General Articles

The Harlem Renaissance and the “New Negro" One of the most significant intellectual and artistic trends of twentieth century American history, the Harlem Renaissance impacted art, literature, and music in a manner that forever altered the American cultural landscape. The Harlem Renaissance was a movement in the 1920s through which African-American writers, artists, musicians, and thinkers ...

The world of jazz officially went global in 2012, kicked the Grammy Awards in the shins, dealt with economic issues and Mother Nature, and found new ways to innovate in this social media and Internet-savvy age. There were ups and there were downs for both longstanding clubs and festivals, too. Here's a look at significant happenings ...

In the hallway around the corner from the bandstand at Cecil's Jazz Club, hangs a poster for Slugs' Saloon. Through most of the 1960s, until its end in 1972, Slugs' was one of the most important jazz clubs in New York City. Unlike many of the upscale establishments that appeared in its wake, it was a ...

The ebb and flow of jazz in 2011 was marked by a Grammy Awards coup, a Grammy dustup, economic changes that consolidated the recording industry a bit, impacted clubs in various locales, and provided some new opportunities. The U.S. Postal Service literally put its stamp on jazz, even as the government wrestled with the future of ...

For artists who express themselves in a non-verbal medium, jazz instrumentalists have come up with a bundle of choice aphorisms.

Here are four attributed to, or about, tenor saxophonists, which were coined too late for inclusion in Nat Shapiro and Nat Hentoff's Hear Me Talkin' to Ya (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1955).

If you feel like ...

A musical merger of higher education has been established at the last university to include jazz into their curriculum--UCLA. Jazz Studies, under Director/guitarist Dr. Kenny Burrell, The Herb Alpert School of Music , and the Thelonious Monk Institute, guided by Herbie Hancock, have all joined jazztistical bonds in providing not only jazz but all-around musical learning ...

CrossCurrent Festival 3: Press Conference Piazza Loggia, Café Aquarium Brescia, Italy June 21, 2011

This space may not be the most fitting for an extended cultural/sociological analysis of how artistic expression and economical acknowledgment feeds each other, but there are events that can be taken as a good starting point for reflection. ...

New York City has a brilliant new arts foundation, and a related music series. Nikka Arts is a music and arts foundation, founded by New York singer and composer Lola Danza and her business partner JB, of aboptv.com. The organization aims to provide a space where musicians and artists can present their creative work, and also ...

For my dear friend Charles, my second Brother:

Bassist Charles Fambrough, born in Philadelphia on August 25th, 1950 and known as “Broski," died on January 1st, 2011 at 5:00 p.m. with his daughter and wife at his side. Reportedly, he ever-so-gently squeezed their hands as he held them, and smiled. Then he was gone.

When All ...

The jazz scene in 2010 was marked by a bit of cultural thaw between the U.S. and Cuba, royal honors for Marian McPartland that led honors galore for living jazz musicians, and significant acknowledgments for late jazz greats across North America. Efforts continued to expand jazz into new realms--or to hold on during the aftershocks of ...

Standing onstage in the auditorium of the Philadelphia School for Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA), a lanky, grey-haired gentleman stands by the piano, directing a small group of student musicians playing Herbie Hancock's “Cantaloupe Island."

He stops the song during the trumpet solo and says to the student in a British accent, “Did you listen to ...

One of the perks of being a jazz writer is that I can often get free tickets to concerts. This great benefit has offered me the opportunity to take my wife to some nice jazz events and meet some interesting people. Aside from taking notes in the dark, our jazz dates are just like any other ...

After a few minutes talking with pianist Spike Wilner, Charlie Parker's quote about authenticity in music comes to mind: “If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn..." Actually, the entirety of Bird's thoughts best captures the art of Spike Wilner. Bird goes on to state: “They teach you there's a boundary line ...

An online listing for a “no name," threadbare guitar; musicians with a distinct sense of humor; an idea, and one credit card... And a few emails later we've got something that combines the honest-but-struggling underdog, the ugly duckling, Pygmalion, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Kaspar Hauser, a Cinderella rags to riches, Herbie the Love ...