Jazz Articles

Freddie Hubbard: On The Real Side

by Graham L. Flanagan
April 8, 2009

When Freddie Hubbard passed away in December, 2008 at 70, the jazz world lost one of the last true legends of the hard-bop movement. His prolific career spanned 50 years, most of it as a leader on historic dates for Blue Note, CTI and Columbia. He also played on classic sessions by Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Art Blakey, John Coltrane, and many more. When he wasn't battling health issues, he continued to play live dates until and ...

Hugh Masekela: Phola

by Douglas Payne
March 20, 2009

Phola celebrates Hugh Masekela's 70th year and marks the South African trumpeter's half century of bringing the music of his homeland to many ears throughout the world.As such, this musical statement--the 35th under Masekela's own name--seems to call for a glorious, celebratory mood. Instead, it is more of a quiet reflection on life, love, politics and social consciousness.Nothing wrong with that. Masekela, a true hero in his homeland, is an expert at such reflections. Phola was ...

Various Artists: Miles From India

by Jeff Stockton
May 3, 2008

Miles Davis' electric period is his most controversial among critics and most divisive among listeners. Since Sony started reissuing complete session box sets (2001's In a Silent Way, 1998's Bitches Brew, 2003's Jack Johnson), however, reassessment and reconsideration have helped to broaden the respect and enjoyment of the originals. By the time of 2007's Complete On the Corner Sessions, the Davis band's character had become defined by Michael Henderson's non-jazz, steady bottom-heavy bass and psychedelic Hendrix-influenced guitar from Dave Creamer, ...

Plena Libre: Evoluci

by AAJ Staff
October 28, 2005

To most of the world, the music of Puerto Rico is synonymous with salsa, the peppy, jazzed-up Afro-Caribbean music that surfaced in New York in the late '60s and sparked an enduring popular dance movement all its own. But the island is home for several other varieties of folkloric and popular music as well. (Strictly speaking, “salsa" was always more a marketing term than any specific style, in all truth. Even today the genre is still pretty wide open, and ...

Plena Libre:

by Javier AQ Ortiz
August 10, 2004

Plena Libre ¡Estamos gozando! Times Square Records 2004

In spite of the often quoted nationalistic blurbage found in liner notes, press releases, the printed press and even so-called scholarly sources, the bomba and plena genres aren't a sure fire formula for musical success, nor are they as popular as they are made to be at times. As it is true of assorted other musical styles in current and past history, the plena ...

Mariza: Fado Curvo

by AAJ Staff
June 25, 2003

A friend of mine insists that you have to be Portuguese to understand fado. In one sense she's right--fado is intimately associated with poetry, and you pretty much have to be a native speaker to grasp that part. And the feeling of the music is also intimately associated with saudade. The fact that saudade has no direct translation into English is an important point (close ideas include nostalgia, loneliness, yearning, and missing). My Portuguese friend's eyes immediately glaze over when ...