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Sean Noonan, Richard Bona & Sugar Pie DeSanto
Sean Noonan & Pavees Dance
The Douglass Street Music Collective
December 15, 2011
It might seem as though drummer/composer Sean Noonan was enjoying a quiet year in 2011, playing fewer gigs than usual. The reality is that he's been busy scribing new works, in preparation for a twin album onslaught in 2012. He's also planning an extensive reissue drive for his existing catalogue. Six months ago, Noonan played at The Stone with his Boxing Dreams String ...
Read MoreNYC Winter Jazzfest, Day 2: January 7, 2012
Day 1 | Day 2 2012 NYC Winter Jazzfest, Day 2
New York, NY
January 7, 2012
Gregoire Maret
The harmonica, like the accordion and other free reed aerophones, doesn't come with as much built-in room for expression as other wind instruments, which is what makes Gregoire Maret's playing so unique. For his quartet show at Zinc Bar, Maret relied on loose melodicism, carefully organized ornaments and just the right amount of “out" playing to give his playing ...
Read MoreNYC Winter Jazzfest, Day 1: January 6, 2012
Day 1 | Day 2 2012 NYC Winter Jazzfest, Day 1
New York, NY
January 6, 2012
No one could argue that jazz didn't have a tumultuous 2011. For the better, bassist/vocalist Esperanza Spalding's Grammy for Best New Artist marked the first time a jazz musician was awarded that honor, and veteran tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins was honored for his lifelong (and continuing) achievement at the Kennedy Center. For the worse, the winter was a gloomy season, having ...
Read MoreGov't Mule at the Beacon Theatre on New Year's Eve
Gov't Mule
Beacon Theatre
New York, NY
December 30-31, 2011
Though Gov't Mule had played hardly any gigs since January 1, 2011, it nevertheless presented a hearty welcome to 2012 with a two-night Beacon theatre run that marked the tenth anniversary of the its New York City tradition.
No question, Gov't Mule took its time after casually taking the stage December 30. “Devil Likes It Slow," goes one of the band's vintage tunes, and so did the ...
Read MoreBehind the Lens With Richard Conde
Meet Richard Conde:
My work has been featured in National Geographic and recently chosen for their permanent stock collection. Most of my work consists of jazz photography, travel photography and dance performance events. Currently I am the senior staff photographer for the Jazz Museum in Harlem and the club photographer for the Birdland jazz club in New York City. I am also represented by the HP Garcia gallery in New York City. I have earned a Masters of ...
The State of Jazz Education
For my entire childhood, up through the moment I graduated high school, I was told of the importance of the SAT Reasoning Tests and attending college. I believe this was a message my entire generation heard from our parents, teachers, and society at large. While I was in eighth grade, I was introduced to jazz and immediately fell in love with the music of John Coltrane. I shared this passion with my twin brother, trombonist Joe Beaty. We were lucky ...
Read MoreBirdland Big Band, New York, NY. December 28, 2011
The Birdland Big Band directed by Tommy Igoe
Birdland
New York, NY
December 28, 2011
On a chilly Wednesday night in December, drummer and bandleader Tommy Igoe directed the fifteen-piece Birdland Big Band as part of its weeklong headlining residence at the club the group has been calling home since its inception in 2005. The ensemble kicked off the set with an intriguing piece that shifted tempos, going from swing to blues, depending on who was soloing. ...
Read MoreDave Douglas, Wadada Leo Smith & Taylor Ho Bynum
The Dave Douglas/Donny McCaslin Key Motion Quintet
Jazz Standard
December 8, 2011
This was the first of four Dave Douglas nights at the Jazz Standard, each of them highlighting a different performance perspective. The unexpected has become the expected where this high-wire trumpeter is concerned. Douglas is perpetually scouting for fresh settings, new musical concepts and unfamiliar terrain where he's able to stretch his abilities, to heighten an already fearsome virtuosity and communicative playing passion. Three ...
Read MoreRez Abbasi: Thoroughly Modern Marvel
Guitarist Rez Abbasi is part of a generation of jazz musicians who came of age after the conservative backlash of the 1980s. He and his peers are making their mark on America's art form by contributing their rich and varied cultural backgrounds and with an embrace of popular culture that was heresy in some quarters for far too long.
Rez Abbasi personifies several of the attributes on display in his music. He puts forth a quiet confidence, with a clear ...
Read MoreBirdland Big Band, New York, NY, December 28, 2011
The Birdland Big Band directed by Tommy Igoe
Birdland
New York, NY
December 28, 2011
Establishing a foothold in the world of big bands today is no easy feat. Strong label support and distribution (Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, for example), constant touring, television appearances and festival appearances (as with Wynton Marsalis and the LCJO), the weight of big band history (in the case of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra), and/or a unique, high brow concept in musical ...
Read MoreStretch, BAM and the Future of Jazz
A few months ago Felix Pastorius, Chris Ward, Zaccai Curtis and I started something called The Stretch Movement. We started quietly amongst our friends and launched our website, mymomthinksimgreat.com on November 2, 2011. Why quietly? I was worried; it was the uneasiness of being the first to do something. In our mission statement we were acknowledging that jazz was not only dead but that that word didn't aptly describe the music we play. We started Stretch for all the amazing ...
Read MoreDave Burrell Trio: New York, NY, September 10, 2011
Dave Burrell Trio
Crosscurrent 3 Festival
Poisson Rouge
New York, NY
September 10, 2011
For its third annual edition, Crosscurrent moved the festival from its home in Botticino, Italy to New York City. Following the sonic delights of the Vision Festival in June, Crosscurrent 3 offered an additional array of creative music ensembles led by Wadada Leo Smith, Dave Burrell, Wayne Horvitz, Taylor Ho Bynum and Joe McPhee.
Dave Burrell has long been a ...
Read MoreJazz Arrangers: A Celebration at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola
Any discussion of a jazz figure's importance must include an analysis of the breadth of his or her talents. No one doubts trumpeter Louis Armstrong's stature in the origins of Dixieland. But attempts to place Jelly Roll Morton next to him in the pantheon of the genre often meet with resistance. Yet, in addition to being an outstanding performing virtuoso as, of course, Armstrong was, Morton was a premier arranger. This huge talent has too often been downplayed by jazz ...
Read MorePeter Murphy: New York, NY, November 21, 2011
Peter Murphy with She Wants Revenge and Hussle Club
Irving Plaza
New York, New York
November 21, 2011
The cold biting wind, a short holiday get-away week--even the presence of two opening acts--did not deter legions of Peter Murphy fans, both old and new, from his gig at the iconic East Village club, Irving Plaza. The ever-busy Murphy is coming off an action-packed 2011. The former front man for Bauhaus signed with Nettwerk Music Group at ...
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