In director David Leaf's 2004 Grammy nominated film, “Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the story of SMiLE,” songwriter Jimmy Webb pointed to the tune “Surf’s Up” as evidence that Brian Wilson instinctively knew that the miraculous musical moment that was “SMiLE” was rapidly coming to an end.

Editor’s note: Sonny Rollins, the last of the pioneering bebop giants and a seminal figure in modern jazz throughout the second half of the 20th century, has entered his ninth decade still blowing full force.

Growing up, the younger Jaffe never intended to become the caretaker of the Preservation Hall legacy. In fact, he never thought he would be a professional musician. Coming of age in the musty rooms, dank carriageway, and inner courtyard of Preservation Hall—the French Quarter’s living shrine to traditional New Orleans jazz—Jaffe assumed music would play a secondary role in his life.

Editor’s note: When contemporary roots rockers My Morning Jacket stopped by New Orleans’ Preservation Hall for an unplugged midnight show that served as a prelude to MMJ’s spring tour with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band as opening act, Rolling Stone made due note of the event in its May 27th issue with feature coverage.

Preservation Hall

The MMJ gig is one of many changes happening at the world-renowned French Quarter home to New Orleans jazz, all part of an historic attempt to forge a new identity as the Hall approaches its 50th anniversary and looks forward to a new life in the 21st century.Our Man in New Orleans, Roger Hahn, has the full story.

Editor's Note: While this article is at least 10 years old, to my knowledge it still offers one of the most comprehensive and effective record cleaning regimens ever published. Nitty Gritty's 'First' cleaning fluid, mentioned in the piece, is no longer available. While it was extremely effective, it was environmentally unfriendly and had to be taken off the market. In addition, many new, non-isopropyl based cleaning fluids (alcohol is still used in most of them, just not isopropyl, which is said to dry up vinyl plasticizers) are now available. Even if you don't follow the regimen precisely, the principles are worth noting.

Elton John's second album was his first in America and it immediately established him as both a major talent and a star, even if it took a few more albums for him to achieve superstar status.  Empty Sky the first album issued in the UK showed the talent but it was only a showcase.

Why Pat Metheny remains “controversial” and even reviled by some jazz enthusiasts remains a mystery to me, though of course he also has an enormous international fan base. He’s criticized for not having sufficient “grit” or for being too “happy” for want of a better word. I don’t get it.

No, this is not up there with After School Session or Berry is on Top but this Chuck Berry album, his first after being released from prison for having violated the Mann Act (transporting minors across state lines to have sex) and issued as Beatlemania swept the world, has plenty of hits along with a lot of filler.

(Laura Nyro was nominated to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame December, 2011)

It's easy to make a case for buying this double mono LP reissue of a 1956 Columbia release—unless you're not a jazz fan.