Jonathan Eig

Nobody struck at the soul of jazz like Charles Mingus. His music raged with paradoxical fury: intense yet funny, demonic yet spiritual, chaotic yet carefully arranged. That was Mingus. Oh, yeah. His autobiography, Beneath the Underdog, reveals a tortured soul. But if you listen to the music, you already know...

No chaser required Straight Up With a Twist Kitty Margolis Mad-Kat Records Kitty Margolis has got the goods--a strong, blunt voice, perfect pitch, a fine sense of swing, and terrific scatting chops--but there are plenty of singers who've got the goods and don't know what to do with them. Margolis...

Sharp-dressed men Scotch and Milk Cecil Payne Deemus Barrett Deems Delmark Records I have this theory: The worse a musician dresses, the more I like him. When a man goes on stage in a plaid jacket with lapels the size of Dumbo's ears and striped pants, you know he follows...

Two heads better Strange Happy Earl Harvin and Dave Palmer Leaning House Jazz I've got about 40 CDs in the drawer next to my computer. I listen to them when the guy at the desk next to me gets too loud or the construction crew across the street starts blasting...