Jazz Articles
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Marina Crouse: Honoring Jazz Legends and Keeping the Music Alive
by Steven Roby
In this inspiring episode of Backstage Sonoma, host Steven Roby welcomes jazz and blues vocalist Marina Crouse for an intimate conversation about her musical journey, her passion for honoring jazz greats like Ernestine Anderson, and how she connects with audiences through her soulful performances. Marina shares her thoughts on preserving jazz traditions while adding her own unique voice to the genre.Episode Takeaways Marina's reflections on the legacy of jazz greats and their influence on her career. The importance ...
Continue ReadingCafé: Café
by Richard J Salvucci
Reviewing an archival album is always a challenge. To do something justice is a matter of both gaining and losing perspective: to hear it as an audience first did, and then, presumably, to find its influence, if consequential. Verifying a band's authenticity is usually not difficult but Café presents just such a problem. Its single release dates from the early 1970s. Contemporaneous documentation of performance and reception is indeed difficult to find. To say that Fania reached deep into its ...
Continue ReadingTwo Presidents—Vaclav & Bill
by Tony Ozuna
On January 11, 1994, US President Bill Clinton was recorded live at the Reduta Jazz Club in Prague, playing sax with Czech jazz players. Czech Radio Broadcasting later released the recording of this concert on the CD titled Two Presidents' Jam Session, (Praha, 1994), with sponsorship by the Radegast brewery. Statements by Vaclav Havel in italics (below) are taken either from the recording or archives from the Vaclav Havel Library. The friendships with other musicians that Havel speaks ...
Continue ReadingDaniel Sommer / Arve Henriksen / Johannes Lundberg: Sounds & Sequences
by Nenad Georgievski
Danish drummer Daniel Sommer's Sounds & Sequences is the second part of his Nordic Trilogy, a captivating project that aims to explore the breadth and depth of Nordic improvisation across three distinct ensembles. This follow-up to As Time Passes continues Sommer's commitment to presenting different facets of Nordic music, while avoiding any repetition of sound or structure from the first installment. In this chapter, he's joined by Swedish bassist Johannes Lundberg and Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen, and together they craft ...
Continue ReadingMaria Schafer, Peggy Lee & Cole Schmidt, Fern Lindzon, George Koller & Coleen Allen, Hayoung Lyou, Entre Amigos & More New Releases
by Mary Foster Conklin
This broadcast includes new releases from Maria Schafer, cellist Peggy Lee & Cole Schmidt, Fern Lindzon, George Koller & Coleen Allen, Hayoung Lyou, Roy McGrath, Hana Fujisaki, Kitt Lyles & Gustavo Cortinas, with birthday shoutouts to George Cables, LaVern Baker, Kelly Green, Holli Ross, Marianne Solivan, Rene Marie, Samara Joy, Diana Krall, Miho Hazama, Nioka Workman and Christy Bennett, among others. Happy listening and please support the artists you hear. See them live, purchase their music so they can continue ...
Continue ReadingB.B. King: In France: Live At The 1977 Nancy Jazz Pulsations Festival
by Ian Patterson
By the time B.B. King arrived in France in the autumn of 1977 he could already reflect upon a good year. After a string of misfiring crossover albums, the Indianola blues musician had returned to studio form with the mostly straight-ahead blues of King Size (ABC, 1977). An invitation to Yale saw King become only the second African American after Duke Ellington to be awarded an honorary doctorate by the esteemed institution. And in June, King returned to Indianola for ...
Continue ReadingNate Smith at SOB's
by Chris DeRosa
Nate SmithSounds Of BrazilNew York, NYNovember 15, 2024 Hello, my name is Chris DeRosa and this is what I heard... Nate Smith may not be a household name unless you confuse him with the country singer, but this Nate Smith is truly “one of a kind." Smith started his career around 2003 when he joined David Holland's quintet. After touring and recording with Holland for almost a decade, he went on to form ...
Continue ReadingJohn Scofield: Aileron
by Scott Lichtman
For decades, John Scofield has stood on one of the pedestals labelled “greatest bop/groove guitarist of his time." He's achieved this through a combination of blistering alt-scale solos, clever compositions, and world-class groups. Yet, not everyone listening to his work today knows just how skilled and intense he was as a post-bebopper early on. Take the album Rough House (Enja Records, 1978)--his second as leader --and the song “Aileron." Scofield's warm, distorted tone penetrates the soundscape while the band, comprising ...
Continue ReadingBill Laurance and Michael League: Keeping Company
by Neil Duggan
Bill Laurance is one of the UK's most inventive pianists. His compositions and arrangements have involved multiple formats, including trios, duos, orchestras and solo piano, but he is best known as a member of the 19-piece jazz-funk-fusion ensemble Snarky Puppy. He joined the band at the invitation of their founder, U.S. multi-instrumentalist Michael League. They have been collaborating for over 20 years.That long-term musical relationship resulted in their first duo release, Where You Wish You Were (ACT Music), ...
Continue ReadingWayne Alpern: Gotham
by Jack Bowers
There are a number of bright and interesting moments on New York-based arranger Wayne Alpern's album, Gotham, wherein he makes good use of a well-polished tentet on several generally handsome and engaging charts. Alpern's choice of music is eclectic, ranging from Tchaikovsky to Jobim, Rodgers and Hart to Stephen Sondheim, Hoagy Carmichael to Horace Silver, Alex North to John Lennon and Paul McCartney. All of which should be anticipated from a music-lover whose training and background ranges from classical to ...
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