Last year at this time, I had just returned from my first Jazzing Fest, the music celebration hosted by and featuring the world renown Sant Andreu Jazz Band. As a fan/journalist and new visitor, I could not have had a better time, thanks in large part to Bo Sybrandt Hansen…

It’s almost frightening to realize that some films, TV shows, and record albums I first enjoyed as a young(er) person have now existed for 30, 40, or 50 years. Time marches on. But it also stands still, in a very real way, throughout Local Hero, my favorite film of all…

Barcelona’s Sant Andreu Jazz Band is nothing if not constantly evolving, as it welcomes new young musicians while bidding farewell to those leaving as regular members to pursue their own musical careers. It can be a challenge for SAJB enthusiasts to become familiar with the musicians who don’t often step…

This has been a busy but satisfying time for Koldo Munné, saxophonist for the world-renowned Sant Andreu Jazz Band, founded and directed by Joan Chamorro and comprised of young people (some who haven’t yet reached their teens) who play big band swing, bebop, and bossa nova classics like jazz veterans…

It’s always satisfying to see creative young people continuing to build upon their previous accomplishments as they reach for new goals, especially at an age when a sudden whim, distraction, or loss of interest could endanger an otherwise promising career. The Sant Andreu Jazz Band of Barcelona has introduced us…

How interesting life can be whenever serendipity intervenes to take us off a planned path, leading to an unexpected discovery. That’s what happened in Cincinnati recently; I was there as a guest of the CPS (Cincinnati Public Schools) Jazz Academy, created and led by Dr. Isidore Rudnick, for its third…

It’s been just over four decades since George Harrison released one of his least-known and poorest-selling albums, Gone Troppo. As his last contracted album with distributor Warner Brothers, it received mixed reviews from the critics upon its release in November of 1982, after which George began what would become a…

It has been estimated that a whopping 75 per cent of TV commercials today are for pharmaceutical products. When I first read that statistic, my first reaction was “Only 75 per cent?” On broadcast/cable TV, they have become inescapable, with their slightly slow-motion depictions of people of all ages, races…

After recently posting the previous article on this topic, a realization came of the many more famed TV actors who have failed in their follow-ups to their first hit series. It’s only fair then, in the interest of inclusion, to extend the list to acknowledge more of our TV favorites…