The first season of Skull Fragments is in the can, as they say, all episodes currently available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Libsyn, etc. It was pure joy for me doing these six intimate, in-depth, in-studio interviews. Entertaining, educational, fascinating. The episodes present diverse points of … Continue reading The Nitty Gritty on Crime & Punishment in America
Why Art Pepper’s Straight Life Is Still the Most Harrowing Jazz Memoir Ever (This article first appeared in the August 2019 issue of JazzTimes magazine.) Early in his memoir, Straight Life, the late jazz legend Art Pepper relates a story about being in the U.S. Army during World … Continue reading Art Pepper: After Life
Very few musicians of any kind have contributed more to the musical identity of a city than Tito Puente did for New York City. Certainly, in the early decades of jazz, and with rock-and-roll and hip hop, there are more than a few names that … Continue reading In Praise of Tito Puente
(Address by T.J. English upon receiving the award from Lehman College, The Bronx, NY, Oct. 24, 2019.) I am known primarily as someone who writes about crime – organized crime, the criminal underworld, the criminal justice system. In the commercial marketplace, the term that is … Continue reading Global Impact Award
Nobody wants to talk about domestic violence. Men don’t want to talk about it. Women don’t want to talk about it. You don’t want to. I don’t want to. Author Rachel Louise Snyder is well aware of this fact, and in No Visible Bruises, her … Continue reading BOOK REVIEW: No Visible Bruises by Rachel Louise Snyder
Ask the average Caucasian on the street if U.S. law enforcement engages in torture of its citizens as a matter of policy and you are likely to get an emphatic ‘no’. Ask a Caucasian in Chicago and you may detect a slight hesitation, as the … Continue reading BOOK REVIEW: The Torture Machine by Flint Taylor
The 2018 death of Jerry González also marked the end of the Fort Apache Band, which took Latin jazz to new heights for more than 30 year. This is their story. (This article originally appeared in the March 2019 issue of JazzTimes.) By T.J. English … Continue reading The Fort Apache Band: A Bronx Tale
From the late 1960s and into the 1990s, the conflict in Northern Ireland was a regular feature in the world media. Euphemistically known as The Troubles, the struggle was characterized through the imagery of 20th century urban warfare and occupation: car bombings; the black balaclavas … Continue reading BOOK REVIEW: Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe
Few young bassist on the scene have made an impression quite like Luques Curtis. At the age of 35, he has played with veterans Eddie Palmieri and Gary Burton, as well as a stint with the legendary Fort Apache Band. Playing with that band, Luques … Continue reading DANGEROUS RHYTHMS: Q & A with Luques Curtis
Caridad De La Luz, a proud product of the Bronx, has been performing in NYC for more than twenty years. Primarily as La Bruja, a stage persona she created to present her spoken word poetry, comedy, and various musical shows, she has become an ambassador … Continue reading DANGEROUS RHYTHMS: Q & A with Caridad De La Luz
