What does it mean to have chops? In the 1500s, chops was a slang term for the face or lips, but it carried into African-American jazz culture to mean that a brass or wind player had good embouchure. The idea is reflected in the old jazz...
A listener wonders about the origin of the phrase “your father’s mustache,” akin to the phrase “go jump in a lake,” or “your mamma wears combat boots.” Grant explains that it may sound more familiar as...
bus butt n.— «Like many touring musicians, Navarro had a voracious appetite—he quickly gained what was known as a “bus butt,” which earned him the nickname “Fats” or “Fat Lady.”» —“Navarro, Fats...
trad adj.— «He assured me that what he collects—and plays—is traditional, or “trad,” jazz. I told him I call it Dixieland. He called my terminology “unfortunate,” adding, “Eddie Condon hated the term Dixieland.” That should settle it...
skronk n.— «The music touched on free jazz, especially when Krieger let forth some quick runs or hit those intense, dented notes aficionados refer to as “skronk.” He was a fiery presence onstage, often bending over an amp to...
trade fours v. phr.— «We shared a too brief lunch during which both father and son in the special parlance of jazz musicians “traded fours,” with a rising crescendo of memories of all that Herb Pomeroy, trumpeter and inspiring...