Cool (Christmas) Blues

Charles Brown is a fascinating figure in American music. He’s great, first of all. Absolutely great. He’s legendary in the blues and traditional R&B worlds, but most people now probably don’t know him by name. He was a singer, pianist, and songwriter. The easiest way to describe Brown’s sound is he is where Ray Charles…

Read More

Music Genres

I’ve always had a bit of a problem separating things like music by genres. In a recent piece I wrote, I made the statement, “I tend to think of all worthwhile American music as being a type of blues.”* I knew when I typed it that the statement would bother some people. People have a…

Read More