Don’t Bogart That Joint

As Maryland voters have recently legalized recreational marijuana, it seems propitious to take a look back at the historical pot prohibition and its impact on the jazz community. While the smoke-filled rooms of nightclubs in 20th century cities like New Orleans, Chicago and New York shaped the contours of  jazz, America’s only indigenous art form, it was the furtive backroom smoke of weed that became a distorting presence. | Read more>> Read more

Brandon Woody’s Upendo Gives a Stirring Summer Concert

Sponsored by the Baltimore Jazz Alliance, No Pix After Dark, and Hamilton-Lauraville Main Street as part of its Second Saturdays concert series (June through September), the outdoor show at The Lot, 4500 Harford Road on August 13 by trumpeter Brandon Woody’s band UPENDO was a respite to a community hard hit by a severe thunderstorm the prior weekend. | Read more>> Read more