Jazz Articles

like 387

Billy Lavender: Memphis Livin'

by Gina Vodegel
May 6, 2010

Memphis, Tennessee is a city where significant parts of American history were written. It's where Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1963, and Elvis Presley's Graceland attracts thousands of visitors each year. In a cultural sense, Memphis has inspired and launched the careers of many artists from different colors and creeds in the wide spectrum of the arts, ranging from literature to movie making and, of course, music. As such, to walk the streets of Memphis and the famous historically ...

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Peter Frampton: Thank You Mr. Churchill

by Doug Collette
May 6, 2010

Thank You Mr Churchill is Peter Frampton's latest attempt to reconcile fame with artistic integrity, a campaign he's been waging much of his career. Looking to escape his teen idol status in The Herd by partnering with Steve Marriott in the quasi-super group Humble Pie, he departed their ranks when growing fame relied too heavily on hard rock, at the expense of his more reflective and subtle approach. His first solo album, Wind of Change (A&M, 1972), remains his most ...

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Chris Tedesco: Living the Dream

by Nicholas F. Mondello
May 6, 2010

In Living the Dream Los Angeles-based trumpeter/contractor/producer Chris Tedesco proves that he is a consummate multi-tasker. He leads his L.A. Jazz Big Band and Orchestra admirably, contracted the sessions, arranged a selection, composed four originals, engineered, edited, and produced the CD. The result of this array of endeavors is a slick, swinging, throwback salute to hip, straight-ahead big band jazz in the tradition of the great Doc Severinsen and the Tonight Show Orchestra. This ten-tune disc offers ...

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Dexter Gordon: American Classic

by Chris May
May 5, 2010

Reissued as part of the Warner Jazz Elektra Masters series, tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon's American Classic was originally released in 1982. It was part of a late-period American renaissance enjoyed by Gordon, who, after 15 years in Europe, had made a much lauded return to the New York club scene in the mid 1970s. Gordon's renaissance took on even wider currency in 1986 with the release of Bertrand Tavernier's movie Round Midnight, in which Gordon took the star role, an ...

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Frank Glover: Going A Different Way

by AAJ Staff
May 5, 2010

Intelligent and outspoken, Frank Glover began playing clarinet when he was eleven years old. On entering college, he trained for nearly two years at Indiana University before striking out on his own; upon the independent release of Politico in 2004, he was signed by Owl Studios and the album was re-released under that label in 2009. Initially training as a classical clarinetist who also plays saxophone, the music of John Coltrane grabbed him; he experienced a musical epiphany as a ...

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Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense (Theatrical Version)

by John Kelman
May 5, 2010

Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense (Theatrical Version)IndiePix Films2009

Distilling a groundbreaking, four-part, four-hour television documentary--one which finally examined the evolution of jazz in a contemporary, rather than purely historical, context--into a shorter theatrical version is no mean feat. When Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense aired on The Documentary Channel just over a year ago in April, 2009, it was a much-heralded and long overdue look at jazz as a modern ...

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Keefe Jackson Quartet: Seeing You See

by Troy Collins
May 5, 2010

The vibrant Chicago jazz scene has been home to many impressive young artists, most of whom collaborate in a rotating roster of collective ensembles. This communal approach has yielded a deep pool of talented individuals intimately familiar with each other's working methods, providing them with a sort of regional shorthand. Multi-reedist Keefe Jackson is one such up and coming Windy City resident, whose striking quartet debut, Seeing You See is every bit as compelling as his work with his large ...

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Anat Cohen: Clarinetwork Live At The Village Vanguard

by Dan Bilawsky
May 5, 2010

Anat Cohen Clarinetwork Live At The Village Vanguard Anzic Records 2010 For a jazz musician, performing and recording an album at New York's Village Vanguard is akin to an opera singer performing at the Metropolitan Opera. Both of these accomplishments signify a milestone in an artist's career, but clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen had “made it" long before this project came to be. Since her arrival in New York ...

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Frank Glover: Abacus

by AAJ Staff
May 5, 2010

Every once in a while a musician comes along that lives and breathes the music. It comes out of his brain, his fingers, his mind and heart. Having debuted with Politico (Owl Studios, 2009)--a reissue of his 2004 self-produced release--clarinetist Frank Glover might just be one of those musicians. Full of soundscapes that reflect the inner as well as the outer life, Abacus takes his music one step farther in textured, deeply colored ways.

Glover, relatively ...

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B. B. King in Denver

by Geoff Anderson
May 5, 2010

B. B. King Buell Theater Denver, CO April 19, 2010

B. B. King is the last of the authentic Delta bluesmen. That group includes legends like Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. King is the real deal. He was born in the Delta and grew up on the plantations, doing farm work. He logged many a mile guiding a plow behind a mule. Later, he drove tractors ...