A few days ago, my friend Jason Parker, trumpeter, bandleader, educator and KPLU blogger, wrote a post entitled “Why Jazz Fans Shouldn’t Be So Quick to Dismiss Pop Music.” Jason is a member of a Facebook group “Jam of the Week” and wrote his post in response to negative comments that some “jazz snobs” had made about pop music. Jason makes a lot of good points. He questions the logic behind cutting oneself off from an entire genre of music. He also gives examples of…
My 13 year-old son is gaga over Lady Gaga. Sadly, this has caused some divisiveness within the family. I guess Enzo started getting into Lady Gaga last fall. I noticed her coming up on his i-Pod on the mornings I drove the carpool to his school. At the time, my feelings about Lady Gaga were pretty benign. She was simply just another pop icon, far-removed from my own musical landscape. Until Enzo started playing her in the car, I probably couldn’t have identified even one…
