Jazz Articles
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Bass Notes: Jazz In American Culture, A Personal View
by Harvie S
Bass Notes: Bass Notes: Jazz In American Culture, A Personal View Chuck Israels 240 Pages ISBN: 1493074849 Backbeat Books 2024 Chuck Israels developed musically in what many would say was an extremely fertile time in Jazz. I'm talking about the 1960s. Of course, his stint with Bill Evans during those years does stand out, but there is so much more. In Bass Notes, Israels has written a book that is aimed ...
Continue ReadingGrdina/Lillinger: Duo Work
by Troy Dostert
One would be hard-pressed to find a more versatile guitarist than Gordon Grdina, who somehow manages to try something different with each release. And he is no slouch in terms of productivity either; with at least a dozen releases since 2020, this is an artist who requires multiple palettes. His sensitivity on the oud is one of his most remarkable traits; witness his superb playing on the Persian-inspired The Marrow (Attaboygirl Records, 2024) with vocalist Fathieh Honari as proof. As ...
Continue ReadingSam Newsome: Tubes
by Mike Jurkovic
Tubes, a riotous investigation into the sonic by outlaw soprano saxophonist Sam Newsome and provocateur bassist Max Johnson, burps to life with “Dust" and proceeds assuredly down its own peculiar byways and highways. It is a real treat. The track closes with Newsome's prepared horn pondering like a bluesman on his lone, lonely harp. It is a real neat treat too. That is pretty much the blueprint for Tubes. However, it is not as simple as that and ...
Continue ReadingFletcher Henderson, Count Basie, Charlie Parker & Ella Fitzgerald
by Joe Dimino
We dedicate the entirety of the 843rd Episode of Neon Jazz to the history and culturally vital institution, Harlem's Apollo Theater. After finding an illustrated book on the history of this landmark institution in the history of African American culture, it was essential to cover the jazz side of things from the book's perspective. We begin with the legendary Duke Ellington and end with Tiny Bradshaw. In between, we get into classics from the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Earl Hines, ...
Continue ReadingSun Ra Arkestra at Great American Music Hall
by Harry S. Pariser
Sun Ra Arkestra SFJAZZ Center San Francisco, California February 6-8, 2024 Over the decades, music venues in San Francisco have come and gone, but one constant remains: Great American Music Hall. A house of ill repute when it first opened in 1907, the building has gone through several transitions as a musical performance space and has even served the Loyal Order of the Moose as a meeting hall. In 1972, visionary Tom Bradshaw refurbished and ...
Continue ReadingJazz And Death: Reception, Rituals And Representations
by Ian Patterson
Jazz and Death: Reception, Rituals and Representations Walter van de Leur 200 Pages ISBN: 9781138553422 Routledge 2023 The title might seem a tad non-felicitous, but it surely invites reflection. How do we respond to and commemorate jazz musicians' deaths? In what ways do these rituals manifest themselves from one place and from one culture to another? Most significantly, what do the various responses to jazz deaths reveal about wider jazz culture--the traditions, heritage, ...
Continue ReadingSons d'Hiver 2024
by Luciano Rossetti
A collection of photos from a part of the Sons d'Hiver 2024 in Paris from January 23 to 27, 2024 featuring Marc Ribot, James Brandon Lewis, Newen Tahiel, Jorge Pardo, Joelle Leandre, Marilyn Mazur, Yuko Oshima, and Otomo Yoshihide. ...
Continue ReadingPeter Hand: Blue Topaz
by Jack Bowers
Peter Hand has a hand in almost everything on Blue Topaz, playing masterful guitar, writing seven of the album's ten engaging numbers and arranging all of them. He also spliced together a pair of blue-chip ensembles for his first small-group recording after three well-received big-band albums, and invited his longtime friend--and legendary tenor saxophonist--Houston Person to sit in on two tracks. Person had also guested on one of the guitarist's big-band recordings, Out of Hand (2014). Hand's ...
Continue ReadingNubya Garcia, Ches Smith, The Messthetics, James Brandon Lewis & More
by Ludovico Granvassu
Nubya Garcia returns; Impulse! Records further syncs itself to today's scene; Ches Smith finds catharsis in laughter; Ken Stubbs pays tribute to Sonny Rollins... These are a few of the interesting things you'll find in this episode of Mondo Jazz.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Nubya Garcia “Fortify" Fortify--Single (Concord) 0:16 Host talks 6:01 The Messthetics, James Brandon Lewis “Emergence" The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis (Impulse!) 7:21 ...
Continue ReadingPaul Rodgers: Midnight Rose
by Doug Collette
It is a travesty that Paul Rodgers is not a household name. Despite considerable commercial success with English bluesrockers Free ("All Right Now") and Bad Company, plus his high-profile associations with Queen and guitarist Jimmy Page (in the band dubbed 'the Firm'), the British-Canadian vocalist, musician & songwriter remains a somewhat unsung figure in the annals of contemporary rock. The rather short playing time of his sixth solo album--roughly thirty-two minutes--is something of a metaphor for the under-the-radar ...
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