Jazz Articles

like 643

Take Five With Vinson Valega

by AAJ Staff
February 25, 2010

Meet Vinson Valega: Vinson grew up in a musical family near Washington, D.C., studying classical piano from age seven until switching to the drums when he was 12. He played drums for three years in the All-County Jazz Ensemble during high school and subsequently held the drum chair in the University of Pennsylvania Big Band during college. After graduating from UPENN with a B.A. in Economics, Vinson came to New York City in the early 90's to study ...

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Sam Newsome: Blue Soliloquy

by C. Michael Bailey
February 25, 2010

The soprano saxophone is one mean mistress; temperamental, demanding, and unforgiving. Few have mastered her, with Sidney Bechet, John Coltrane, and Steve Lacy coming to mind. Saxophonist Sam Newsome,late of the Terence Blanchard Quintet, has stepped up to provide his Das Wohltemperierte Klavier of the instrument in Soliloquy--Solo Works for Soprano Saxophone. Strongly recalling Bobby Watson's solo alto saxophone recital, This Little Light of Mine (Red Records, 1999), Blue Soliloquy researches and ultimately expands the tonal capability of the soprano ...

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Take Five With Ali Jackson Jr.

by AAJ Staff
February 25, 2010

Meet Ali Jackson Jr.: Ali Jackson Jr. is best known for his association with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. You can find Ali performing with the Wynton Marsalis Quintet, his Ali Jackson Quartet, or the phenom ensemble Horns in the Hood.Ali has performed and recorded extensively with some of the world's finest musicians including Dee Dee Bridgewater, Aretha Franklin, George Benson, Harry Connick Jr., KRS 1, Marcus Roberts, Joshua Redman, and the New York ...

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Frank Macchia: Folk Songs for Jazzers

by Dan McClenaghan
February 25, 2010

Frank Macchia seems to have a thing about American folk songs--a very good thing. On his Grammy-nominated Landscapes, the Los Angeles-based multi-reedist/composer/arranger teamed up with The Prague Orchestra and bookended his superb “Landscape Suite" with traditional tunes like “Shenandoah," “Down in the Valley," and “Deep River," with marvelous results.On Folk Songs for Jazzers, Macchia and his thirteen-piece band jazzes up some seemingly unlikely traditional tunes like “Blue Tail Fly," “I've Been Working on the Railroad," Skip to My ...

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Take Five With Gini Wilson: The Duchess

by AAJ Staff
February 25, 2010

Meet Gini Wilson: The Duchess: Gini Wilson, known as The Duchess, is legendary in the Bay area as a brilliant jazz pianist, entertainer, and composer. Gini performs regularly at Jazz Festivals, well-known jazz clubs such as Jazz at Pearls, and Shanghai 1930 in San Francisco and Kuumbwa in Santa Cruz; in solo and with her groups. In many television and radio projects, concerts and interviews she is also noted for her irreverent sense of humor. Her nationally recognized ...

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Big Crazy Energy New York Band: Inspirations Vol. 1

by Raul d'Gama Rose
February 25, 2010

The key word in the name of trombonist Jens Wendelboe's band for Inspirations, “Big Crazy Energy New York Band," is “energy." If there is one thing that there is a surfeit of--and there is much to cheer about here--it is vim and verve. The other unusual and welcome aspect of the record is that it consists of original charts and charts by other composers that are not heard on big band records, avoiding a tendency to tread the tried and ...

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Keith Pray's Big Soul Ensemble: Live at the Lark Tavern

by Nicholas F. Mondello
February 25, 2010

There's something marvelously intimate and involving about hearing a swinging big band live in a smaller venue. It can be let-inhibitions-go dark, bump-elbow tight and, with food and drink circling about, noisy. Perhaps the big concert (big bucks?) format of the Radio Cities, Symphony Halls or Lincoln Centers--the stuff seen on PBS (American Public Television)--slightly diminishes the experience when compared with the intensity, the sense of involvement, even the funkiness and soul of the small venue live performance.

Live at ...

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Robin D.G. Kelley on Thelonious Monk: The Man, the Myth, the Music

by Victor L. Schermer
February 25, 2010

Robin D.G. Kelley is the author of Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original (Free Press, 2009), the already definitive biography that has received rave reviews in the press and is the topic of conversation of Monk fans and musicians everywhere. Kelley offers the rich perspective of an African-American historian who knows a great deal about the music, and has researched his subject in depth and detail. Kelley explodes some of the myths about ...

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Mark Weinstein: Timbasa

by Dan Bilawsky
February 24, 2010

It's not uncommon to hear about an alto player moving to tenor, or vice versa, in an attempt to grow musically, develop a different sound or avoid getting stale. Likewise, plenty of people branch out within the woodwind or brass families, like a saxophonist learning to double on flute or a trumpet player doubling on valve trombone. Yes, these things do happen fairly often but you rarely hear about masterful jazz trombonists switching to flute. Mark Weinstein is the exception.

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Nik Turner: Bringing the Music to the People

by Jack Gold-Molina
February 24, 2010

Nik Turner is perhaps best known as the founding saxophonist and flautist for pioneering “space rock" band Hawkwind. As well as contributing to the profound influence that this band has had on rock and punk with its focus on community and grassroots movements--including its many benefit shows and long-standing support of England's free festivals, Turner may also be the first saxophonist to effectively bring free jazz to rock music.

Independent of his work with Hawkwind, Turner has an ...