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Ain’t Nothing Stopping Us Now: The Tower Of Power Story

Read "Ain’t Nothing Stopping Us Now: The Tower Of Power Story" reviewed by Jason Elias


For over 50 years Tower of Power has been the favorite of those who love R&B/soul, funk and sophisticated jazz. While the band is often known for its revolving door of lead singers, the band's founders, Emilio Castillo (saxophone) and Stephen “Doc" Kupka (baritone sax) have remained their constant. The Bay Area band's first album East Bay Grease was released on Bill Graham's San Francisco Records. The effort became known for its immediately recognizable horn arrangements and energy, especially on ...

18

Camilo Valencia: One Heart At A Time - A Remembrance (1959-2003)

Read "Camilo Valencia: One Heart At A Time - A Remembrance (1959-2003)" reviewed by Dr. Alex Sino


Camilo Valencia, a soul brimming with boundless passion, sadly died on September 6, 2023 after undergoing a third heart transplant. He thus carried the weight of four hearts throughout his journey, each pulsating with an ardent desire to share his musical gifts with the world. During his career, Camilo Valencia racked up credits working on projects for international stars such as Shakira, Carlos Santana, Nestor Torres, David Byrne, Ricky Martin, Jose Feliciano, Natalia Jimenez, Wyclef Jean, and many ...

4

Lilian Terry: Forever Sisters Of The Soul - Renaissance Jazzwomen

Read "Lilian Terry: Forever Sisters Of The Soul - Renaissance Jazzwomen" reviewed by Kerilie McDowall


I was warmly accepted by a giant such as Duke Ellington during his last seven years. He chose to be my friend, demanding my annual presence during his concert tours in Europe as his “good luck charm," and as his sounding board for all the phrases he would dictate to me, to be used later in his own writings. Our relationship was an unbelievable and precious experience."--Lilian Terry (1930-2023) Dizzy, Duke, Brother Ray, and Friends. Hearing from jazz ...

14

Roy Ayers: A Retrospective

Read "Roy Ayers: A Retrospective" reviewed by Jason Elias


Vibraphonist, singer and producer Roy Ayers is a master of many musical styles and genres, from acid-jazz, jazz-funk to romantic ballads and dance tracks. While many of his contemporaries seemed to fail when they tried different sounds, Ayers always made sure a certain of musicality and identity was apparent in all of his work. Ayers's first album was 1963's West Coast Vibes and it was issued on United Artists Records. Ayers spent the next few years as a ...

9

Rob Luft: Burning the Candle at Both Ends

Read "Rob Luft: Burning the Candle at Both Ends" reviewed by Peter Jones


What kind of musician gets asked to write a concerto for a 65-piece orchestra--the BBC Concert Orchestra, no less--when still in his twenties, and when he has never previously written for an orchestra? Well, somehow or other, UK guitarist Rob Luft is that kind of musician. Writing for an orchestra is something he has always wanted to do, and the work receives its world premiere at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's South Bank on November 16th as ...

14

Johnny Vidacovich: Magnet In The Middle

Read "Johnny Vidacovich: Magnet In The Middle" reviewed by Thomas Cole


The ever changing cast of the Johnny Vidacovich Trio defies the meaning of that word--trio . Historically, jazz trios with a drummer in the middle have included such notables as Art Blakey, Gene Krupa and Max Roach but none of those groups changed cast members on a weekly basis or deviated very far from what they normally played--jazz. These drummers, for the most part, embraced their familiar style of music or genre and played. But every Thursday evening the Vidacovich ...

7

Autumn Jazz Weathers Well in San Francisco

Read "Autumn Jazz Weathers Well in San Francisco" reviewed by Arthur R George


Autumn is a special season for jazz in jny: San Francisco. The weather at other times of the year variously drives one indoors for warmth, a good enough reason to seek shelter in jazz. But in the autumn, mostly gone is the bone-chilling summer fog that pours into the city from the cold Pacific Ocean. Not yet are the winter rains that soak damp alleys. The days and nights are crisp and clear, good for being out and listening.

25

Remembering Carla Bley: Jazz Innovator Extraordinaire

Read "Remembering Carla Bley: Jazz Innovator Extraordinaire" reviewed by Ian Patterson


Carla Bley, composer, arranger, free-jazz pioneer, band leader, pianist and independent, whose compositions became jazz standards, has died at the age of 87. She had been diagnosed with brain cancer in 2018. Bley's most famous recording was her sprawling, genre-elusive triple album Escalator Over the Hill (JCOA Records, 1971). On the back of this album, in 1972, Bley won a Guggenheim Fellowship for composition. In a sixty-year career her music covered a wide arc, from large-scale ...

26

The Crusaders: A Retrospective

Read "The Crusaders: A Retrospective" reviewed by Jason Elias


With the esteemed jazz/funk/fusion band the Crusaders as a guide, one could trace the rise and fall of commercial jazz in all in many of its permutations. The core group that is the most recognized was founded in Texas and comprised Joe Sample (piano), Wilton Felder (tenor sax and bass), Stix Hooper (drums) and Wayne Henderson (trombone.) In the early days, the then Jazz Crusaders fashioned a studious, hard-bop sound on the label World Pacific that appeared on songs like ...

15

Eddie Higgins: Elegance And Confidentiality

Read "Eddie Higgins: Elegance And Confidentiality" reviewed by Daniele Trucco


This article was translated into English and was first published on meer.com.The story of a refined pianist, feted as a sideman by the greats of international jazz and an authentic star of the Japanese record scene.The Ascent I met pianist Eddie Higgins on three separate occasions--the first time was in 2006 at a concert at the Teatro Piccolo Regio in Turin (Italy). Thin, reserved, extremely polite and helpful, with a weak and slightly hoarse tone of ...


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