2013-05-13T00:20:21-06:00 m: Kim Nazarian went to college in upstate New York for acting, with dreams of the Broadway stage. Some 25 years later, she's enjoying a career that has taken her to stages around the globe--but as a singer. Not just a singer, but one of four that makes up New York Voices, a group that has won Grammy Awards and performed with many jazz luminaries during its illustrious run...]]> R.J. DeLuke 2013-05-13T00:20:21-06:00 m: John Williams; his duo with violinist m: Chris Garrick; Garrick and Etheridge's quartet Sweet Chorus, inspired by m: Stephane Grappelli; his trio with bassist m: Arild Andersen and drummer m: John Marshall; and the m: Frank Zappa-inspired Zappatistas...]]> Bruce Lindsay 2013-05-07T00:20:26-06:00 m: Peter Hook and guitarist Bernard Sumner after seeing the Sex Pistols play in Manchester in 1976, the group took shape when singer Ian Curtis responded to a "seeking singer" ad...]]> Nenad Georgievski 2013-04-30T00:20:14-06:00 m: Terence Blanchard, is ready to take the spotlight as a bandleader once more with his third studio project. This is a record about a true desire to act as an instrument of peace and a heart full of faith and realizations; a jazz musician telling his own story as he perceives it--and as his band members understand it...]]> Esther Berlanga-Ryan 2013-04-29T00:20:16-06:00 m: Charles Mingus, the author of those words, she had "it." It was rhythm and she exuded it and fostered it at a very early age...]]> R.J. DeLuke 2013-04-22T00:20:15-06:00 m: Ralph Bowen was born in Canada but he has pursued a jazz career in the United States for over 20 years, as tenor saxophonist, composer and arranger. He strikes neatly with his recordings as a leader, just like it was done last year with Total Eclipse, an album recorded with his quartet: organist m: Jared Gold, guitarist m: Mike Moreno and drummer m: Rudy Royston. Bowen has a spotless reputation in the U.S. jazz community, but remains virtually unknown to international audiences. Bowen is an Associate Professor of Music at Rutgers University and a Visiting Associate Professor at Princeton University. His academic responsibilities are the primary reason why he seldom travels. When he does tour, he rarely ventures far from the northeastern region of the United States. But in mid-March, Bowen came to Russia for the second time. His quick, distinctive, powerful playing was a fresh discovery for the majority of Russian listeners. His only other trip to Russia was in 2011, when he was invited to join an international band led by pianist m: Ivan Farmakovsky. The 2011 project involved Farmakovsky's jazz arrangements of Russian songs. For his most recent visit in March, Bowen performed a program of his own music, backed by Farmakovsky's trio. The idea was received with evident warmth by audiences who had no idea of Ralph Bowen as a composer...]]> Diana Kondrashin 2013-04-09T00:20:16-06:00 m: Wilco. Or maybe it was stumbling upon a guitar internet forum where nerd boys and girls go over the minutiae of his expansive and varied effect pedals, amps, and guitars. Or it could have been hearing his critically acclaimed The Giant Pin (Cryptogramophone, 2004) with his group, the m: Nels Cline Singers (even though nobody sang). Or maybe it was hearing one of the 600+ recording credits that he has, with a diverse group of performers that it's truly difficult to pin him down to any genre...]]> Ted Harms 2013-04-08T00:20:15-06:00 m: George Benson, m: Wes Montgomery and m: Joe Pass contained, in fact, improvisations...]]> R.J. DeLuke 2013-03-25T00:20:16-06:00 Nenad Georgievski 2013-03-19T00:20:17-06:00 Marta Ramon 2013-03-12T00:20:21-06:00 Ian Patterson 2013-03-11T00:20:21-06:00 m: Lester Young at the December 1949 opening of Birdland. He served as pianist for m: Charlie Parker and m: Dizzy Gillespie when they blew through "Hot House" on network TV in 1952 (the only known surviving video with audio of Parker)...]]> Chris M. Slawecki 2013-03-08T00:20:21-06:00 Ian Patterson 2013-03-05T00:20:17-06:00 Daniel Lehner 2013-03-04T00:20:17-06:00 Nenad Georgievski 2013-02-26T00:20:14-06:00 m: John Coltrane, m: Wayne Shorter and m: Joe Henderson, but the same could be said about Herwig himself. He's one of the foremost jazz trombonists of his generation, but he's also made his mark as a prolific composer and arranger, as well as a bandleader and an educator...]]> Bob Kenselaar 2013-02-25T00:20:17-06:00 R.J. DeLuke 2013-02-18T00:20:14-06:00 m: Charlie Parker, m: Dexter Gordon, m: Billie Holiday, m: John Coltrane, m: Chet Baker and m: Miles Davis adorn countless walls of jazz aficionados around the world. These photographs may owe their status, at least in part, to the fame of their subjects. Back in '89, as a photographer struggling to build a name for himself, William Ellis knew only too well that for the doors of opportunity to swing wide open for him, he too had to land a big fish...]]> Ian Patterson 2013-02-15T00:20:09-06:00 Ian Patterson 2013-02-11T00:20:13-06:00 m: Maria Schneider and trumpeter m: Dave Douglas. Highlights of McCaslin's tenure in these groups include his solos on "BulerA-a, SoleA y Rumba," from the Schneider's Concert in the Garden (ArtistShare, 2004) and on "Culture Wars," from Douglas' Meaning and Mystery (Greenleaf, 2006). And there are many more...]]> Jeff Dayton-Johnson 2013-02-05T00:20:12-06:00