Dr. Billy Taylor (pictured with his trio) is a walking history of jazz. He began playing professionally in 1944, and in that capacity he has composed over 350 songs, performed with legends such as Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and led his own trio for decades. The numerous awards Taylor garnered as a performer and educator include 23 honorary doctoral degrees, two Peabody Awards, an Emmy, a Grammy, and the National Medal of the…

In a town where motorcades are less a spectacle and more an annoyance, Mayor Adrian Fenty’s modest security detail has never raised many eyebrows. But now Fenty has done away with it altogether — and no one really knows why. According to a Post report, Fenty has decided to ditch the police security detail and drive himself around during the month of August instead. And beyond simply shedding daily armed protection, Fenty has also been…

Continuing our brief series on the new and shiny members of the art community, we move from the chaotic to the highly structured, with recent Maryland Institute College of Art, MFA recipient Courtney Jordan. Smitten with art and mostly self-taught, Jordan’s paintings and ink drawings breathe new life into the architecture we’ve stopped seeing for all its designed beauty. Having grown up in New York, she’s drawn to bridges and industrial creations. Irvine Contemporary was…

Dude, Where’s My Car? While car theft isn’t a laughing matter, we chuckled for a very brief moment when we heard that Police Chief Charles Ramsey’s car was stolen over the weekend. The AP, via WTOP, reports that the chief’s 1999 Ford Crown Victoria was stolen after being parked near his house by a police officer when Ramsey was out of town. On Ramsey’s way to church Sunday morning, the car was nowhere to be…

It was an all-European, all-the-time line up last night at the 9:30 Club as DCist headed out to see a bill of Long-View, a group from Manchester, Scottish quintet Dogs Die In Hot Cars and Parisian band Phoenix. Though we’d been hearing some buzz surrounding all three groups, especially following Long-View and DDIHC’s recent performances at SXSW, we went into the concert without any expectations, but came out pleasantly surprised. The best word we…