Jason Crawford

Following in the footsteps of a famous parent seems especially difficult for musicians. Athletes can get away with it, and often eclipse their parents' achievements. Just ask Archie Manning or Ken Griffey. But Julian Lennon never had a chance.

I think of good times and crazy innovations when I think of Beck Hansen's music. He's one of those folks that are so cool that they don't need a last name. Most folks just call him "Beck." I will too from this point on.

Duke Ellington was the man. I don't know tons about him, and I haven't even scratched the surface of his recorded output, but I find him to be one of the most intriguing personalities in the history of popular entertainment. Certainly a master of American entertainment and certainly a giant in the history of jazz.

Record Store Day is the finest invention since crushed ice. It's the best idea anyone has had in as long as I can remember. Apparently, we can thank a man named Chris Brown. Not the pop starlet-abusing, hot shoe-having, marginally talented and tremendously over rated vocalist Chris Brown.

I get excited when Jack White throws his fans a bone. I've said it before. He's our only real rock and roll superstar. There are other rockers out there, but most of us haven't heard of them.

I bought Hank Mobley's "Roll Call" on a whim when I saw that its normally hefty price had been reduced at my local independent retailer.

I came to Miles Davis's "Birth of the Cool" with expectations. Expectations which were shattered more or less as soon as the needle hit the groove. It didn't take me long to realize the error of my ways, and it's a mistake I've vowed not to revisit.