Kids for Coltrane

  I first had the pleasure of meeting Jazz legend Sonny Simmons last year when he so graciously shared his time and talent with my Kids for Coltrane students at the Holliswood School. This month I had the sincere pleasure and great opportunity to interview Sonny over lunch in New York City. There I was [...]

Summary of my presentation entitled The Other Side of Art and Music. It was an honor to be one of many presenters at the 50th Greater Metropolitan New York Social Studies Conference. The conference offered many enlightening and thought-provoking workshops. Doris Kearns Goodwin was the recipient of the Hubert Humphrey Humanitarian Award. Sharing with educators [...]

Here is a clip of Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond discussing what she learned about education from high achieving schools throughout the world. This video is from Edutopia which was created by the innovative genius George Lucas. ~ Thank you Dr. Darling-Hammond and Mr. George Lucas for illuminating the way.

“…The real power of jazz and the innovation of jazz  is that a group of people can come together and create art, improvised art and can negotiate their agendas with each other and that negotiation is the art…”  Wynton Marsalis

I had the extreme pleasure of being invited to the NEA Jazz Masters Awards Ceremony and Concert by Joann Stevens who is the program manager for Jazz Appreciation Month at the Smithsonian Institute. The awards ceremony honors the great jazz masters. I was breathing rarefied air! Give yourself a gift and research the lives and [...]

Drawing by Louis Vignapiano The House unanimously passsed H.Res. 894, honoring the 50th anniversay of the Miles Davis recording Kind of Blue and reaffirmed jazz as a national treasure. Leading this effort was Representative John Conyers Jr. of  Michigan. This album brought jazz into the mainstream and influenced musicians all over the world.  Miles Davis [...]

During this holiday season, I wish you all moments that create exquisite memories.  I pray  that we all move toward living our lives at higher levels of consciousness, and we walk down our individual paths with the virtues to guide us. My students will tell you that the virtue I value the most is honesty…without [...]

Photo by Christine Passarella What a special privilege it was to experience the music of the supernatural talent of  jazz saxophonist Mr. Sonny Rollins. On December 6, 2009  Sonny shared his amazing gift to support Pete Seeger’s Clearwater Project.  He is an outstanding talent…and spiritual human being. I will never forget this  afternoon in Tarrytown,  [...]

more about “Big Thinkers: Howard Gardner on Multi…“, posted with vodpod  

On September 28, 2009 I had the extreme honor of being invited  into John Coltrane’s New York home. It is not open to the public yet. I walked through the rooms and on the grounds of this sacred place. My dream is to see John’s home become a place of learning for children.  I know [...]