Articles by AAJ Staff
Take Five with Pianist Marta Karassawa
by AAJ Staff
Meet Marta Karassawa Marta Karassawa, a Brazilian pianist and arranger, graduated from Berklee College of Music and formed the Marta Karassawa Quintet in 2001, bringing to light the nostalgia of the great jazz quintets of the '40s and '50s. With it, she performed on the stages of various clubs and festivals. Now, completely revamped, she leads her quintet, with a lineup of renowned musicians, including Teco Cardoso on tenor saxophone and flutes, Sidmar Vieira on trumpet and flugelhorn, Frank Herzberg ...
read moreTake Five From Aaron Irwin
by AAJ Staff
Meet Aaron Irwin Critically acclaimed saxophonist, multi-woodwind player, and composer Aaron Irwin is a compelling voice of his generation. Known as a “lyrical alto saxophonist and a compelling original composer" (The New Yorker), Irwin is a sought-after commodity in the New York jazz scene. Aaron Irwin celebrates his latest project: (After) (Adhyâropa Records, 2024). His ninth album, it is a collection of works inspired by poetry as interactions between sound and verse weave together melancholy, effervescence, and at times, anxiety ...
read moreTake Five with Tap Dancer Petra Haller
by AAJ Staff
Meet Petra Haller Petra Haller, based in jny: London, UK, is a respected figure in the fields of tap dance and music. Honored as a Rising Jazz Artist by Jazzwise Magazine and mentioned as one of Reader's Digest's “10 Female Jazz Musicians You need to Know" Haller has swiftly risen in prominence in the UK and beyond. Haller's artistic niche includes jazz, free jazz, improvised music and multimedia performances. In 2018, she initially collaborated with pianist Richard Lewis ...
read moreTake Five with Pianist Shereen Cheong
by AAJ Staff
Meet Shereen Cheong Shereen Cheong is a New York-based Malaysian pianist, composer, arranger, producer and educator who developed a sense of music from the tender age of three. Pursuant to her classical training, she studied jazz piano with Malaysia's jazz veteran, Michael Veerapen. She is a graduate from Berklee College of Music, holding a dual degree in Contemporary Writing & Production (CWP) and Music Business & Management (MBus). Shereen has arranged, orchestrated and conducted for world-renowned artists like ...
read moreA Conversation with Brad Mehldau
by AAJ Staff
This article was first published at All About Jazz in 2002. All About Jazz: Do you recall your first jazz record? Brad Mehldau: I think the first real jazz record I listened to was an Oscar Peterson and Joe Pass duo album, one of those Pablo things. A friend of my father's bought it for me when I was eleven years old. Oscar was really the first guy I really listened to. That was the one. ...
read moreExotic Ivories: Hard Bop Piano and World Beat Rhythms
by AAJ Staff
This article was first published at All About Jazz in January 2002. Jazz piano and world music rhythm make an enchanting pair. With the popularization of world beat music, jazz musicians nurtured on straight-ahead precepts have incorporated instruments and musical concepts from other cultures into their art. Some, like saxophonist Sam Newsome on last year's release Global Unity, have exited traditional jazz entirely, adopting these international grooves wholesale. Others--clarinetist Don Byron, for instance, on his recent Your Are ...
read moreTwo-Trumpet Cacophony
by AAJ Staff
This article was first published at All About Jazz in February 2002. Miles had it figured out: never record with another trumpeter in a small group setting--it just don't work. Or was it his ego? Two, three, and multi-trumpet small group ensembles represent an obscure configuration in modern jazz. This position contrasts sharply with the notoriety and abundance of two-tenor saxophone lineups: Johnny Griffin and Eddie “Lockjaw" Davis' “Tough Tenors" act of the early '60s immediately comes ...
read moreTake Five with Saxophonist Nick Stefanacci
by AAJ Staff
Meet Nick StefanacciPop/jazz saxophonist, music educator and philanthropist Nick Stefanacci has been a lover of music and performance his entire life. Having started playing saxophone at age 10, he began performing at 16 with the then-rising southern rock guitarist, Derek Trucks. Stefanacci has since worked with some of the industry elite, including, Latin Grammy Award-winning rock group, Diamante Electrico, hip-hop legends Ja Rule and DMC (RunDMC), Cindy Bradley, Dog Eat Dog, Bernard “Pretty" Purdie, and The Four Tops to name ...
read moreA Conversation With Les McCann
by AAJ Staff
Les McCann has a new release on Joel Dorn's 32 Records entitled How's Your Mother?. I had an opportunity to chat with the pianist/vocalist from his home about the release, his humble beginnings in Kentucky, his distaste for the current trends in music, and about the highly successful album with Eddie Harris, Swiss Movement, recorded live at the 1968 Montreux Jazz Festival. All About Jazz: Growing up in Kentucky, what made you want to play jazz music?
read moreTake Five with Tubist Jim Shearer
by AAJ Staff
Meet Jim Shearer Jim Shearer was born in Water Valley, Mississippi, in 1964. His family owned the local newspaper, The North Mississippi Herald, from 1943-2004, and his father was an active musician on the side, playing jazz saxophone and serving as Minister of Music at the family church (but never at the same time!). After spending several years as a flautist at a young age, Jim became a tubist because no one else in the beginning band would play the ...
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