Author Archives: The Independent Ear

On January 28, 2021 the woman no less than Nelson Mandela declared “South Africa’s First Lady of Song”, Sibongile Khumalo passed on to ancestry.  I first met Sibongile on a 2005 trip to the Cape Town Jazz Festival, where she … Continue reading →

Trumpeter Mike Wade is based in Cincinnati, OH.  I first heard Mike as a judge on the old BET Jazz show Jazz Discovery, a show which invited unsigned jazz artists to compete via video submissions before a panel of judges.  … Continue reading →

One of our earliest iterations of Tribeca Performing Arts Center’s ongoing Lost Jazz Shrines series was a season celebrating the unique legacy of Cafe Society.  In 1938 a New Jersey shoe salesman named Barney Josephson sought to open his own … Continue reading →

The first time I caught Ralph Peterson, Jr. live was a 1986 performance by the Blue Note Records band Out of the Blue (OTB).  The band, befitting its era as a sort of Young Lions on steroids unit, included Kenny … Continue reading →

R.I.P.—Brooklyn born jazz giant, pianist Ed Stoute moved on from our plane of existence to join musicians in a heaven ripe for listening to his talented fingers. Stoute traveled the world with the flavor of Brooklyn’s Bebop, with jazz standards … Continue reading →