Jazz Articles about Billy Childs

About Billy Childs

Album Review

Daniel Rotem: Wise One: Celebrating The Music of John Coltrane

Read "Wise One: Celebrating The Music of John Coltrane" reviewed by Jim Worsley

by Jim Worsley
July 13, 2022

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 ...

Interview

Billy Childs: L.A. Contentment

by R.J. DeLuke
December 15, 2020

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. ...

Album Review

Alicia Olatuja: Intuition: Songs From The Minds Of Women

Read "Intuition: Songs From The Minds Of Women" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
February 12, 2020

È un tributo alla creatività delle donne in generale e delle cantautrici in particolare, questo di Alicia Olatuja, che interpreta composizioni di Tracy Chapman, Joni Mitchell, Violeta Parra, Sade Adu, Kate Bush e altre. Alicia ne aggiunge di proprie e partecipa come arrangiatrice in un progetto fortemente sentito e condiviso col produttore Kamau Kenyatta, noto per il suo ruolo nel successo di Gregory Porter, e con Ulysses Owens Jr. Alicia Olatuja è una versatile mezzosoprano, maturata ...

Album Review

Billy Childs: Rebirth

by Dan Bilawsky
March 4, 2017

It's been a while since we've heard pianist Billy Childs really dig in. While he certainly hasn't been dormant, reaching tremendous artistic heights in semi-recent times with a pair of highly refined chamber jazz explorations and a much-lauded tribute to Laura Nyro, the Childs of yore--the man that would throw down the gauntlet night after night while in the employ of legends like trumpet titan Freddie Hubbard or trombonist J.J. Johnson--hasn't been heard from in a while. Rebirth brings that ...

Album Review

Billy Childs: Map To The Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro

Read "Map To The Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
October 30, 2014

The latter day jazz community, by and large, has embraced songwriting icons from the other side of the fence. Numerous artists associated with jazz have visited in on Bob Dylan's iconic work, explored the dark soul of Tom Waits, reshaped the poetic work(s) of Leonard Cohen, and/or tapped into the Joni Mitchell well. But what of Laura Nyro? The woman behind such under-appreciated classics as “Stoned Soul Picnic," “And When I Die," “Eli's Comin,'" and “Wedding Bell Blues" has largely ...

Interview

Billy Childs: Pushing Past Preconceptions

by George Colligan
August 13, 2013

[ Editor's Note: The following interview is reprinted from George Colligan's blog, Jazztruth]Billy Childs is simply one of the baddest musicians on the planet. He's a brilliant jazz pianist, having received much acclaim as a sideman with legends as well as from being a bandleader. His Windham Hill recordings--Take For Example, This....., His April Touch and Portrait Of A Player--were a big influence on my musical tendencies.Childs has been busy for the past two decades as ...

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Interview

Billy Childs: The Perfect Picture

by Esther Berlanga-Ryan
April 12, 2011

There is a somewhat-still-virgin musical territory that rests its innocent heart where classical music ends and jazz commences. Many have beautifully tiptoed on its smooth surface before, mixing, experimenting, creating and even challenging its balance with both improvised and organized notes. Music is in constant evolution, and jazz has always, in one way or another, embraced those who take each step a little further ahead every time. Taking risks makes the magic worthwhile, and the experience always promises to be ...