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Scott Krane

Scott J. Krane is a popular blogger and critic

About Me

Scott J. Krane is a popular blogger and critic of culture and policy, whose jazz writing has also been featured in The Atlantic, JazzTimes and his blog at TheTimesofIsrael.com. After high school, Scott was accepted into the music college at the University of Oregon, but didn't finish. After a short internship with Shadow Records and working a year or two at Manny's Music in Midtown Manhattan, he did his Master's thesis at Bar-Ilan University (Israel) on the poetry of American master, John Ashbery. After repatriating, Scott commenced a long-term study at Hadar Ha'Torah Rabbinical Seminary in Brooklyn, New York.

He has interviewed such jazz musicians and industry insiders as: Pat Metheny, John Scofield, McCoy Tyner, Bela Fleck, Peter Bernstein and Jimmy Bruno, poet Michael S. Harper, producer Bill Laswell and promoter Barak Weiss.

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My Jazz Story

Jazz, when I first heard it, seemed like a mysterious and colorful exploration of what Cage would call 'organized sound'. It was to me, akin to abstract-expressionist painting (before I ever knew anything about art). The jazz-listening experience, when what once seemed challenging, but gradually became more aesthetically accessible, felt like a cerebral jacuzzi. Oh, it really did! So warm, so comfortable. This impression drew me in, and created a web in which I am entangled for a lifetime. Because I was a rock-influenced guitar student, I started out listening to blues such as B.B. King and Robert Johnson ("RoJo"). When I was about nine or 10, I bought Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall with the Gil Evans Orchestra (Columbia 1961) on cassette tape. Once I got a CD player in my bedroom, I bought The Essential Dizzy Gillespie (Verve 1964), The Best of John Coltrane (Atlantic 1970) and The Roots of Acid Jazz (Impulse 1996) and borrowed my half-brother's 'Acid Jazz': After Hours: Vol. 1 (Instinct Records, '94). I was originally introduced to jazz, as a musician, when my guitar teacher and childhood and teenage mentor, Tony Burnett of New Canaan, Connecticut, had me playing Charlie 'Bird' Parker heads and chord progressions. I have had the pleasure of meeting in-person: Jeff Coffin backstage at the Meadows Amphitheatre in Hartford, CT; Pat Metheny while working as a pro-audio salesman at Manny's Music, formerly in midtown Manhattan; Bill Frisell after a show at the Village Vanguard; Peter Bernstein between sets at the bar at Smalls, NYC and an after show interview at a table at the Iridium in Manhattan; Wynton Marsalis: walking alone near Lincoln Center when I was a kid studying at the Manhattan School of Music summer jazz workshop; Phil Ramone (on a bevy of occasions): producer and engineer for John Coltrane's Ole (Atlantic 1961), Getz/Gilberto (Verve 1964), Sinatra Duets (Capitol 1993); Ray Charles: Genius & Friends (Rhino, '05), and more; Paul Shaffer, at Phil Ramone's. I've also met John Scofield and interviewed him, in-person, backstage before a show in Jerusalem; and I've even had a masterclass with Chris Rosenberg, a one- time guitarist in Ornette Coleman's group. And, yes, even Tony Bennett at the Blue Note Cafe listening to the indefatigable Ron Carter. Max Weinberg too! The best show I ever attended was the Newport Jazz Festival in the summer of 2012 (thanks Karen)! My advice to new listeners is to treat your immersion in America's greatest art-form, jazz, like you would classic literature: even if the music challenges you as a listener at first, remember: it's a classic for a reason! Learn an instrument, learn the language of jazz. Do your best as an esthete and enjoy the sweet sounds!

My House Concert Story

I've attended concerts by: Wynton Marsalis (1) Mike Stern (1) Ron Carter (1) David Grisman Quintent (1) Bruce Hornsby (1) Bela Fleck and the Flecktones (4+?) Medeski, Martin and Wood (1) John Scofield (2 1/2) Pat Metheny (1) Bill Frisell (3) Henry Grimes (1) Nicholas Payton (1) John Zorn (1) Anat Cohen (1) Gregory Porter (1) David Murray (1) Joe Lovano (1) The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra (1) Henry Grimes (1) Soulive (2) Groove Collective (1) The Skatellites (1) Jim Hall (1) McCoy Tyner (1) Peter Bernstein (2) Yusef Lateef (1) Chuck Berry (1) Tony LaVorgna (1) and also: The Tel Aviv Jazz Festival (1) The Telluride Jazz Festival (1) The Newport Jazz Festival (1) and myriad others...

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