Articles by Bill King

Janis: Memphis Meltdown

by Bill King
October 10, 2009

I'd been hustling a meager living in the coffee houses and psychedelic joints of Greenwich Village in lower Manhattan when word spread of Janis Joplin's departure from Big Brother & the Holding Company. I can't say the announcement held the same aura as the Beatles imminent crack-up or Bob Dylan converting electric, but it did reverberate along Bleecker and McDougall streets attracting greater attention among working musicians than buskers. I for one reacted swiftly to rumor.Word came Janis ...

Miles Davis: Unlimited Miles

by Bill King
September 29, 2009

I can't think of an artist who has had greater influence over jazz the past forty years than Miles Davis. For music, style, language and business, Davis was at the top of the game. One to never step aside and let critics dissuade or impede his aspirations, he constantly retooled his band with the brightest most gifted young players of the moment. There are those who will argue that Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Oscar ...

A Camera's Eye View: Festival International de Jazz de Montreal 2009

by Bill King
August 29, 2009

Festival International de Jazz de Montreal Montreal, Quebec, Canada July 1-12, 2009 There is something truly empowering situated behind the lens of a camera waiting with expectation for the moment when the soul, mind and body of an artist strike bare wires and something electric unexpectedly happens. Privately, ownership of that moment belongs to the artist--publicly, documentation of that juncture is in possession of the person behind the lens. Where it goes after ...

2009 Quebec City Summer Festival

by Bill King
August 9, 2009

Québec City Summer Festival Québec City, Québec, Canada July 9-19, 2009

The 42nd summer edition has been an endurance test of sight, sound and leg work. With three large outdoor venues--the Bell Stage on the Plains of Abraham featuring mainline artists Pink Martini, Sean Paul, Loreena McKennitt, Brian Setzer Orchestra, Styx, French cult group Indochine and The Lost Fingers; the Molson Dry Stage with Jeff Beck, Québec rock group Miriodor, Van Der Graaf Generator, hip hop ...

Kenny Garrett Brings Big Thunder to 2005 Barbados Jazz Festival

by Bill King
January 26, 2005

It's always a joy arriving in Barbados, a place that has become infinitely familiar and whose people welcome us as family. Years past, the view from the side window of the airplane exposed terrain dried from uncompromising sunshine, at other times, as is the case at present, incessant rain. Fortunately, the opening concert at the Sunbury Plantation was spared interruption.

Local hero, pianist Adrian Clarke led with his crack band featuring saxophonist Andre Woodvine on tenor, Nicholas Brankcer bass ...