Billie Holiday performs at the Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, Rhode Island on July 6, 1957. Photo by Bill Spilka/Getty Images). This column is called REWIND because, for its first year, I listed my top five songs from every year since 1967. It was a good project and I…

Santana performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on Nov. 12, 2019. Joaquin Cabello/STAFF. On Sunday it’s scheduled to reach 91 degrees where I live. In April. Ninety-one degrees. It is far too early to be getting that hot. It bodes ill for the summer. Traditionally, by which I…

M. Ward, “Think Of Spring.” Matt Ward—better know as M. Ward—feels a connection with Billie Holiday that dates back to hearing her music while shopping at a San Francisco mall when he was in his 20s. Ward has said that as Lady in Satin played over the PA, he was…

A mugshot of civil rights activist and politician John Lewis, following his arrest in Jackson, Mississippi for using a restroom reserved for white people during the Freedom Ride demonstration against racial segregation on May 24, 1961. Courtesy: Kypros/Getty Images. As I was writing this column it was announced that…