I know what you're thinking. "David Benoit?! We've waited a year for a record review and it's David Benoit?!? What the heck is Tarik doing writing about HIM?!" Weeeeell hold on there. This may seem out of place, and this is definitely the most recently-recorded music I've written about so far on my humble blog, [...]
As I said in my previous post, I've been hanging around the Bay Area of California for the summer, roaming the hospital halls by night and the record store rows by day. It has been way too much fun digging for records in these new areas, and oh the gold I've found! Regular readers know [...]
Well jello again. It's ME. Jack Benny. I know, I know. "Where have you been?!" "I thought this site was dead!" "I thought YOU were dead!" Etc., etc., etc. And those are all fair and valid questions. It's been a year since I've last shown life on here. What a year it's been, too. But [...]
Do you remember what it was? Do you remember the tune, the song, the album, the artist that started you on the path to becoming a jazz fan? What was it about that particular item that made it all make sense? In this post, the first in a series of posts dedicated to the songs [...]
Well jello again. It's ME. Jack Benny. No but seriously, it has been a while since something new has appeared here. At the risk of once again making a promise I cannot keep, I'll try and rectify the paltry production of posts. That rectification starts now with a post detailing things to come and a [...]
Back in March of 2021, I had the incredible opportunity to talk with George Wein, jazz impresario and creator of the Newport Jazz Festival. I specifically talked to him about Dave Brubeck and his quartet, a subject he was more than happy to discuss. This is the last half of that interview. If you missed [...]
How many posts have I started with "Here at Raggy Waltz HQ..."? I don't know, but add this one to the list. Here at Raggy Waltz headquarters, West Coast Jazz reigns supreme. I dig it and its creators. Which is why yet another Barney Kessel album is being spotlighted. This particular album has been on [...]
After talking about this interview for a few months, the Raggy Waltz staff has finally gotten around to transcribing and editing it, and now presents the first of two posts of my conversation with Mr. George Wein. After the conversation was over, Mr. Wein told me that he enjoyed talking about Dave Brubeck, and to [...]
Today is 5/4, aka Brubeck Day! While technically speaking, 5/4 Day should really be about Paul Desmond, since he was the one that wrote the 5/4 song that went to stardom, "Take Five" has become synonymous with the Dave Brubeck Quartet as a whole. As a result, we here at Raggy Waltz HQ always like [...]
Updated November 2021: Three days ago, November 25th, would've been the great late Paul Desmond's 97th birthday. A new post in honor of Mr. Desmond will show up here in the near future, but in the mean time, here's an older post from three years ago featuring some rare photography taken by Paul Desmond himself. [...]
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