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Legacy
Joey DeFrancesco with Jimmy Smith: Legacy
by Dennis Hollingsworth
There have been many great practitioners of the Hammond organ in jazz history, including Shirley Scott, Groove Holmes, Charles Earland, and Larry Young. Today, Dan Wall and Larry Goldings have helped bring the organ back to the forefront. But perhaps no one can claim the overall impact of the late Jimmy Smith. His harmonic conception and technical prowess are now legendary. Spanning four decades of jazz history, Smith helped define the organ and guitar tradition with folks like Wes Montgomery, ...
Continue ReadingJoey DeFrancesco with Jimmy Smith: Legacy
by John Kelman
When Joey DeFrancesco--a key player in the late-'80s Hammond B-3 organ revival while still in his teens--teamed up with organ legend Jimmy Smith in August of 2004, little did either know that Smith would pass away a scant six months later. If Smith was ailing, one would never know it from the result of those sessions. Legacy fulfills the promise indicated by Smith's sitting in at a 1999 concert that would ultimately be released by DeFrancesco as Incredible. With a ...
Continue ReadingJoey DeFrancesco with Jimmy Smith: Legacy
by Terrell Kent Holmes
With the passing of organ legend Jimmy Smith on February 8th, the jazz world lost a boundless innovator and a good old friend. His final recording, the appropriately titled Legacy, proves that, even in his seventies, he was still the man on the B3. He shares the bill with disciple Joey DeFrancesco, once hailed as the precocious child in the Hammond dynasty.The disc cooks from jump with the nimble title track and the duo shines on Smith's wicked ...
Continue ReadingJoey DeFrancesco with Jimmy Smith: Legacy
by Mark Sabbatini
Sometimes circumstances guarantee albums a certain stature before they hit the street. One simply hopes the music proves worthy.
The death of legendary organist Jimmy Smith a week before the release of Legacy, headlined by protégé Joey DeFrancesco, assures strong interest from both old and new organ jazz crowds. It's a solid coda for a five-decade career that redefined the role of the Hammond B-3 organ, although on merit it's a bit short of Smith's top work.
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The DePaul University Jazz Ensemble: Legacy
by Jack Bowers
Having taken a short trip across town to Joe Segal’s Jazz Showcase to record its last album in concert, the DePaul University Jazz Ensemble returns to the studio for Legacy, where it is joined (on the last four tracks) by an honored guest, big–band drummer extraordinaire Louie Bellson. Louie wrote (and presents drum clinics on) all of those tunes starting with the aptly named and coolly swinging “Brush Taps” and including “Boston Express,” “LOROELMA” and “Legacy.” Bellson, one of the ...
Continue ReadingAshia Ackov Honors Love And Legacy With Poignant Jazz Ballad 'In Time'
Source:
Ashia Ackov
Ashia Ackov Unveils Sultry Jazz Noir Single “In Time” — A Smoky Serenade of Longing and Elegance Jazz vocalist and storyteller Ashia Ackov has released her latest single, “In Time,” a hauntingly beautiful Jazz Noir ballad that evokes the velvet shadows of a bygone era. Released on August 12, 2025, the track is now available for streaming and purchase and will be featured on her upcoming album Irresistible, available exclusively on ashiaackov.com. From the first breathy note, Ackov’s voice glides ...
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International Music Network Announces New Ownership: 40-Year Legacy Continues Under Leadership Of Veteran IMN Agents
Source:
Lydia Liebman Promotions
Director and Founder of International Music Network (IMN), Scott Southard proudly announces the transition of ownership to veteran IMN agents, Jeanna Disney & Alycia Mack, effective January 1, 2026. Scott will remain manager of clients Brad Mehldau, Joe Lovano, and Danilo Pérez and Alycia & Jeanna will take over leadership of agency business, continuing to provide top-tier performance booking services to these and the other exceptional artists on the IMN roster including Chucho Valdés, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, John Scofield, Lila ...
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Pianist-Composer Armen Donelian Underscores His Jazz Legacy With A New Reissue Of 'Stargazer,' His 1981 Debut, By Sunnyside Records On October 3
Source:
Terri Hinte Publicity
Produced when pianist-composer Armen Donelian was not yet 30 years old, Stargazer—his debut recording as a leader—was released in 1981 on an indie Japanese record label and only available elsewhere as a hard-to-find import. Until now, that is. On October 3, Donelian’s longtime label Sunnyside Records will reissue Stargazer, a stunning and remarkably assured trio date with bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Billy Hart, for the first time in nearly 45 years. The reissue comes just in time for Donelian’s ...
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Jazz Vocalist Heather Ward Honours Musical Mentors And Creates A Legacy With 'Simply Gorgeous' New Album Gilded & Silver
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Heather Ward
Following the success of her debut solo album Honeysweet, Heather Ward returns with a luminous new collection, Gilded & Silver, now available on all major streaming platforms. “Her timing is impeccable, her dynamics refined, and her emotional connection to the lyrics genuinely felt….[Ward's] voice, clearly inspired by legends such as Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington, possesses a warm, rounded tone that radiates both intimacy and technical expertise.” —Norman van den Wildenberg, Maxazine “Envision whatever you like—a basement jazz bar in ...
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Sharon Riley Rexach Joins Maritzaida In Reviving A Puerto Rican Legacy With Radio Bohemia Volumen I
Source:
Aaron Weibe
Traducción al español a continuación... Puerto Rican vocalist Maritzaida is proud to announce the upcoming release of Radio Bohemia Volumen I: La Música de Sylvia Rexach y Tutti Umpierre, arriving on all digital platforms July 11, 2025. Inspired by the original 1953 radio broadcasts of legendary composer Sylvia Rexach and pioneering guitarist Tutti Umpierre, the album brings to life the sound and soul of Puerto Rico’s música bohemia—with a special appearance by Sharon Riley Rexach, Sylvia’s daughter, who served as ...
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April 29: Visionaries And Eccentrics: Ives’ Problem Children Explores Charles Ives’ Musical Legacy In Multiple Musical Genres
Source:
Braithwaite & Katz Communications
With his concept of musical transcendentalism, Charles Ives paved the way for a century of experimentation in multiple modes of musical expression. In Visionaries and Eccentrics: Ives’ Problem Children, Contemporary Musical Arts students explore the worlds of collage, postmodernism, and other genres of multi-layered music, including rock, jazz, funk, noise, and other contemporary genres, drawing on the music of Brian Wilson, Captain Beefheart, Parliament Funkadelic, Connie Converse, Polly Bradfield, and others. This special concert, produced by Anthony Coleman and Lautaro ...
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Kenny Wheeler Legacy: The Lost Scores
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Kenny Wheeler isn't a household name in many American jazz circles. The Canadian trumpeter, flugelhornist and composer was based in the U.K. starting in the 1950s. As a composer and arranger of jazz orchestral scores, he was among the most inventive, daring and gifted in the post-1960 era. [Photo above of Kenny Wheeler in 1988, courtesy of Ebay] What makes Wheeler fascinating is his fluency in straight-ahead jazz, free jazz and rock. He studied composition with British composer and pianist ...
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Zildjians, Atlantic Records And Jazz: The Legacy Of Istanbul In America Features Jazz Orchestra And A Mehter Band On Thursday, February 27 In Boston
Source:
Braithwaite & Katz Communications
The Jazz Studies department and the Intercultural Institute at NEC present a full-day event on Thursday, February 27 which includes a workshop, presentations, and a panel discussion followed by a concert featuring the NEC Jazz Orchestra and a mehter band (so-called “Ottoman Janissary Band”). The 7:30 p.m. concert at Jordan Hall also features the world premiere of Echoes from a Forgotten Past by NEC faculty member Mehmet Ali Sanlikol. Guest performers include saxophonist Sam Newsome and drummer and faculty member ...
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Mwalim Daphunkee Professor: A Legacy Of Black Arts, Innovation, And Community-building
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Mwalim DaPhunkee Professor
The Rebirth of Oversoul Theatre Collective and New Opportunities on Cape Cod and New Bedford Mwalim DaPhunkee Professor (born, Morgan James Peters), a multi-talented musician, playwright, educator, and cultural advocate, has dedicated his career to elevating the arts within historically underrepresented communities. As a founding member and Artistic Director of the Oversoul Theatre Collective, Inc. (OTC), Mwalim’s work over the last 30 years has been pivotal in creating spaces for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) artists to thrive, ...
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Important Book Celebrates Philadelphia's Rich Jazz Legacy
Source:
Suzanne Cloud
Images of America: Philadelphia Jazz Chronicles the City's Influential Music Scene A new book titled Images of America: Philadelphia Jazz by authors Suzanne Cloud, PhD and Diane Turner, PhD, with a foreword by jazz trumpeter Terell Stafford, offers an unprecedented visual journey through Philadelphia's vibrant jazz history. This 128-page volume is a must-have for jazz enthusiasts and Philadelphia history buffs alike. The book traces the evolution of jazz in Philadelphia from its roots in 19th-century Black orchestras to its pivotal ...
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