# nate smith (blogs) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 1 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover nate smith. Page: Feed: --- ## [The Miles Davis Prom](https://thebluemoment.com/2026/08/21/the-miles-davis-prom/) _2026-08-21 · Richard Williams · thebluemoment.com_ After a somewhat lacklustre first half and a similarly underwhelming resumption, last night’s Prom concert commemorating the centenary of the birth of Miles Davis finally took wing in a sold-out Royal Albert Hall with a sultry version of “Once Upon a Summertime”, Michel Legrand’s melody delivered with understated elegance by the great trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire \[…\] ## [Tunes of peace](https://thebluemoment.com/2026/08/16/tunes-of-peace/) _2026-08-16 · Richard Williams · thebluemoment.com_ Earlier today I closed the last page of Regime Change, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan’s epic dissection of the first 15 months of Donald Trump’s second term at president of the United States. It’s a close-quarters observation of megalomania operating in real time, reaching its climax as the US/Israeli attack on Iran founders in the \[…\] ## [The art of the duo](https://thebluemoment.com/2026/07/30/the-art-of-the-duo/) _2026-07-30 · Richard Williams · thebluemoment.com_ The new album by the pianist Elias Stemeseder and the bassist Thomas Morgan begins with variations on the piece from which it takes its name: Io Pur Respiro, a madrigal by the 17th century Italian composer Carlo Gesualdo. I love Gesualdo’s music so much that once, during a visit to Naples, I went looking for \[…\] ## [Waiting for a friend](https://thebluemoment.com/2026/07/28/waiting-for-a-friend/) _2026-07-28 · Richard Williams · thebluemoment.com_ When I first met Lenny Kaye in 1970, his two immense contributions to contemporary culture were still in the future: (1) his compilation of the profoundly influential double album Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-68, released in 1972, and (2) his founder-membership of the Patti Smith Group, which he helped the young \[…\] ## [The coolest of cats](https://thebluemoment.com/2026/07/24/the-coolest-of-cats/) _2026-07-24 · Richard Williams · thebluemoment.com_ Georgie Fame’s career has been an affair of ups and downs, from the huge and unexpected success of “Yeh Yeh”, which knocked the Beatles off the No 1 spot in January 1965, to the medical problems — a fall from a ladder in 2019, breaking his hip and severing tendons in his right hand, followed \[…\] ## [René Urtreger 1932-2026](https://thebluemoment.com/2026/07/21/rene-urtreger-1932-2026/) _2026-07-21 · Richard Williams · thebluemoment.com_ The photo above was taken at the Institut Français in Berlin in 2017, during a Q&A session with the pianist René Urtreger following a screening to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Louis Malle’s Ascenseur pour l’échafaud (released in the UK as Lift to the Scaffold and in the US as Elevator to the Gallows). The \[…\] ## [Brian Case 1937-2026](https://thebluemoment.com/2026/07/17/brian-case-1937-2026/) _2026-07-17 · Richard Williams · thebluemoment.com_ When Brian Case joined the Melody Maker in 1978, at my invitation, he dubbed himself “Junior Beret” in tribute to Max Jones, the paper’s senior jazz writer, who habitually covered his bald pate with just such a piece of jaunty headgear. Brian died oin Monday, aged 88. I hope to write more about him elsewhere, \[…\] ## [Henry Lowther at 85](https://thebluemoment.com/2026/07/12/henry-lowther-at-85/) _2026-07-12 · Richard Williams · thebluemoment.com_ It seemed entirely typical of the trumpeter Henry Lowther that, during last night’s concert in celebration of his 85th birthday, he should wait to deliver his first solo until the third piece of the evening. As ever, his improvisation was beautifully conceived and perfectly flighted, with that perfect tone. But Henry is a man whose \[…\] ## [Rubén Blades at the Roundhouse](https://thebluemoment.com/2026/07/09/ruben-blades-at-the-roundhouse/) _2026-07-09 · Richard Williams · thebluemoment.com_ A heatwave on the streets of Camden, tipping over 30 degrees. Inside the Roundhouse, the relief of air-conditioning. Until Rubén Blades took the stage, at which point the temperature soared even higher as a packed crowd welcomed the great singer, actor and sometime politician. They cheered the opening strains of “Plasticó”, from Siembre, his 1978 \[…\] ## [Raising John Brown](https://thebluemoment.com/2026/07/07/raising-john-brown/) _2026-07-07 · Richard Williams · thebluemoment.com_ The only time I can remember seeing the 19th century abolitionist John Brown mentioned in a jazz context was in a piece called “The Day John Brown Was Hanged”, written by George Russell for the altoist Hal McKusick’s 1956 album Jazz Workshop. In that intricate seven-minute composition for quartet, Russell interpolated lines from the melody \[…\] ## [Marketplace for AI-Powered Professionals (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/gA6UKhKrPnGI) _2026-07-07 · **Sponsored**_ Find professionals who use ChatGPT, Copilot, and Claude to deliver work faster. ## [John Hiatt says goodbye (maybe)](https://thebluemoment.com/2026/07/02/john-hiatt-says-goodbye-maybe/) _2026-07-02 · Richard Williams · thebluemoment.com_ Last night’s gig at the O2’s Indigo was prominently billed, John Hiatt pointed out, as being part of his Farewell Tour. “If I come back next year,” he said, “what are we going to call it?” Or words to that effect. I’m inclined to think that whoever thought up the title might have been correct. \[…\]