Anthony Dean-Harris

I'm honestly going to try to keep this thing updated with works I've published on a weekly basis, especially since I have now added a second semi-regular avenue for my voice, SunDryed Affairs . I should hopefully be chiming in here weekly to post what new words I have scattered about the internet. Last week's Nextbop column hearkens back to the same classicist/modernist jazz argument that sparks up from time to time. I'm going to put this out plainly. I am tired of having this argument. I know that by mentioning it here, I'm part of the problem by even acknowledging it. But I also know that we can't move forward if we have all this infighting holding us back. When an angry old man starts spouting off at the mouth, we need to follow the late Sidney Lumet's example in Twelve Angry Men and start turning away en masse. There will be times like these when we can let talk like this still hold us down, but we need to move forward and make strides to embrace dif...

This week's post over at Nextbop is all about using Antonius Guillimus Amo's teachings on hermeneutics in listening to and analyzing jazz music . I've wanted to write about this for quite some time but the Holy Spirit finally stuck it in my head how to write it. To wit: Amo is heralding authorial intent and states it must be considered when analyzing a work (at least when using a biographical criticism), otherwise, the analysis is ultimately invalid. Cross apply this notion to jazz and its criticism. Right now, one of our biggest issues (upon which I rail habitually) is that of nomenclature. If authorial intent is to trump all according to Amo, if a musician believes his or her work is considered jazz, the audience or the critic theoretically has little basis to state otherwise. The author intended the work to fit under a certain category and the audience must oblige. Once we pass the issue of nomenclature, the issue on which our community should truly focus ...

While I'm mentally going over a few other posts for Nextbop and other things on the horizon, I figured I shouldn't let too much time pass without noting the last couple of things I've written for Nextbop. There was a great deal of controversy in the jazz blogosphere in teh last month and I ultimately addressed things with my post, " Insular and Diminishing or Liberal and Proliferating ." Who the hell do we think we are to equate disagreeing with newcomers with the possible loss of pedigree of a publication or the destruction of the genre (or at least its nomenclature)? Why do we so often get up in arms when a contradictory idea rears its head when our own fold is floundering for its own vitality? Why do so many of us require a wide breadth of knowledge on the history of jazz before truly accepting new musicians and commentators? I’m not suggesting we give equal credence to the opinions and talents of the glaringly ignorant, but I am saying it’s equally not as ...

Things have been a little out of sorts lately so I haven't had the chance to update you on other things I have written. This is now one of those times. When last we've spoken, I wrote my usual columns over at Nextbop . Today's post entitled "Jazz War, What is it Good For? (Absolutely Nothin')"  ( sing it again now!) was on the pointlessness of jazz commentary infighting and in doing so, I solidified Nextbop's stance to only talk about music that's awesome and not cause fights with sensitive folks... But as a guy who holds the reins on a site dedicated to promoting one of those viewpoints of jazz, it’s hard for me not to bash one ideology to promote my own, especially when such talk is in vogue. Still, I am a man of my word, so I refuse to keep fighting just to increase hit counts (and we really do like steadily increasing our website’s hit count). Besides, there are times when I feel like playing more traditional jazz music. I’m not against that wh...

I had a couple of posts up on Nextbop yesterday. One short, one long, both amusing. At least I hope you'll find them amusing, but I don't want to speak for you, dear reader. That would be presumptuous. Here's a snippet of my weekly column on how jazz is similar to other niche genres today, entitled The Every Genre . The philosophy of Nextbop isn’t just about promoting jazz to jazz lovers. It’s not even mainly focused on such a vision. Nextbop is about appealing to everyone. It’s about promoting jazz to the world. It’s about showing the indie rock crowd, the punk rock crowd, the hip hop crowd, the R&B crowd, the bluegrass crowd, and so many other scenes that this kind of music is great and it’s not so far off from what you’re used to hearing. We shan’t limit ourselves to just one ideology for the sake of appeasing one crowd when the whole world can appreciate this music for its complexities. And there's also a short news piece I posted about The Colbert Report ...

We may not be right in drawing our lines in the sand as it relates to the overall jazz industry and press. Our stances, while periodically bombastic, may not be helpful to the discourse, and certainly not helpful to the newcomers to whom we’re trying to appeal. Perhaps the Marsalis campers (ahem, traditionalists) are the barometer for modern jazz enthusiasts to measure their craft. As it is every Thursday, I have a new post up at Nextbop and it's getting some pretty good response. I'm sort of shocked folks like it this much. Head on over there and see what folks are seriously digging.

A couple of weeks ago, Esperanza Spalding performed at the Carver Community Cultural Center and I reviewed her great performance. This past Friday, April 17th, may have been known throughout the Alamo City for a soggy “A Taste of New Orleans” and Oyster Bake, but it also brought about a spectacular show by the very talented Ms. Esperanza Spalding. Spalding certainly put up no front about the person she was. She has a tendency to bring elegance and gravitas to her very casual, carefree nature. Early on in the first set, she kicked off her recently acquired vintage heels (of which she was certain to inform the audience of her purchase) and lost a hair clip. If anything, she was preparing the audience for an evening full of histrionics as she wailed on her acoustic and electric basses. Head to African-American Reflections and read about that awesome concert you wish you could have seen .

I suddenly realized I should probably link y'all to other stuff I write when they come up. I do have a weekly column over at Nextbop . My work there does go back quite far . I'll try to make a larger effort to connect my work and make this a catch all for most things I write on the web. So to start things off, my most recent column was on the challenge of publicizing crossover artists. There is a certain challenge in commenting about genre bending. What may sound at the start like an overt novelty like [ELEW] or a sincere curiosity like the heavily lauded [Rusconi] can ultimately sound extremely difficult to describe to others for the purpose of recommendation. Would one’s rock-oriented friends like to hear jazz versions of Sonic Youth songs? Will others be as moved to head bang to a piano? One can never be certain about these sorts of things. Extrapolate this idea to a much larger scale. I’m having a hard enough time doing this sort of thing as a writer to a modest audienc...