“No I don’t try to make an art of my music,” Louis Armstrong once said. “Music is a day’s work and we all ought to do a day’s work. That buys the pork chops.”
The quotation comes from Brian Harker’s new book, the result of a decade’s study of these irreplaceable but often misinterpreted recordings:
I’ve heard only good things about this book and can’t wait to read it myself (I will report back): here’s the link to Mother Amazon —
Freud, among others, points out that we all need love and work in equal measure to make our lives fulfilling.
Fortunate are the people who can work with all with all their hearts at something they love and then share the work, the love, and the glorious results with us. We all benefit beyond measure — not just because of the results, but because of the inspiring examples these people offer us: models of how life should be lived.
Leslie Johnson, who edited and published The Mississippi Rag for thirty-five years, was just such a person.
I’ve written about Leslie several times in this blog — most recently, LESLIE JOHNSON, JAZZ HERO (January 15), and yesterday I posted the news of her death.
Here is the email I received last night from her family:
Posted in "Thanks A Million", Awful Sad
Tagged "traditional jazz", death, Freud, funeral arrangements, jazz, jazz blog, Jazz Lives, Leslie Johnson, love, Michael Steinman, The Mississippi Rag, work
