Jazz Articles
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Last recordings of jazz greats in the 21st century
by Larry Slater
Creative artists rarely retire. Jazz musicians often continue to perform and record as they age. In this hour you'll hear the final musical statements of jazz musicians in the 21st century.The pianist Hank Jones, whose career spanned over 70 years, recorded his last session at 91. Charlie Haden and Carla Bley knew they were seriously ill when they recorded their last sessions. Both left us with remarkable legacies Chick Corea's death at 79 shocked the jazz world. His ...
Continue ReadingGood, Bad, Deleted, Excreted
by Mr. P.C.
Good/BadDear Mr. P.C.: Everybody likes to quote Duke Ellington saying “There are only two kinds of music: good and bad." But isn't that subjective? Wouldn't there be shades of that, like “pretty good" and “somewhat bad?" And who gets to decide, anyway? --Mid Mike Dear MM: It's my friend Dave! If he likes it, he says it's good, and if he doesn't like it, he says it's bad. So easy!
Continue ReadingMarc Seales: People & Places
by Jack Bowers
When planning an album, one good idea can make a world of difference. If, for example, a trio is in place but a horn is needed to make it a quartet, asking the incomparable Ernie Watts to fill that chair is always a good idea. That is what Jazz Hall of Fame pianist Marc Seales has done on People & Places, at least his twenty-second album, leading various groups in a productive career that has spanned more than four decades. ...
Continue ReadingBenjie Porecki: All That Matters
by Richard J Salvucci
From the cover graphics to its musical content, this is a funky, soulful, bluesy, and yet oddly reassuring recording. Benjie Porecki has at least a half a dozen other titles to his name, and has played with Carlos Santana, Chaka Khan, Nnenna Freelon Stevie Wonder and Tom Scott. Porecki is primarily a pianist, but hits the Hammond organ for some of the more “sanctified" numbers. From groove to ballad, Porecki plays convincing blues-drenched music, mainly his own compositions. ...
Continue ReadingNew Music From Herwig, Remez, Novoa, McBride & More
by Bob Osborne
A comprehensive mix of forthcoming and recent, releases which includes a wide variety of differing jazz elements. Women in jazz make a healthy contribution to the playlist with some notable vocal performances and exemplary musicianship. There's also some classic jazz fusion from 1970 from Miles Davis in there as well. Playlist Conrad Herwig “C'Mon (Mi Gaujira)" from Reflections--Facing South (Savant Records) 00:00 Nadav Remez “King Tut" from Summit (HaRamaz Music) 04:52 Melissa Kassel & Tom Zicarelli Group “Morning ...
Continue ReadingNicole Glover, Daniel Bulatkin, Gilad Atzmon, Jane Ira Bloom & More
by Ludovico Granvassu
Enjoy another playlist of brilliant new releases the algorithms haven't caught up with yet.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Gary Brunton “Snecklifter" Spacecraft (Juste Une Trace) 0:16 Host talks 4:45 Emma Rawicz “Anima Rising" Inkyra (ACT) 6:36 Kai Craig “Lunations" A Time Once Forgotten (Whirlwind) 13:11 Host talks 18:30 Jane Ira Bloom feat. Dominic Fallacaro “Cry without an Alphabet" Songs In Space (Outline) 20:43 Gilad Atzmon, Daniel Bulatkin, ...
Continue ReadingHermeto Pascoal: the Sound of Everything
by Ludovico Granvassu
From his early accordion days and forró roots to his global influence, Hermeto Pascoal lived in total communion with sound, inspiring generations worldwide. More than a multi-instrumentalist, he was a true “multi-thing-ist," turning pianos, flutes, and drums into magic--but also rubber ducks, teapots, rivers, and stalactites. Perhaps shaped by his vision impairment, he treated every style and every sound source with equal respect, creating what he called universal music--not jazz, not strictly Brazilian, but everything at once. This playlist honors ...
Continue ReadingDoris Day Was So Much More Than The "Girl Next Door"!
by Joan Merrill
Doris Day was often called America's “girl next door"--friendly, wholesome, relatable, and unintimidating. Women wanted to be her and men wanted to marry her. It was an image so firmly attached to her that it overshadowed her remarkable talent. In her book Holding my own in No Man's Land, film critic Molly Haskell wrote about Doris as a role model. “Doris Day most always played women who followed a career, strong independent women who enjoyed ...
Continue ReadingMats Gustafsson / Ken Vandermark / Tomeka Reid / Chad Taylor: PIVOT
by Mark Corroto
Do not judge a friend for buying a lottery ticket when the jackpot climbs to some astronomical sum. The odds of hitting the winning combination may be just as astronomical, but the dollar spent buys something more valuable than probability: a few hours of dreaming, imagining another life. Speaking of combinations, the newly formed quartet Pivot feels very much like a winning ticket. Mats Gustafsson and Ken Vandermark are no strangers to collaboration, having crossed paths in Peter ...
Continue ReadingIdris Ackamoor’s Afrofuturist Theater of Sound
by Steven Roby
The plan is not a recital. It is a happening--part theater, part ritual, part dance-floor communion--led by a saxophonist who has spent five decades making music that refuses to sit still. “I call myself an artistic being," Idris Ackamoor says, describing the continuum that stretches from his horn and piano to the page and back again. “My apartment has become my home studio. I use the piano, my saxophone, and voice as instruments to create music... Sometimes I might be ...
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