Articles by Craig Jolley

Meet Bobby Watson

by Craig Jolley
March 14, 2024

This article was first published at All About Jazz in October 1999. Background and early career... I started playing clarinet and piano in my grandfather's church. I played saxophone in junior high school: originally tenor and switched to alto when I got to high school. From there I got hip to jazz and tried to do as much as I could. I went to the University of Miami and got a degree in theory and composition. In 1976 ...

Meet Brian Blade

by Craig Jolley
February 17, 2022

This article was first published at All About Jazz in April 2000. Musical background I started playing when I was thirteen in church. My father was the pastor. My brother, Brady, who was five years older (he still is) was the drummer. He left for college so it became my duty to take over the drums. He didn't directly teach me to play. He was a great brother to me: he took me everywhere, and I saw him ...

Meet Terri Lyne Carrington

by Craig Jolley
July 19, 2021

From the 1995-2003 archive: This article first appeared at All About Jazz in March 2002. Drummer/composer Terri Lyne Carrington found her voice early. Unlike other child prodigies, she was not transfixed by her early success and has continued to grow musically. Besides her brilliance as a drummer she is now established as a bandleader and producer. She records and tours with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and many others. New CD: Jazz Is A Spirit (The ACT ...

Meet Steve Swallow

by Craig Jolley
June 20, 2020

From the 1995-2003 archive: This article first appeared at All About Jazz in October 2000. Touring this summer As is often the case I've been touring Europe during the dreaded festivals. I did the July circuit with a band of [drummer] Bobby Previte's called Bump the Rennaissance which also contains [trombonist] Ray Anderson, [reed player] Marty Ehrlich, and [keyboardist] Wayne Horvitz. This is a band I've worked with on a couple of occasions in the past and have ...

Remembering John Abercrombie

by Craig Jolley
August 23, 2017

This interview was first published at All About Jazz in March 2002. After several years of groove-based and straight-ahead playing guitarist/composer John Abercrombie found his niche in the mid-70'’s with open-oriented Europeans and Americans who often recorded for ECM records. He has broadened his approach over the years with Eastern influences, electronics, and free music although he maintains a strong sense of the jazz tradition. He plays a variety of interactive music, refusing to be limited or compromised. ...

Meet Kenny Garrett

by Craig Jolley
October 9, 2016

This interview was first published at All About Jazz in April 2002 and is part of our ongoing effort to archive pre-database material. First tier alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett is notorious for his energy and for his ability to spontaneously compose (improvise). He announced himself twenty years ago in the bands of Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw and came to even greater recognition with Miles Davis' late '80s band. Happy People is Garrett's latest in a string of ...

Meet Kurt Elling

by Craig Jolley
July 27, 2009

This interview was originally published in February 2000.Chicago music scene On my new recording [Kurt Elling Live in Chicago, Blue Note] I'm really proud to feature a lot of the musicians who have treated me well and who have taught me and who have been on the team with me from the get-go. Not only because of the debt of gratitude that I owe them, but also just because they're really beautiful musicians and deserve to be heard, ...

Meet Freddie Hubbard

by Craig Jolley
December 29, 2008

From the 1995-2003 archive: This article first appeared at All About Jazz in May 2001. New Colors (Hip Bop Records)I met David Weiss a couple of years ago. He's from North Texas State. He had a rehearsal band [New Jazz Composers Octet] in New York, and he had been writing out a lot of my compositions and arranging them. He said he'd like to get together and have me play some of my material with the group. ...

Meet Joe Diorio

by Craig Jolley
July 24, 2006

Early interest in jazz I got interested in jazz early. One of my first inspirations was hearing my uncle play. He was an accomplished mandolin, banjo, and guitarist, and he used to play all the time. My father played a little guitar, and he had a large collection of records: Django Reinhardt, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, boogie-woogie, all that stuff. I started listening to a lot of music. In Connecticut where we lived it used to be very cold in ...

Denise Donatelli: In The Company of Friends

by Craig Jolley
June 15, 2005

Everything about In The Company of Friends is first class. For one thing, there is a sense of balance: between comfortable material and challenging reinvention, between brilliantly conceived arrangements (never cluttered) and sparse backgrounds, between ensemble playing and soloing, between singer and accompanist. Each tune is a fresh scenario with its own message, especially in the rhythm department. I've been playing the CD over and over since I got it, and I'm still not tired of it.

Denise Donatelli moved ...