Swing Circa 1857, Jazz Robespierres and Boston’s Undiscovered Wax

a very nice posting from my pal Andrew Sammutt's jazz blog Clefpalette, highlighting my jazz record memoir for the Battersea Review, linked within.

http://clefpalette.wordpress.com/2013/06/23/swing-circa-1857-jazz-robespierres-and-the-search-for-lost-sounds/

Swing Circa 1857, Jazz Robespierres and Boston’s Undiscovered Wax

Posted on June 23, 2013 by Andrew J. Sammut

I got to know Rob Chalfen through his work directing Outpost 186, an intimate space for progressive jazz in the Boston metro area, and through conversations about early jazz where his knowledge and insights never degenerate into dry encylopedism. It should also be mentioned that the recordings of WC Handy and World War I Puerto Rican municipal bands never sounded better than coming out of his turntable and speakers.

The impresario, record collector and audiophile shared some of his memories and a few war stories from a fifty-year love affair with jazz online at The Battersea Review. From childhood discovery to the tireless stone turning, with side trips through the civil rights movement and the elitist phase we all go through, Chalfen wittily and warmly describes how music and life don’t just intersect but grow from one another. Enjoy.