Jazz Articles

Baby Steps to Giant Steps

by Alan Bryson
August 2, 2020

It's a good bet that most of us have heard people say they don't like jazz, or even worse, drop the H-bomb, “I hate jazz." If you choose to engage, the key is to tread lightly and tailor an approach that considers the tastes and sensibilities of the other person. The “So You Don't Like Jazz" column will explore ways to do just that. Today's column focuses on Joe Rogan, one of the most influential people on the ...

Top Ten Jazz Tracks for Surf Music

by Alan Bryson
March 1, 2017

The notion of jazz as surf music seems absurd at first blush, but it can work surprisingly well. Some time ago I learned this by happenstance while listening to an album by fusion guitarist Alex Machacek as I watched surf videos on YouTube. It was a true “ah ha" moment. Compared to the original soundtrack, Alex's music was much better suited to the surfers' incredible aesthetics, athletics, and the resulting excitement. It struck me that it might be ...

Barbara Dennerlein

by Alan Bryson
August 30, 2016

Music is wondrously implausible, an invisible art form that is arguably best appreciated with your eyes shut. Yet it is equally true that live music, like great sporting events, has the capacity to trigger powerful emotional responses, focus people on the present, and unite a disparate crowd around a shared experience happening on stage. Each approach has its own charm, and occasionally you can shut your eyes during a concert to have the best of both worlds. Showmanship ...

Talkin' Blues with Barbara Dennerlein

by Alan Bryson
October 2, 2012

If there were a Guinness World Records prize for jazz artist with the biggest organ, it could very well go to Barbara Dennerlein. No doubt, her Hammond B3 was a disc-crushing bane for countless roadies over the past three decades, but a B3 pales in comparison to what she's been playing lately. Imagine five organs with nearly 18,000 metal pipes, linked to one keyboard with over 200 registers--that's some seriously heavy metal. Welcome to the world of pipe organs.

Barbara Dennerlein Quartet at Ronnie Scott's

by Peter Forst
June 27, 2009

Barbara Dennerlein QuartetRonnie Scott'sLondon, EnglandJune 6, 2009

The sold-out space in Ronnie Scott's Club was illuminated by candle light when Barbara Dennerlein and her band took the stage. The Ronnie Scott All-Stars had already finished the opening set with some familiar tunes featuring piano and flugelhorn as the lead voices, backed by bass and drums. This short program established an appropriate contrast to what was to come. The traditional, wooden Hammond B3 ...

Barbara Dennerlein: A Study in Contrasts

by Alan Bryson
August 28, 2007

In many ways Barbara Dennerlein is a study in contrasts. From a North American perspective she is an insider's tip, a superlative Hammond B3 player known to hardcore jazz fans, admired by fellow B3 players, and respected by her musical peers. We can contrast that with how she is known in the German speaking countries of central Europe.In those European Countries she has achieved a level of recognition unusual among jazz musicians. She has performed on prime time ...

Barbara Dennerlein: Outhipped

by C. Andrew Hovan
February 1, 2000

One of the best-kept secrets of the burgeoning revivalist movement involving the Hammond B3 organ has been the unusual, but consistently underrated efforts of Barbara Dennerlein. A native of Germany, the organist's career began almost 20 years ago and since then she has labored quietly while releasing a distinguished set of albums for Enja and most recently Verve. Outhipped is Dennerlein's third outing for Verve and its marked by some unusually sophisticated writing, not to mention a large (12 in ...