Mark Stryker
@markstryker.bsky.social
Author, Journalist, Critic, Filmmaker.
Books: “Jazz from Detroit”; “Destiny: 100 Years of Music, Magic, and Community at Orchestra Hall in Detroit.”
Film: “The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit.”
Former Detroit Free Press arts reporter/critic, 1995-2016
Books: “Jazz from Detroit”; “Destiny: 100 Years of Music, Magic, and Community at Orchestra Hall in Detroit.”
Film: “The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit.”
Former Detroit Free Press arts reporter/critic, 1995-2016
Reposted by Mark Stryker
Reposted by Mark Stryker
“Its population is increasing, apparently because it breeds in more pristine habitats, and farther north, than the prairie ducks.”
Birds of North America - Eastern Region. DK Press.
Birds of North America - Eastern Region. DK Press.
"Robed in a floating tunic, with strange, coffin-shaped wings, my bare feet bloody, my sides bleeding, my eardrums split, my ankles bruised, my hands splayed, my back lacerated, I feel the wing feathers trembling."
Leon Forrest, "There is a Tree More Ancient Than Eden." (1973)
Leon Forrest, "There is a Tree More Ancient Than Eden." (1973)
Pick up the nearest book. Turn to page 42, post the second sentence.
"It pulls at my clothing and sometimes I feel I've got to pick it up, cuddle and kiss it."
"It pulls at my clothing and sometimes I feel I've got to pick it up, cuddle and kiss it."
January 21, 2026 at 1:33 PM
“Its population is increasing, apparently because it breeds in more pristine habitats, and farther north, than the prairie ducks.”
Birds of North America - Eastern Region. DK Press.
Birds of North America - Eastern Region. DK Press.
Reposted by Mark Stryker
‘All the rich people did not like you at all.’ Anna Freud Introduction to Psychoanalysis.
January 21, 2026 at 1:32 PM
‘All the rich people did not like you at all.’ Anna Freud Introduction to Psychoanalysis.
"Robed in a floating tunic, with strange, coffin-shaped wings, my bare feet bloody, my sides bleeding, my eardrums split, my ankles bruised, my hands splayed, my back lacerated, I feel the wing feathers trembling."
Leon Forrest, "There is a Tree More Ancient Than Eden." (1973)
Leon Forrest, "There is a Tree More Ancient Than Eden." (1973)
Pick up the nearest book. Turn to page 42, post the second sentence.
"It pulls at my clothing and sometimes I feel I've got to pick it up, cuddle and kiss it."
"It pulls at my clothing and sometimes I feel I've got to pick it up, cuddle and kiss it."
Pick up the nearest book. Turn to page 42, post the second sentence.
'In the evening we had a dance'.
'In the evening we had a dance'.
January 21, 2026 at 1:23 PM
"Robed in a floating tunic, with strange, coffin-shaped wings, my bare feet bloody, my sides bleeding, my eardrums split, my ankles bruised, my hands splayed, my back lacerated, I feel the wing feathers trembling."
Leon Forrest, "There is a Tree More Ancient Than Eden." (1973)
Leon Forrest, "There is a Tree More Ancient Than Eden." (1973)
If the day after Indiana won the NCAA basketball championship in 1987 for the 3rd time in 11 years, I told you that the IU football team would win a national championship before the school would win another basketball title, you would have had me committed -- and been justified.
January 20, 2026 at 1:30 PM
If the day after Indiana won the NCAA basketball championship in 1987 for the 3rd time in 11 years, I told you that the IU football team would win a national championship before the school would win another basketball title, you would have had me committed -- and been justified.
At the start of the season, one of the questions I saw asked over and over was: Who will be this year's Indiana?
Turns out the answer was: Indiana.
Turns out the answer was: Indiana.
January 20, 2026 at 1:29 PM
At the start of the season, one of the questions I saw asked over and over was: Who will be this year's Indiana?
Turns out the answer was: Indiana.
Turns out the answer was: Indiana.
Reposted by Mark Stryker
Happy birthday to my fave bass player, Israel Crosby!
Ab for Israel Crosby!
Ab for Israel Crosby!
Happy birthday to bassist Israel Crosby! This was my final Chronology column for Jazz Times in 2023. The theme: If you only know about Crosby with Ahmad Jamal, you don’t know the full measure of his contributions.
jazztimes.com/features/tri...
jazztimes.com/features/tri...
Chronology: Israel Crosby Revolutionized the Bass - JazzTimes
Editor’s Note: This column, the final one in Mark Stryker’s Chronology series, ran in the April 2023 print edition of JazzTimes, the last issue before … Read More "Chronology: Israel Crosby Revolution...
jazztimes.com
January 20, 2026 at 2:34 AM
Happy birthday to my fave bass player, Israel Crosby!
Ab for Israel Crosby!
Ab for Israel Crosby!
Happy birthday to bassist Israel Crosby! This was my final Chronology column for Jazz Times in 2023. The theme: If you only know about Crosby with Ahmad Jamal, you don’t know the full measure of his contributions.
jazztimes.com/features/tri...
jazztimes.com/features/tri...
Chronology: Israel Crosby Revolutionized the Bass - JazzTimes
Editor’s Note: This column, the final one in Mark Stryker’s Chronology series, ran in the April 2023 print edition of JazzTimes, the last issue before … Read More "Chronology: Israel Crosby Revolution...
jazztimes.com
January 20, 2026 at 2:20 AM
Happy birthday to bassist Israel Crosby! This was my final Chronology column for Jazz Times in 2023. The theme: If you only know about Crosby with Ahmad Jamal, you don’t know the full measure of his contributions.
jazztimes.com/features/tri...
jazztimes.com/features/tri...
🧵A Moment of Reflection
Honoring the immortal Martin Luther King today by highlighting a remarkable photo appearing in "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit." In the foreground are King, left, and Rev. C. L. Franklin (Aretha's dad), June 23, 1963, during the Walk to Freedom in Detroit.
Honoring the immortal Martin Luther King today by highlighting a remarkable photo appearing in "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit." In the foreground are King, left, and Rev. C. L. Franklin (Aretha's dad), June 23, 1963, during the Walk to Freedom in Detroit.
January 19, 2026 at 4:13 PM
🧵A Moment of Reflection
Honoring the immortal Martin Luther King today by highlighting a remarkable photo appearing in "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit." In the foreground are King, left, and Rev. C. L. Franklin (Aretha's dad), June 23, 1963, during the Walk to Freedom in Detroit.
Honoring the immortal Martin Luther King today by highlighting a remarkable photo appearing in "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit." In the foreground are King, left, and Rev. C. L. Franklin (Aretha's dad), June 23, 1963, during the Walk to Freedom in Detroit.
A famous alum reflects. Nothing profound, but when you have grown up in Bloomington, your father taught at Indiana University for more than five decades, and you hold a master's degree from the institution, it feels nice. Trust me. www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPH1...
"Hail to Indiana!": Jane Pauley on her alma mater's gridiron success and school anthem
YouTube video by CBS Sunday Morning
www.youtube.com
January 18, 2026 at 6:02 PM
A famous alum reflects. Nothing profound, but when you have grown up in Bloomington, your father taught at Indiana University for more than five decades, and you hold a master's degree from the institution, it feels nice. Trust me. www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPH1...
Reposted by Mark Stryker
Wonderful film.
January 14, 2026 at 3:11 AM
Wonderful film.
Fair warning to folks in or near the Hudson Valley north of NYC: "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit" is screening at the indispensable Jazz Forum in Tarrytown, on Thurs, Jan. 15. Doors at 6, film at 7. Q-and-A follows. Tickets/info: jazzforumarts.org/event/34001/
January 14, 2026 at 2:50 AM
Fair warning to folks in or near the Hudson Valley north of NYC: "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit" is screening at the indispensable Jazz Forum in Tarrytown, on Thurs, Jan. 15. Doors at 6, film at 7. Q-and-A follows. Tickets/info: jazzforumarts.org/event/34001/
Reposted by Mark Stryker
Please watch this beautiful clip. Terry lost her husband last year, jazz critic Francis Davis. She & Colbert discuss grief; he talks about his mother. They interview each other, which is to say they are having a REAL conversation of the type you hardly ever see on TV. m.youtube.com/watch?v=WCkg...
"I Wanted To Share A Piece Of Him" - Terry Gross On Sharing Her Husband's Work After His Death
YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
m.youtube.com
January 10, 2026 at 2:04 PM
Please watch this beautiful clip. Terry lost her husband last year, jazz critic Francis Davis. She & Colbert discuss grief; he talks about his mother. They interview each other, which is to say they are having a REAL conversation of the type you hardly ever see on TV. m.youtube.com/watch?v=WCkg...
Reposted by Mark Stryker
Thanks for sharing, Mark
January 10, 2026 at 2:56 PM
Thanks for sharing, Mark
Please watch this beautiful clip. Terry lost her husband last year, jazz critic Francis Davis. She & Colbert discuss grief; he talks about his mother. They interview each other, which is to say they are having a REAL conversation of the type you hardly ever see on TV. m.youtube.com/watch?v=WCkg...
"I Wanted To Share A Piece Of Him" - Terry Gross On Sharing Her Husband's Work After His Death
YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
m.youtube.com
January 10, 2026 at 2:04 PM
Please watch this beautiful clip. Terry lost her husband last year, jazz critic Francis Davis. She & Colbert discuss grief; he talks about his mother. They interview each other, which is to say they are having a REAL conversation of the type you hardly ever see on TV. m.youtube.com/watch?v=WCkg...
Jan. 8=good Karma for @bluenoterecords.bsky.social.
Taped this day in the early '60s were Jackie McLean's Bluesnik (1961), Kenny Burrell's Midnight Blue (1963), Andrew Hill's Judgement (1964). Burrell's title track is heard in The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit. www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5xh...
Taped this day in the early '60s were Jackie McLean's Bluesnik (1961), Kenny Burrell's Midnight Blue (1963), Andrew Hill's Judgement (1964). Burrell's title track is heard in The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit. www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5xh...
Midnight Blue (Remastered 1999/Rudy Van Gelder Edition)
YouTube video by Kenny Burrell - Topic
www.youtube.com
January 8, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Jan. 8=good Karma for @bluenoterecords.bsky.social.
Taped this day in the early '60s were Jackie McLean's Bluesnik (1961), Kenny Burrell's Midnight Blue (1963), Andrew Hill's Judgement (1964). Burrell's title track is heard in The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit. www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5xh...
Taped this day in the early '60s were Jackie McLean's Bluesnik (1961), Kenny Burrell's Midnight Blue (1963), Andrew Hill's Judgement (1964). Burrell's title track is heard in The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit. www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5xh...
Happy birthday to the great but often underappreciated drummer Sam Woodyard, born on January, 7, 1925, and gone too young at age 63 in 1988. A few years ago I wrote about Woodyard and Sonny Greer for JazzTimes under the banner of the Ellington Drummers.
jazztimes.com/features/col...
jazztimes.com/features/col...
Chronology: Sonny Greer and Sam Woodyard Drum for the Duke
Mark Stryker examines the work and respective playing styles of Duke Ellington's longest-tenured drummers, Sonny Greer and Sam Woodyard.
jazztimes.com
January 7, 2026 at 9:23 PM
Happy birthday to the great but often underappreciated drummer Sam Woodyard, born on January, 7, 1925, and gone too young at age 63 in 1988. A few years ago I wrote about Woodyard and Sonny Greer for JazzTimes under the banner of the Ellington Drummers.
jazztimes.com/features/col...
jazztimes.com/features/col...
Reposted by Mark Stryker
An insightful, extremely well-written new review of "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit" by Tony Asankomah (GhMovieFreak). As the writer and co-producer of the film (and an author/journalist/critic myself), it's gratifying to get such a sophisticated response. ghmoviefreak.com/documentary-...
Documentary Review: ‘The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit’ – A City and Its Sound, Its Legacy and Its Resistance
There’s a certain kind of weight a city carries when its story has been told too often in fragments. Certainly, you can say that Detroit is a place that knows this weight. ‘The Best of the Best: Jazz ...
ghmoviefreak.com
January 7, 2026 at 4:55 PM
An insightful, extremely well-written new review of "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit" by Tony Asankomah (GhMovieFreak). As the writer and co-producer of the film (and an author/journalist/critic myself), it's gratifying to get such a sophisticated response. ghmoviefreak.com/documentary-...
An insightful, extremely well-written new review of "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit" by Tony Asankomah (GhMovieFreak). As the writer and co-producer of the film (and an author/journalist/critic myself), it's gratifying to get such a sophisticated response. ghmoviefreak.com/documentary-...
Documentary Review: ‘The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit’ – A City and Its Sound, Its Legacy and Its Resistance
There’s a certain kind of weight a city carries when its story has been told too often in fragments. Certainly, you can say that Detroit is a place that knows this weight. ‘The Best of the Best: Jazz ...
ghmoviefreak.com
January 7, 2026 at 4:55 PM
An insightful, extremely well-written new review of "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit" by Tony Asankomah (GhMovieFreak). As the writer and co-producer of the film (and an author/journalist/critic myself), it's gratifying to get such a sophisticated response. ghmoviefreak.com/documentary-...
Alert
Beyond thrilled to announce that :The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit" will be screening at Indiana University in my hometown of Bloomington at 7 p.m. February 21 at IU Cinema. My coproducers and I will be there for a post-screening Q-and-A.
cinema.indiana.edu/upcoming-fil...
Beyond thrilled to announce that :The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit" will be screening at Indiana University in my hometown of Bloomington at 7 p.m. February 21 at IU Cinema. My coproducers and I will be there for a post-screening Q-and-A.
cinema.indiana.edu/upcoming-fil...
The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit, Saturday, February 21, 2026 7:00 pm
IU Cinema presents The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit on Saturday, February 21, 2026 7:00 pm. A landmark double portrait of Detroit’s extraordinary jazz legacy and the dynamic city that produced ...
cinema.indiana.edu
January 6, 2026 at 4:32 PM
Alert
Beyond thrilled to announce that :The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit" will be screening at Indiana University in my hometown of Bloomington at 7 p.m. February 21 at IU Cinema. My coproducers and I will be there for a post-screening Q-and-A.
cinema.indiana.edu/upcoming-fil...
Beyond thrilled to announce that :The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit" will be screening at Indiana University in my hometown of Bloomington at 7 p.m. February 21 at IU Cinema. My coproducers and I will be there for a post-screening Q-and-A.
cinema.indiana.edu/upcoming-fil...
Reposted by Mark Stryker
A pleasure speaking with a true pro, Dave Drexler of
KSDS Jazz 88.3 in San Diego, about "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit." Here's our 30-minute conversation. Check it out, and remember that the film is streaming on Prime Video, YouTube TV, and Google Play. www.jazz88.org/MP3/IA010426...
KSDS Jazz 88.3 in San Diego, about "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit." Here's our 30-minute conversation. Check it out, and remember that the film is streaming on Prime Video, YouTube TV, and Google Play. www.jazz88.org/MP3/IA010426...
www.jazz88.org
January 4, 2026 at 6:03 PM
A pleasure speaking with a true pro, Dave Drexler of
KSDS Jazz 88.3 in San Diego, about "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit." Here's our 30-minute conversation. Check it out, and remember that the film is streaming on Prime Video, YouTube TV, and Google Play. www.jazz88.org/MP3/IA010426...
KSDS Jazz 88.3 in San Diego, about "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit." Here's our 30-minute conversation. Check it out, and remember that the film is streaming on Prime Video, YouTube TV, and Google Play. www.jazz88.org/MP3/IA010426...
A pleasure speaking with a true pro, Dave Drexler of
KSDS Jazz 88.3 in San Diego, about "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit." Here's our 30-minute conversation. Check it out, and remember that the film is streaming on Prime Video, YouTube TV, and Google Play. www.jazz88.org/MP3/IA010426...
KSDS Jazz 88.3 in San Diego, about "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit." Here's our 30-minute conversation. Check it out, and remember that the film is streaming on Prime Video, YouTube TV, and Google Play. www.jazz88.org/MP3/IA010426...
www.jazz88.org
January 4, 2026 at 6:03 PM
A pleasure speaking with a true pro, Dave Drexler of
KSDS Jazz 88.3 in San Diego, about "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit." Here's our 30-minute conversation. Check it out, and remember that the film is streaming on Prime Video, YouTube TV, and Google Play. www.jazz88.org/MP3/IA010426...
KSDS Jazz 88.3 in San Diego, about "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit." Here's our 30-minute conversation. Check it out, and remember that the film is streaming on Prime Video, YouTube TV, and Google Play. www.jazz88.org/MP3/IA010426...
Reposted by Mark Stryker
Wow… Awesome… Just finished watching. Read your book a few years ago, saved the documentary for tonight. Thanks for the passion that drove your effort. Love learning more about the city I grew up in (near, actually, but who would quibble?)
January 1, 2026 at 3:20 AM
Wow… Awesome… Just finished watching. Read your book a few years ago, saved the documentary for tonight. Thanks for the passion that drove your effort. Love learning more about the city I grew up in (near, actually, but who would quibble?)
Reposted by Mark Stryker
Happy New Year from the team behind "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit."
Roberta Friedman, producer
Daniel Loewenthal, director, editor, and producer
Mark Stryker, writer and producer
Roberta Friedman, producer
Daniel Loewenthal, director, editor, and producer
Mark Stryker, writer and producer
December 31, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Happy New Year from the team behind "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit."
Roberta Friedman, producer
Daniel Loewenthal, director, editor, and producer
Mark Stryker, writer and producer
Roberta Friedman, producer
Daniel Loewenthal, director, editor, and producer
Mark Stryker, writer and producer