George Grella

George Grella wrote the book on Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew. He write other stuff too. killyridols.substack.com/

Defiant Jazz

What is the sound of being ghosted after going through a job interview? According to the prog-rock band KADAWA, it’s the crisp, complex rhythms, slashing riffs, and soaring major key guitar solo of “We’ll Get Back to You” off their album, Post-Graduation Fees. Take something larger and not focussed on an individual’s experience: What is […]

Defiant Jazz Read More »

Jazz: Being Here, Now

As a critic, I’m wary of addressing issues of taste. Taste is personal, it’s what we like and what we don’t—I love how in Italian you say you like something with “mi piace,” which means “it pleases me”—and there’s very little taste-wise that is truly bad. Bad taste, done with affection, is kitsch, which is

Jazz: Being Here, Now Read More »

Crime Jazz By George Grella

Moral panics have been around long before Socrates was forced to commit suicide for corrupting the youth of Athens. Since civilization began, there’s been an endless cycle of social/political/artistic change provoking reaction from those who are fearful of any change whatsoever, or even, in Mencken’s immortal words, “the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be

Crime Jazz By George Grella Read More »