I’ll carry Aretha’s music in my head and my heart

Aretha Franklin was one of the greatest voices in music. Some would say the. I was lucky enough to witness the depth and breadth of her soul three times. Two of the reviews I wrote as a music critic for the big daily were quoted by syracuse.com the day our Queen of Soul left our…

A major helping of Southside, with a touch of Aretha

The Thursday morning text from KP called for a trip with Bake to Norwich that night to catch a free show by Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. My morning break at the library allowed me a quick query to my dear wife Karen to ask her what she thought about me going out on…

Aretha Franklin still qualifies as the Queen of Soul

The Queen of Soul still holds courts on a stage. Aretha Franklin took the 10,000 and more folks who pressed onto the campus of Onondaga Community College for her finale set of the M&T Syracuse Jazz Fest and showed them a thing or two about proper soul singing Saturday night. And it was very, very…

It’s the weekend to welcome Wynton and Aretha

It’s a huge weekend for music where I live. Wynton Marsalis leads the Lincoln Center Orchestra onto the stage of the M&T Syracuse Jazz Fest as the headliner Friday night. If you’ve never had the opportunity to sit in the same place as, oh, a couple dozen of the best jazz players on the planet…