, and were greeted with the kind of adoration that we could only have hoped any person from the USA might receive. When they leave the White House, the Obamas will still have that, and they will always have it, because of the way that they have carried themselves, and spoke throughout these past 8 years. When President Obama took office, he faced the daunting task of trying to correct the mess that had been left at his doorstep, and to try to do it with an excessively hostile congress waiting to fight him on any proposal that he might make to those bodies. How is one supposed to "accomplish" anything when facing that? Let us not forget the racial component too, Barack Obama had to be perfect in every detail, and, in many ways, he hardly made an error. Imagine living with that pressure alone. And so, with congress, he tried, and he tried, and he tried again, only to be rejected at almost every turn. So, on the legislation side of things, perhaps there might not be much to grab onto when looking back at those 8 years? But, think again, and remember just where our international posture was before 2009, and where it is now as he leaves office. Watch and listen to what happens as he makes his last trip to Europe as our president. And then, come January 20th of 2017, you watch and see how President Donald Trump is greeted and thought of around the world!!! When you have observed this, you will begin to realize, and perhaps finally appreciate just how wonderful the Obamas were at carrying us all with them. I, for one, am going to miss them both so very much, and I will be wishing them the very best of everything, good health, and happiness for the rest of their days. Thank you for everything Barack and Michelle Obama. Steve Khan New York, NY November 12th, 2016 Then, in the December 1st issue of the London Review of Books, Cambridge political scholar, David Runciman wrote a most engaging piece about the 2016 U.S. election of Donald Trump titled, "Is This How Democracy Ends?" You can also read it in full here. Taken with the Gabler essay, you have two perspectives on the same election by brilliant writers, one from the United States, and the other from England, which offer the national and international perspectives for those who view the events in a particular way, as I do. Enjoy both pieces, and then, pause to give them some thought. We will see how the things written look in the coming years!  This, of course, was a complete and total surprise to me. For those of you who might not have even been born prior to those years, these 3 albums featured a consistent personnel, including: Randy Brecker; Michael Brecker; David Sanborn; Don Grolnick; Will Lee; and Steve Gadd. Over the course of the albums there were appearances by these great Guest Artists: Bob James; Ralph MacDonald; Mike Mainieri; Rick Marotta; Errol "Crusher" Bennett; Jeff Mironov; David Spinozza and Rob Mounsey.Andy Gray(BGO Records) and his staff were so kind as to allow me to have Janet Perr design a cover that would include a previously unused Jean-Michel Folon image. Many people, outside of the music business, believe that "the artist" always has something to say about how their "work" or "catalog" is to be used and treated. But, when you do not "own" the actual recordings, the artist has absolutely NOTHING to say about anything, and is almost NEVER consulted about anything. Sometimes, this can have disastrous artistic consequences - because, in the end, no one knows those older recordings better than the artist!!! So, for everything that is positive about this release, I am very grateful to Andy for allowing me to be in-the-loop about many of the significant issues!!! At present, the UK release was rescheduled for March 30th, 2015 with the USA release quickly to follow on April 7th!!! For those of you who can read in French, or can, at the very least, deduce what is being said, once again, Frédèric Goaty has written a fantastic piece for Muziq Magazine, the title of which fundamentally translates to: "The Cult Trilology," referring to the 3 Columbia albums, now offered in this fantastic reissue package. Enjoy his great article one way or another!!! So, we hope that you will take advantage of the link and look at Peter's article which is now featured at a page that we created for it! I have also posted the same Interview here at the website with a page that we created specifically for it! Thanks so much to Matt Phillips for wanting to do a feature on "CASA LOCO."  On the album, Steve continues his explorations of the grand traditions of Latin music, and this time, the core group features: Rubén Rodríguez (El. Bass & Baby Bass), Bobby Allende (Conga), Marc Quiñones (Timbal), and Dennis Chambers (Drums). At varying moments, they are joined by some great musicians, dear friends, as guest artists, including: Rob Mounsey (Keys & Orchestrations); Randy Brecker (Flügelhorn); Gil Goldstein (Accordion); and Mariana Ingold (Vocals).In all, they perform Steve's arrangements of compositions by: Ornette Coleman: "Bird Food"(featuring Randy Brecker); Freddie Hubbard: "Baraka Sasa"; Wayne Shorter: "Infant Eyes"; Greg Osby: "Heard"; Thelonious Monk: "Hackensack"; and the gorgeous ballad, "Never Let Me Go"(Livingston-Evans). All this, plus 2 originals from Steve, and, a Cumbia driven Vallenato epic collaboration between Steve and Mariana Ingold(which features Gil Goldstein). Once again, the music was beautifully recorded by James Farber at Avatar Studios during January 29th-30th, 2014. Michel Granger's spectacular image graces the cover, and contributes its own particular "subtext." The CD package was designed by the super-talented Janet Perr. Again, 55 Records(Japan); ESC Records(Germany/Europe) and Tone Center Records(USA) will form this important part of the team. 55 Records released the album on May 21st, and it's safe to say that ESC Records released it on May 30th. The U.S. release is coming shortly on June 24th. If you enjoyed "PARTING SHOT," you will surely love this new one!!! The reviews have just started to come in, beginning with a stupendous review from allaboutjazz.com's senior writer, John Kelman. It's so rare that a review is given the space to be so thorough and detailed. As the artist, one can only appreciate a moment like this and value it. Japan's JAZZ LIFE magazine has already written that the recording is: "An ambitious work, hot music filled with Khan's artistry!!!" AllAboutJazz' Dan Bilawsky writes: "....musicians know the score when it come to this venerable guitarist: Khan kills in his own special way." For anyone who is interested in reading further Reviews and Press, you can now access them on a separate page via the link. Over the course of the run of the album, we continued to update this page and many reviews were added to it. Thanks to everyone from the public, to radio programmers, and the press, who have been so supportive of the recording since its release in late June, 2014.  to sit down for a 90-minute conversation that ended-up being closer to 3 hrs.! You can listen to Episode 21: Steve Khan via this link. Past episodes have featured dear friends and respected colleagues, including: Will Lee; Michael Leonhart; Rob Mounsey; James Farber; Janis Siegel, and most recently, Gil Goldstein. Though I have known Leo and his well-known father, Ben Sidran, for the longest time, it was still a great honor and privilege to be asked to be a part of this wonderful series of conversations. If I had a great speaking voice like Leo possesses, I would probably enjoy doing these kinds of things too, but, as you'll hear, I don't think that I was gifted with such a voice. Our conversation was wide-ranging and, as it would be for any such setting, the fact the Leo had such a great understanding and empathy for my particular career path and philosophy, it made everything so very easy. I enjoyed it all very, very much. My most sincere thanks to Leo for making it such a fantastic experience.In a recent development, for the first time, Leo has decided to add another portion of our interview, one that does not appear in the podcast, to the website, and you can now access the Bonus Segment just below the main interview. Here is the most extensive interview that I have done in years, or it's certainly the only one that I can recall where the entire conversation has been shared in print. My most sincere thanks to Adam St. James and everyone at Guitar.com for affording me this kind of open-ended forum. Adam did a spectacular job transcribing a phone conversation that lasted longer than an hour!!! I hope that everyone who takes the time to read it will enjoy it. Of course, over the years, I have realized that a spoken interview was meant to heard, and often times, when it goes to print and then becomes prose, what was intended to be heard just does not read well on the page. So, I have labored to revise many of my responses so that they now read as was my original intention or hope. The Interview by Adam St. James can now be accessed via this link as well. It's up to you. As of January 28th, all the significant catalog recordings will have been made available. My most sincere thanks to everyone involved in making this become a reality. Check back here for more news.  informing me that, Brent Fischer had just accepted the Grammy for his beloved father, Clare Fischer, as ¡RITMO!" had won a Grammy for the BEST LATIN JAZZ ALBUM!!! I was so happy for Clare, his dear wife Donna, and, of course, and his son Brent, who keeps the flame burning brightly!!! James also recounted to me that, in Brent's acceptance speech, he actually made the effort to mention me, along with fellow participants: Peter Erskine and Alex Acuña. That was so very thoughtful and kind of Brent. For me, it was, quite simply, a great, great honor to have played a small part in the recording! Congratulations to everyone involved!!! Bravo!!!If you would like to read about my participation on the tune, "San Francisco, P.M."(Dedicated to Cal Tjader) which opens the CD, just click on the CD cover, and it will take you there. I hope that you will enjoy reading the story, and, of course, hearing the solo.  Together they perform 7 new compositions from Steve, and his interpretations of "Bye-ya" by Thelonious Monk, and both "Chronology" and "Blues Connotation" by Ornette Coleman. Recorded by James Farber at Avatar Studios on November 6th-7th, 2010, and mixing was just completed this past January 7th.This spectacular recording features performances by guest artists: Rob Mounsey(keyboard & orchestrations), and, Steve was honored to have both Andrés Beeuwsaert(Aca Seca Trio) and Brasilian vocalist, Tatiana Parra singing the vocalese section on Steve's tune, "Influence Peddler." Perhaps, though it might be too bold to say, this is one of the first Latin Jazz recordings led by a guitarist in decades. The simultaneous releases are now scheduled as follows: 55 Records(Japan) will release the CD first on April 20th. And then, on April 26th, both Tone Center Records(USA) and ESC Records(Germany/Europe) will follow. The cover art features another one of Steve's favorite artists, the great Frenchman Michel Granger. It has been a longtime dream for Steve to be able to feature a cover by Granger. The reviews have just started to come in, beginning with great reviews from allaboutjazz.com's senior writer, John Kelman and Mark F. Turner. Please make certain that you also take some time to read STEVE'S PERSONAL REFLECTIONS on each tune from "PARTING SHOT." When "In the Artist's Own Words" was launched as a feature during 2006, the very first presentation was Steve's Personal Reflections on "THE GREEN FIELD." For anyone who is interested in reading further Reviews and Press, you can now access them on a separate page via the link. Thanks to everyone from the public, to radio programmers, and the press, who have been so supportive of the recording since its release in early May, 2011.  On Monday, May 24th, 2010 Steve will be the guest of both Rick Such and Eddy Cabello as Inside Musicast presents an hour-long interview, including songs that span the scope of Steve's recording career. The podcast will be archived from that date forward, and anyone can then access the interview. Many thanks to both Rick and Eddy for their meticulous preparation and for the fun and energetic dialog that took place that evening.Not long after Steve's interview aired, Rick and Eddy presented a wonderful interview with Rob Mounsey. Hoping that everyone will get to hear both!!!  This incredible recording features Steve alongside Anthony Jackson(Contrabass Guitar) and Dennis Chambers(Drums) and was recorded on the last night of their European Tour on May 17th, 1994. The recording took place as part of a live radio broadcast for WDR as the trio performed at Stadtgarten Club in Köln, Germany. Recorded digitally and direct to a 2-track master, the CDs feature truly remarkable performances from all three players, but, it is easy to recognize that these are historic representations of the art of both Anthony Jackson and Dennis Chambers. What takes place on the nearly 18-minute version of Joe Henderson's "Caribbean Fire Dance" will be talked about for a long, long time. Anthony Jackson's solo 'prelude' to the title track is also a truly outstanding moment. Once again, the CD is graced by a beautiful 'suitcase' image from Jean-Michel Folon which makes this package extra special for Steve. The release of this now legendary concert is not without a rather remarkable story. Please take a moment, click on the cover image link, and read about it. Some details have been left out to protect the innocent! For anyone who is interested in reading the Reviews and Press, you can now access them on a separate page via the above link. Thanks to everyone from the public, radio programmers, and press who have been so supportive of the recording since its release. As the year comes to an end, "THE SUITCASE" was just named one of the BEST JAZZ CDs OF 2008 by allaboutjazz.com's senior writer, John Kelman. We are, of course, most appreciative of this honor!  and since the first reviews had been published, the reaction to the recording from the music critics seemed to be pretty unanimous in favor of Steve's latest work. For anyone who is interested in reading the Reviews and Press, you can now access them on a separate page via the above link. Thanks to everyone from the public, radio programmers, and press who have been so supportive of the recording since its release. Though its release in early 2006 seems like such a long time ago, "THE GREEN FIELD" sessions from May 23rd & 24th, 2005 still remain fresh in the memory.The last of the recorded tracks from those sessions, "Dreamsville" written by the great Henry Mancini, will still have to sit and await a new opportunity for a release as there just was not any room for it to fit on either of the last two CDs. Right now, it's hard to imagine just how that one isolated track could fit somewhere else. For those of you who are still interested in reading the Interviews and Press associated with this release, you can now access them on a separate page via the above link. Not to be redundant, but, another very popular feature has been "STEVE'S PERSONAL REFLECTIONS" on the recording, and those are available via the wonderful allaboutjazz.com website. Recently, through the website, I had received several e-mails, mostly from Europe, from fans telling me that they now had bootleg audio versions of this concert, which included 14 tunes over 2 sets. I had no idea that anyone could have found these things because the videos were done for a production company in Japan. I have actually never even seen these performances, as I don't like watching such things. However, it was because of these e-mails that I decided to seek out the help of my good friend and renowned video artist/editor, Phil Fallo to make an artistic transfer from the VHS format to DVD. I, of course, kept both Jay and Ben 'in the loop' about our progress in doing this. We decided that we would have my webmaster, Blaine Fallis, upload four(4) tunes to YouTube and see what happens. So now, you can watch and listen to the following tunes via these links: "Tyrone" which appeared on the "HEADLINE" CD. "Masqualero" which appeared on the "LET'S CALL THIS" CD. "Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You" which I have never recorded, and we rarely ever played this one live. It is my little tribute to Kenny Burrell. And finally, "Caribbean Fire Dance" which appears on both "HEADLINE" and now "THE SUITCASE." From a purely historical perspective, I suppose that it's interesting to note that "CROSSINGS" was recorded just two years later. And, "THE SUITCASE" was recorded on tour just after that. Jay, Ben and I hope that everyone will enjoy seeing these videos.  A fan from Europe wrote and asked me if I had seen myself on YouTube. My answer was: "Of course not!" So, I clicked on the link which he had sent, and suddenly I was taken back to May 11th, 1990, when I taped a local public access cable TV show called: "THE GUITAR SHOW" for my good friend, and neighbor, Christian Roebling. Over the years, he probably did shows with 100+ guitarists, some legendary, some less so. When the show no longer aired, he tried to find someone to put them out in DVD format, but those efforts initially failed.Now, Stefan Grossman is about to release various performances from this series in DVD. Lucky me, my performances of both Larry Young's "Backup" and my own tune, "Dr. Slump" will be part of "JAZZ MASTERS: VOLUME ONE" of the DVD packages. Also featured on this very special DVD will be Pat Martino and Bill Frisell, obviously both great artsits, respected colleagues, and good friends. Stefan recently was kind enough to send me the still photo portrait lifted from the video. Before having seen it on the back of the DVD package, I had never seen this shot. It's nice to be able to share it here for the first time. KORNER 1, which now has 115 hand-written solo transcriptions, offers classic solos by: Miles Davis, Jim Hall, Grant Green, Wes Montgomery, Thelonious Monk, Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker, Stanley Turrentine, Clare Fischer, Chick Corea, Pat Martino, Kenny Burrell, Paul Desmond, George Benson, George Coleman, Steve Grossman, John Scofield, Gabor Szabo, Leonardo Amuedo, and Robben Ford, plus corresponding mp3s. During the most trying of times, April, 2020 arrives and for some sense of relief and distraction, a great Stanley Turrentine solo on "My Shining Hour" is featured from his 1961 Blue Note album, "DEARLY BELOVED." The performance features: Shirley Scott (organ) and Billy Brooks (drums). With the September, 2019 release of Steve's new CD, "PATCHWORK," we are in the process of presenting some 7 Steve Khan solos over the coming months from the new album. During the month of September, we posted his solo on his own composition "Naan Issue." in October, the Thelonious Monk-Kenny Clarke classic, "Epistrophy." For November, Joe Henderson's "A Shade of Jade." For December, we will be presenting Steve's solo on Bobby Hutcherson's gorgeous ballad, "Bouquet" performed as a bolero in 3/4. The new year of 2020 will open with Steve's solo over Ornette Coleman's "C. & D.." In February, the 2nd spectacular ballad, this time a standard by Lerner & Lane, "Too Late Now" will be available. And finally, in March, Steve's nylon-string solos during Jorge Estrada's brilliant tune "Huracán Clare" will be offered. Always stay tuned to these pages!!! To celebrate the BGO Records(UK) reissue of PUBLIC ACCESS-HEADLINE-CROSSINGS remastered, and packaged together on 2 CDs, we are presenting Steve Khan's solo, that originally appeared on CROSSINGS(Verve) in 1994. This 4-chorus solo was performed on Thelonious Monk's classic composition, "Think of One" and receives one of Steve's early Latin-influenced treatments driven by the interactive brilliance of Anthony Jackson(contrabass guitar), Dennis Chambers(drums) and Manolo Badrena(percussion). As Bill Milkowski put it in his liner notes: "Hearing these records again reminds one of just how radically fresh and experimental they were when they came out 25 years ago. There was no template for this sound back then. The spaciousness and misterioso vibe, the brilliant use of counterpoint between guitar and bass, the bizarro midi percussion floating in and out of the mix, all while still being grounded by an insinuating Latin undercurrent... it was unprecedented for the '90s.....and there is still nothing quite like it!" 2018 opened with another incredible solo from Michael Brecker on the title track from bassist Eddie Gómez' 1988 album, "POWER PLAY." The tune also featured co-composer LeeAnn Ledgerwood(keyboards) and, for the 1st time only on this song, drummers Steve Gadd and Al Foster playing together. Mike's solo begins with thematic units to develop and along that journey, he explores the full range of his saxophone, a remarkable four octaves. This 40 bar solo over a funk-oriented 16th-note groove with two modal m7(9sus) chords is sure to become a favorite with those who visit these pages. As 2017 continued, we offered Wes Montgomery's wonderful solo on "Stella by Starlight" from the album DANGEROUS which was originally recorded in 1961 with brothers Buddy and Monk Montgomery. Finally, the year closed with the presentation of Steve's own solo on Greg Osby's "Concepticus in C" from Steve's most recent CD, "BACKLOG." Steve is once again supported by the spectacular keyboard work of Rob Mounsey alongside the very funky cha-cha-cha rhythms of Marc Quiñones(timbal & güiro), Bobby Allende(conga) and Rubén Rodríguez(baby bass) alongside the most serious fatback groove of Mark Walker(drums). While negotiating the complex harmonies, Steve's solo is rooted in the blues language. One of the best tunes on the album! In 1979, keyboardist Neil Larsen recorded the 2nd of his two albums for Horizon Records, HIGH GEAR, and on that album, Michael Brecker contributed two brilliant solos. For September, we feature his solo on the Larsen penned tune, "Nile Crescent." Buzz Feiten(Guitar), a fixture with Larsen, joins Abraham Laboriel(El. Bass); Steve Gadd(Drums); Paulinho Da Costa(Perc.) and Joe Farrell(Flute) on the track. Michael's 22-bar solo over a Phrygian mood embodies all the wonderful qualities in his playing. As it has now been some 10 years since Michael left us, it only seems fitting to pay tribute to him again, and just how glorious his body of work remains. He was so very special. Hoping that everyone enjoys this solo to the fullest. Then in October, we featured his solo on the Larsen penned tune, "Demonette." Buzz Feiten(Guitar), a fixture with Larsen, joins Abraham Laboriel(El. Bass); Steve Gadd(Drums); and Paulinho Da Costa(Perc.) on the track. Michael's solo here is really more about being right in the center of the flow of the time feel, and swingin' really hard! To these ears, there is not one single note in this solo that ventures outside the harmonies, not one! How rare is that for a Michael Brecker solo? There is hardly any chromaticism within the solo. How rare is that? It proves one thing at the very least, if you play with aggressive and swinging time, you can play anything, and it's going to work - and, more than this, you can play completely inside, and have a monster of a solo! See if you don't feel the same way. With the February, 2017 release of Steve's CD, "BACKLOG," we have embarked on a journey of presenting some 7 of Steve's solos from the new album. During the month of March, we posted, two weeks apart, his solos on: Thelonious Monk's "Criss Cross" and then, Ornette Coleman's "Latin Genetics." For April, we will be presenting Steve's solo on Bobby Hutcherson's great tune, "Head Start." May offered Steve's solo over the Cahn-Van Heusen tune, "Our Town" which was transformed into a gorgeous Afro-Bolero. June offers the steel-string acoustic guitar feature from the album, and a solo over a 2nd Hutcherson tune from his 1966 "HAPPENINGS" album, "Rojo." July and August will present the final 2 solos by Steve, over Ornette Coleman's "Invisible," and the Mandel-Mercer classic, "Emily." Always stay tuned to these pages!!! We began 2015 with Michael Brecker's great solo on "Sound Off" from his "TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE"(Verve) CD. This was followed by a wonderful Chick Corea solo from Airto's great album "FREE"(CTI) on the tune, "Creek"(Arroio). As the year progressed, we presented another incredible Michael Brecker solo from an early and never released Steve Khan demo from 1972, "The Hobgoblin Stomp." Then, a Kenny Burrell solo from Ed Thigpen's album "OUT OF THE STORM"(Verve) on the unique arrangement for "Cielito Lindo." And finally, another wonderful and very swingin' Stanley Turrentine solo from his album "NEVER LET ME GO"(Blue Note) on the Gershwin Bros. classic, "They Can't Take That Away From Me." From June through December of 2014, we presented Steve Khan's solos from "Bait and Switch"; "Hackensack"; "Never Let Me Go"; "Blue Subtext"; "Bird Food"; and finally, closing out the year with, "Cada Gota de Mar." Dating back to February of 2013, with great pleasure that we are offered Steve Grossman's fantastic solo that appeared on the 1971 Miles Davis album, A TRIBUTE TO JACK JOHNSON(Columbia). This 3-minute plus exploration of what one can do over a static Bb7(sus) chord, when accompanied by: Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, Michael Henderson and Billy Cobham, gives cause for great thought and study. If you haven't heard this before, pay special attention to it now!!! Hoping to lift the spirits of those musically inclined, we presented to you Pat Martino's swingin' 2-chorus solo over the Cole Porter standard, "It's All Right With Me," which appears on the 1977 Willis Jackson album, BAR WARS(Muse). Accompanied by organist Charles Earland and drummer Idris Muhammad, this particular solo would have been part of a 2nd Volume for Steve's book, "PAT MARTINO - The Early Years" but alas, it was not to be. There was a nice chill in the air as October arrived that year, and to keep things warm and cozy, we presented Steve Khan's wonderful 1/2-chorus solo over a Clare Fischer classic composition, "San Francisco, P.M.," which appears on the just released album ¡RITMO!(Clavo) by the Clare Fischer Latin Jazz Big Band led by Clare's beloved and devoted son, bassist/arranger, Brent Fischer. Of course, there's a lovely story that accompanies the transcription, and which is shared in Steve's analysis. There's a good reason why this tune was chosen to open the album, and why Steve's solo is the first one as well! Don't miss this one!!! KORNER 2 continues to house the lead sheets and arrangements to Steve's originals. During 2014, we presented Steve's two originals from "SUBTEXT" which included: "Bait and Switch"(El Estafador) and "Blue Subtext"(Subtexto en Azul). Dating back to 2011, we presented Steve's seven new compositions from "PARTING SHOT." During May, our first presentation was, "Change Agent." This was followed by: June, "Los Gaiteros"; July, "María Mulambo"; August, "Influence Peddler"; September "When She's Not Here"; October, "Zancudoville"; And finally, during November, "Just Deserts," a spectacular Latin percussion descarga was the feature. If you missed them then? Don't worry, they're still there, and easy to access. Though the piece is titled, "A DESTINATION - NEVER AN ARRIVAL" and is focused on the artistic life, a life in the arts, the central anecdote, that shapes it all, centers around a portion of an interview which took place between Dick Cavett and the Academy Award winning British actor, Sir Laurence Olivier during the early '70s, just after I had moved to New York. It has become a moment that I have used in countless situations: with private students, at clinics, seminars, and master classes, and, in any serious discussion of what it means to live a creative life in the arts. If you have a few moments, I will hope that you will find something of value when reading this ESSAY. Originally, this INTERVIEW was done by guitarist Igor Grigoriev, who sadly passed away not too long ago, and way before his time. Hopefully everyone will take a moment to read Steve's honest and insightful answers to some interesting questions. 
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