Jazz Articles about Christian Howes
About Christian Howes
Instrument: Violin
Article Coverage | Calendar | Albums | Photos | Similar ArtistsIt's Not Your Fault—Just Evolve
by Christian Howes
Christian Howes is arguably one of America's finest jazz violinists, standing alongside past masters such as Joe Venuti, Stuff Smith, and John Blake. Many contemporary jazz violinists embrace a broad range of non-jazz styles as players because of choice or circumstance. They think of themselves as improvising violinists who play jazz. But like Jean-Luc Ponty before him, Chris thinks of himself as a jazz musician who happens to play the violin, and he has been acclaimed all over the world ...
read moreChristian Howes: Blues for the Blues Violin
by Ian Patterson
It's not difficult to think of great blues artists--there's a roll call of honor as long as that of great jazz artists--and every sizeable town in the world has a blues band or two. So where is the violin? Great blues guitarists and vocalists have never been in short supply, but the great blues violinist, once such an important part of the blues group, has all but disappeared.Eighty or so years ago, dozens of blues recordings featured fiddle ...
read moreChristian Howes: Out of the Blue
by Ian Patterson
The violin is widely considered as the most expressive of instruments, closely approximating the human voice. It depends, however, to a large degree, on whose hands the instrument is in. Christian Howes is that rare breed of musician who makes the violin talk; using the idiom of the blues on Out of the Blue, Howes gives a virtuoso performance, as full of emotion as it is technically dazzling. Joined by guitarist Robben Ford , who lends his jazz-inflected accent to ...
read moreChristian Howes: Heartfelt
by Mark Corroto
There is always the fear that producing an authentic jazz album with orchestration is too ambitious a project and is doomed under the heaviness associated with such affairs. And that might have been the case here, except the sum of the parts, i.e., violinist Christian Howes and arrangers Kuno Schmid and Roger Kellaway, is certainly more than the instant concept.
For Howes' debut on Resonance Records, he is teamed with legendary pianist Roger Kellaway, the former music director ... read moreOn a String and a Prayer
by AAJ Staff
By Christian Howes From a string player's point of view, gaining acceptance within the jazz community is a little like showing up for the first day at a new school with a big stain on your shirt. If you've ever walked into a jam session with a violin slung over your shoulder, you'd know that obtaining an invitation to the stage isn't easy. But this is changing as more orchestral string players find their way into creative ...
read moreChristian Howes & Billy Contreras: Jazz Fiddle Revolution
by Victor Verney
Christian Howes has often been referred to as the “Jimi Hendrix of jazz violin," notes Los Angeles Times critic Don Heckman. He and others, like AAJ's C. Michael Bailey, have taken exception to this title, pointing to the depth and range of Howes' artistry. While Heckman insists that Howes is a jazz player first and foremost with “an expansive improvisational imagination," Bailey is a bit blunter. “My ass!" he exclaims, in a review of Jazz on Sale (Khaeon World Music, ...
read moreChristian Howes: Jazz on Sale
by C. Michael Bailey
“Jimi Hendrix of the violin," my ass! It is sad that we are saddled with such tired metaphors. Christian Howes is considerable more talented than such a moniker would suggest. Lee Brown referred to Howes as a “Jazz Paganini." Now that is more like it. Classically trained since the age of five and performing Mendelssohn’s D Minor Violin Concerto at sixteen, Howes more than earned his stripes in the woodshed. As a jazz violinist today, he has no peer. Another ...
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