Eli Yamin (aka Dr. “E”) Quartet breaking new ground Downstairs at Bond 45

Eli Yamin (aka Dr. “E”), piano and vocals Zaid Nasser, alto saxophone Elias Bailey, bass David F. Gibson, drums

Meditations On Integration, my final DMA recital

When the world continues to make little sense and human beings resort to violence against one another, music offers hope, insight, and healing space. Charles Mingus stands as one of America’s greatest 20th century composers and he has few peers in confronting senseless violence with music. April 22, 2022 will be the centennial of his […]

My first professional jazz job at WBGO/Jazz 88.

Enid Farber took this photo when I was 21 and working my first professional jazz job at WBGO Jazz 88.3. I was a Board Operator, sub DJ and producer of Jazz From the Archives hosted by the staff of the Rutgers University Institute of Jazz Studies and Portraits in Blue with Bob Porter. l was […]

How Maxine Greene influenced my work these past 20 years…

  “I hope you think about the wonder of multiple perspectives in your own experience. I hope you think about what happens to you when it becomes possible to abandon one-dimensional viewing, to look from many vantage points and, in doing so, construct meanings scarcely suspected before… Our object…where young people are concerned, is to […]

Big announcement: BLUES BOOK RELEASED!

Rowman and Littlefield Publishers in collaboration with the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) has released my book, So You Want to Sing the Blues.  This book is the gathering of many of my life experiences being inspired, guided and uplifted by the blues since I was a child. It is also the result […]

Guatemala Jazz Tour 2016

Thanks to the United States Department of State and The Jazz Drama Program, this was our third tour to Guatemala. What a privilege it was to visit this beautiful country and play for the amazing Guatemalan People! Joined by longtime friends and associates, LaFrae Sci, drums/compositions, Lakecia Benjamin, alto saxophone and Elias Bailey, bass, the […]

Russia Blues Tour 2015

  Playing the blues for people is a great thrill. It’s like sharing the spark of life-running through you, out your instrument and into the audience and back. Then building to another spark and another-there’s nothing like it.  Through my piano, through my voice-building with band members, tour managers and the audience-always the audience. The […]

First Ever- Jazz Drama Program Summer Jazz Arts Institute

  We did it!  On July 1 and 2, we broke ground on the first ever Jazz Drama Program Summer Jazz Arts Institute.  With my great colleagues LaFrae Sci, Tom Dempsey, Shireen Dickson, and Jeanie LoVetri we launched what we hope will be a vital charging station for imaginative education through jazz for years to […]

Guatemala Jazz Festival 2015 – Ambassador’s Residence

Back to Guatemala City now for a reception at the residence of U.S. Ambassador Todd Robinson.  We could not ask for a more welcoming host.  Ambassador Robinson hails from Newark, NJ, a jazz town once and forever.  He truly believes in the power of jazz to uplift and unite everyone.  He is also an idealist […]

Guatemala Jazz Festival 2015 – Concert in Guatemala City

Our first concert of the tour was at the auditorium at Instituto Guatemala Americano in Guatemala City.  It was a pleasure to play the Baldwin grand on stage and interact with the audience who engaged deeply with us.  Our program included songs from our recent CD,  “Louie’s Dream, for our jazz heroes.”  We played the […]