Jazz Articles
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Diego Rivera: Ofrenda
by David A. Orthmann
Tenor and soprano saxophonist Diego Rivera has amassed an impressive track record on the Posi-Tone imprint as a leader, sideman, and other projects curated by producer Marc Free. Ofrenda, a ten-movement suite, is a vehicle for Rivera's impressions of aspects of altars corresponding with the traditional Mexican holiday Día De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). In essence, an ofrenda is usually created by and placed in the home of the family of a person who has passed away.
Continue ReadingMorpheus Trance - Christy Doran: In Trance We Trust
by Glenn Astarita
Renowned Switzerland-based guitarist Christy Doran's In Trance We Trust is a musical dreamscape you cannot quite pin down but may never want to escape. The album unfolds like a sonic labyrinth, twisting and turning through genres and moods with the cool confidence of a seasoned psychonaut. Doran, wielding his six-stringed wand, conjures textures that oscillate between otherworldly and hypnotically familiar. In the marketing one-sheet, Doran declares, “There is no boss"--a nod to the democratic ethos of the trio as they ...
Continue ReadingThe Jazz Worlds of James Baldwin - Part 1
by Ludovico Granvassu
The centennial of writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin offers a great opportunity to look into the call and response which has been going on, for decades, between Baldwin's inner world and the world of jazz. Here is a set featuring music inspired by his writings and tunes by musicians we was connected with. Happy listening! Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Sébastien Texier, Christophe Marguet “Another Country ...
Continue ReadingJohn Hollenbeck, Michael Attias & Nordic Artists
by Maurice Hogue
This show has a bit of wanderlust. It starts and closes with music by artists from Scandinavia (an all-star band honouring the music and spirit of Albert Ayler, then at the end a new Norwegian/Swedish quartet called Unionen followed by Nacka Forum celebrating its 25th year and the closer by the Finnish trio Hot Heros). The late trumpeter Dennis Gonzalez loved to take his horn all over the world, and that's the plan for his two sons with their newly-formed ...
Continue ReadingGanavya, Alice Coltrane, CTI Summer Jazz
by David Brown
This week, we jump to the summer of 1972 for selections from a live show at the Hollywood Bowl in California captured on a trio of LPs titled CTI Summer Jazz. The set features some of the greatest jazz funk players of the early 70s all on one stage. Then, our shows featured artist will be vocalist Ganavya, performing in a variety of contexts, from her debut standards album, to work with percussionist Rajna Swaminathan, to her upcoming release performing ...
Continue ReadingQuincy Jones: An Evening With A Legend
by Solomon J. LeFlore
This article was first published on All About Jazz on October 31, 2014. I love jazz! I love everything about it... the improvisation, syncopation, the forceful rhythm, and the fact that it is truly America's original art form. Its unique and innovative use of brass and woodwind instruments and the piano is jazz. And, it is as American as apple pie. Ask 100 different people “What is jazz?“ and you're likely to get 100 different answers. ...
Continue ReadingIntroducing Saxophonist Veronica Leahy
by Sanford Josephson
Growing up in Charlotte, NC, Veronica Leahy began playing classical piano at an early age. Then, when she was in the fourth grade, she heard a recording by tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman. “There was something about the saxophone that caught my fascination," she recalled. “It was kind a fusion record, but I did eventually go to see him live." Leahy was somewhat familiar with jazz because her father plays jazz trumpet--"not professionally, but it's like his biggest hobby ...
Continue ReadingThe Bad Plus: Complex Emotions
by Mike Jurkovic
For those out there who may have inadvertently thought The Bad Plus had nothing major left to say after two-plus decades of saying major things, guess again. Because Complex Emotions--their sixteenth statement of purpose--doubles down and ups a hundred. Proof positive is how guitarist Ben Monder's valedictory “LiPo"--equal parts biblical wind and prairie sandstorm--sleigh rides Category 5 nonstop from Complex Emotions's changeling opener, founder/bassist Reid Anderson's “Grid/Ocean." Seemingly with a mind of its own, the track thrashes then ...
Continue ReadingMarilyn Crispell & Harvey Sorgen: Forest
by Mike Jurkovic
In whatever stage, studio or musical environment these two supremely gifted improvisors find themselves, their talk is never anything other than bone-set honest. And as clarifying and compelling as so much of the duo's previous decades of recordings have been--preternatural recordings that include Anthony Braxton, Ahmad Jamal, Paul Simon, Cecil Taylor, Karl Berger and Joe Fonda--Forest, the starkly afire state of the union address delivered by 2025 NEA Jazz Master Marilyn Crispell and shifu percussionist Harvey Sorgen could very well be ...
Continue ReadingUNLV Jazz Ensemble, Kristin Korb, Jocelyn Gould, Elsa Nilsson and Kurt Elling New Releases
by Mary Foster Conklin
This broadcast includes new releases from UNLV Jazz Ensemble, Kristin Korb, Jocelyn Gould, Elsa Nilsson and Kurt Elling, with birthday shoutouts to Dizzy Gillespie, Amanda Monaco, Emily Braden, Jane Bunnett, Brenda Earle Stokes, Jodi Proznick, and Jane Scheckter, among others. Happy listening and please support the artists you hear. See them live, purchase their music so they can continue to distract, comfort, provoke and inspire.Playlist Dizzy Gillespie “Annie's Dance" from The Best of Dizzy Gillespie (Verve) 00:00 Rene ...
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