Hentoff was the first jazz critic I took note of, though it helped that his work was pretty widely distributed for a variety of album liner notes and periodicals. I have several pieces he wrote in the mid 1960s for The Evergreen Review.
Happy New Year to you, too! I can be seen at the Molokai bar, hovering over a "Jet Pilot" or "Barrel o' Rum." I'm the old guy randomly seated next to the doughy, overly-bearded, phone-gazing Millennial (who was ignoring his too-hot-for-the-likes-of-him girlfriend--herself gulping down a Black Magic).
Happy New Year to you, too! I can be seen at the Molokai bar, hovering over a "Jet Pilot" or "Barrel o' Rum." I'm the old guy randomly seated next to the doughy, overly-bearded, phone-gazing Millennial (who was ignoring his too-hot-for-the-likes-of-him girlfriend--herself gulping down a Black Magic).
Wow, I think I have been seated between both of you on various occasions!
I am sad to read this news. I've enjoyed his columns, books and album liner notes all of my adult life. And I'm sure to keep re-reading them for years to come.
His column or columns or whatever must have been loosely syndicated because I remember reading something from him every so often going back to younger days. I'd see his name and the name Nat Hiken and couldn't figure out who was who. This went on for years. It's like when you scan read something really fast and "see" a last name and then have to go back because That Doesn't Make Sense and sure enough you read in the wrong last name. Sheesh all this while reading his obit in the morning paper.
