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Billy Childs Quartet at the Newman Center
by Geoff Anderson
Billy Childs Quartet Newman Center Denver, CO February 1, 2025 Billy Childs is equally at home in both the jazz and classical worlds. He has worked with prestigious ensembles such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and served as president of Chamber Music America, among other prominent classical music affiliations. Bridging his passions for both classical and jazz, he recorded two albums of jazz/chamber music--Lyric, Vol. 1 (Lunacy Music, ...
Continue ReadingFreddie Hubbard: One Of A Kind
by Richard J Salvucci
It is something of a challenge to review Freddie Hubbard's work from the early 1980s. He had changed direction in the early 1970s with Red Clay (CTI, 1970) moving toward soul-jazz and jazz-rock, although anyone listening to Hubbard's playing would hear his standard vocabulary of licks. Some listeners approved; some listeners did not; and some simply labelled him a sell-out. This certainly was not the Hubbard of Blue Note, and while he returned to playing straight ahead in the mid-1980s ...
Continue ReadingBilly Childs at Dazzle
by Geoff Anderson
Billy Childs Dazzle Denver, Colorado May 6, 2023 Sometimes when a musician has so many activities and accolades in different areas, it's easy to overlook the basic thing, like: the guy can really play! Pianist Billy Childs drove that point home with a sledgehammer Saturday night at Dazzle when he brought his quartet to Denver for a two-set, one-night stand. Stripped down to the essentials of a rhythm section and trumpet player, Childs ...
Continue ReadingBilly Childs Quartet at Jazz Alley
by Paul Rauch
Billy Childs Quartet Jazz Alley Seattle WA May 2, 2023 The crowd was not large upon arriving at Seattle's landmark club, Jazz Alley. At first, one would surmise that this was surprising, considering the career of pianist/composer Billy Childs. After all, he has been the recipient of five Grammy awards, from thirteen nominations. He has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2009 and a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award in 2013. As an active composer/arranger, ...
Continue ReadingBilly Childs: The Winds of Change
by Neil Duggan
Billy Childs, one of the most critically acclaimed pianists in modern jazz, is in high demand as a modern classical composer. He has played and composed music ranging from orchestral to chamber works to contemporary small ensemble jazz. This has brought him five Grammy awards to date. Starting as a pianist in his native Los Angeles, he then spent six years with Freddie Hubbard's band before becoming a leader in his own right. He has performed with a ...
Continue ReadingDaniel Rotem: Wise One: Celebrating The Music of John Coltrane
by Jim Worsley
There was, and still is, a stunningly intricate mosaic to John Coltrane's music. His visionary art form is a gift to the world that keeps on giving. Coltrane's impressions created a legacy of beautifully conceptualized music to be absorbed and reimagined for generations to come. The music is timeless, thanks in large part, obviously, to the man they called Trane. But thanks as well to the talented musicians who have breathed in all that is Coltrane and absorbed the passion ...
Continue ReadingBilly Childs: L.A. Contentment
by R.J. DeLuke
Billy Childs says taking formal piano lessons as a young child “didn't register" at the time. He didn't recoil from the instrument by any means, but it wasn't yet exciting. But he had a neighbor who also played. Childs looked up to him. It was that neighbor who showed him stuff--taught him to play “ Cantaloupe Island" and other things. “I consider those my first real piano lessons, actually," says Childs from his Los Angeles home. Good fortune. ...
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