Jamieson Findlay

I remember a sprawling garden in Indonesia where the trees outdid the old gods — and even the taxi drivers of Jakarta — in their outsized lack of inhibition. Lord Ganesha, part elephant and part man, met me at the entrance. He seemed the perfect choice of gatekeeper: the revered Hindu deity, master of wisdom and…

I am no expert on jazz. If someone were to ask me if the theme to the classic television special A Charlie Brown Christmas is jazz, I would say yes — because it’s jaunty, and, for me, jauntiness is an essential characteristic of the genre. I know a few iconic tunes and albums — Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five,” Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue…