Mile-High Musings on Arts, Culture, Creativity and Philanthropy

I have been inactive on my personal blog for way too long! Just so much going on professionally, personally, that it has been hard to prioritize this blog. Hoping to be better going forward, perhaps inspired by this crazy pandemic time we are in. This is a blog post I started working on quite a while ago. Last year I had the pleasure of participating in the My Youth on Record podcast series. Youth on Record is a wonderful Denver organization that engages local working musicians to work as teaching artists in local public schools, the goal being to engage youth that would otherwise be in danger of dropping out. They also put on an annual community Block Party that would be happening very soon, and obviously can't happen this year, which is why it may be on my mind. This event has become a tradition with me and my daughter Esme - one year she even got to go up on stage with me as I made some remarks. It is a wonderful, inclusive, family-friendly celebration for the community. ...

Philadelphia will celebrate national Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) in April, for the first time in many years. This national celebration, sponsored by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History , and also promoted by the United States Conference of Mayors , is now in its 10th anniversary year. Recognizing this quintessentially American art form is especially appropriate for Philadelphia, which has an extraordinary legacy of leadership in jazz. Beginning with Ethel Waters, and extending to John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, Stan Getz, the Heath Brothers, Dizzie Gillespie, Sun Ra, McCoy Tyner, Grover Washington Jr, Stanley Clarke, Philadelphia has an illustrious roster of jazz greats who were either born here or lived and worked here for a significant portion of their life. Despite the demise of many of the City's historic jazz clubs, the City still has a vital, thriving jazz scene, with many venues and a strong and deep array of renowned working musici...