Steven Savage, the founder of Blue Bear School of Music. Original photo: Jay Blakesberg. The world needs more music, of that there’s little doubt. But saying so and doing something about it are two very different concepts. Steven Savage brings music to people in the simplest and most useful…

Insert Foot and the new tattoo. When my 13-year-old was about 3, she noticed I had a tattoo containing two of her sisters’ names in front of a couple roses on my right shoulder. I remember the withering, unimpressed look she gave me, with a hands out and up…

Josh Rosenthal’s daughters Emma (L) and Hazel with William Faulkner; not interested in ice cream. Oxford, Miss. In June, I took my daughters on a musical journey to New Orleans, all around Mississippi, Memphis and Nashville. We ate praline bacon, went to Preservation Hall, saw Degas’ house, Fats Domino’s Katrina-waterlogged piano,…

Keb’ Mo’, Wayne Shorter, Bono and others jam with B.B. King at an Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz event at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles on Oct. 26, 2008. Photos courtesy: Alexandra Wyman/Getty Images for Thelonious Monk Institute). This story originally appeared in the Oakland Tribune. Some of…