Articles by Chris M. Slawecki
A Classic Jazz Curriculum with Label M's Joel Dorn
by Chris M. Slawecki
This article was first published at All About Jazz in April 2001. Ah, the classics. In every art form painting, literature, architecture, dance, music there are works which possess timeless beauty, works with themes that resonate emotionally across decades, through centuries, and are masterfully presented. Joel Dorn's name is indelibly written in the book of jazz classics, though he's never written, hummed, strummed, blown, or otherwise struck a single musical note. He produced albums, in the ...
read moreBlue Note Series of Rare Summer Grooves
by Chris M. Slawecki
This article was first published at All About Jazz in September 2002 under the old Combing the Blue Note Catalog column. The Rascals knew all about it. They expressed it perfectly in one of their biggest hit singles: Ain't nothing like groovin' on a Sunday afternoon. Not much serves the purpose of that groove better than the right music. To enjoy an exceptional groove, you often need some exceptionally groovin' music. Exceptional grooves--or, if you prefer, Rare Grooves. ...
read moreMeet Grammy Award Winning Producer Joel Dorn
by Chris M. Slawecki
This article was first published at All About Jazz in 1997. The Song Remains The Same If you're a serious jazz fan, even if you're any kind of jazz fan at all, there's an excellent chance that in your collection you've got at least one piece of music that was produced by Joel Dorn. In the 1960s, Dorn parlayed his tenure as a disc jockey on WHAT-FM, a pioneer 24-hour jazz station, into a slot as ...
read moreLes McCann: Never Say No Again
by Chris M. Slawecki
"Be who you are and not who you ain't. Because when you are who you ain't, you're not who you are." Keyboardist, vocalist, bandleader, songwriter and photographer Les McCann really talks like this. About his music, about musicians, about his career--about everything. I learned this during the following interview, scheduled to discuss Omnivore Records' March 2015 reissue of McCann's improvisational landmark Invitation to Openness, generally out of print since its original 1972 Atlantic Records' release; this reissue was ...
read moreLuiz Millan: Brazilian Match
by Chris M. Slawecki
Brazilian Match is a tour-de-force of classic and contemporary Brazilian music written by and featuring singer-songwriter Luiz Millan. Millan's fifth album is a leader is his first for Jazz Station Records and Brazilian jazz impresario Arnaldo DeSouteiro, whose storied history includes working with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Eumir Deodato, Dom Um Romão, João Donato, and other legends, and who called Millan “a composer's composer." “A great melodist who also happens to be a great poet, a fabulous storyteller; a ...
read moreClint Eastwood Presents: Tony Bennett - The Music Never Ends
by Chris M. Slawecki
This article was first published on All About Jazz on April 11, 2008. Tony Bennett Clint Eastwood Presents: Tony Bennett--The Music Never Ends Warner Home Video 2007 No matter how much you know, or think you know, about the life and artistry of Tony Bennett, you will learn something new from Clint Eastwood's lovingly rendered, impeccably produced two-DVD documentary Tony Bennett--The Music Never Ends. Eastwood and director Bruce Ricker weave together performance ...
read moreThe Best of Tony Bennett
by Chris M. Slawecki
"Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business, the best exponent of a song," Frank Sinatra once said. “He's the singer who gets across what the composer has in mind, and probably a little more. There's a feeling in back of it." Tony Bennett began his career as a singing waiter in his Queens, NY neighborhood. He served in WWII as part of “the greatest generation" and returned home to his music. Two enduring career hallmarks--his inexhaustible ...
read moreColor Red Records: A Label, Sound, and Vision
by Chris M. Slawecki
When Eddie Roberts, leader of The New Mastersounds, moved to Denver, Colorado, in 2015, he discovered a local music scene that contributed to his vision for a new type of music organization: a label that would be more than a label, producing and releasing music that would be more than (good) music--music that would establish a label-specific sound. Roberts took the long road to Color Red Music headquarters on Colorado Boulevard in Denver. Born in Wales, he left ...
read moreChangamiré: Snapshots of Germany Refine A Self-Portrait
by Chris M. Slawecki
When vocalist Changamiré accepted an invitation to represent the US in an international jazz delegation from the German Federal Foreign Office, to tour and network with the jazz communities in jny: Berlin, jny: Frankfurt and jny: Darmstadt, she expected to discover new insights about the jazz industry and culture in Germany. But she was happily surprised by the new visions that this trip abroad brought back home to her own work. Co-developed by the Federal Foreign Office in ...
read moreBurt Bacharach: At This Time
by Chris M. Slawecki
This article was first published on All About Jazz on October 31, 2005. What the world needs now, it seems, is Burt Bacharach, as one of the greatest songwriters in pop history reemerges with At This Time, released internationally by Sony BMG on October 24 and on November 1 in the US by Columbia Records. At This Time features Andrew Hale of Sade serving as A&R project director, with contributions from trumpeter Chris Botti and singer-songwriters Elvis Costello ...
read more
Giveaway
Days remaining: 1
