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Mike Clement: Hittin' It
by Dan Bilawsky
Mike Clement makes no bones about his love for the classic organ trio configuration. The Canadian-born, New Orleans-based guitarist uses his liner statement to praise the format and namecheck a handful of his legendary six-string forebears who've made their mark in said domain (i.e. Pat Martino, George Benson, Grant Green), and the music he presents on Hittin' It offers all of the good charms associated with this type of combo. Joining forces with organist John Lee and ...
Continue ReadingDr John: Things Happen That Way
by Chris May
Interviewing the late Dr John aka The Night Tripper aka Dr John Creaux aka Mac Rebennack was a pleasure. Witty, erudite and b.s. free, he was reliably good copy. On one occasion he was an hour late and obviously, totally and spectacularly off his face. “If I nod out," he said, “kick me on the shin." The doctor was in... and out. Things Happen That Way has turned out to be Dr John's last recorded studio album, ...
Continue ReadingClifford Lamb: Blues & Hues New Orleans
by Kyle Simpler
There are quite a few cities in the world that have an important musical legacy, and in many cases, the city's musical history might be one of the first things people associate with it. Take New Orleans. Commonly known as the birthplace of jazz, it's hard to imagine New Orleans without conjuring up brass bands, jazz clubs and juke joints. San Francisco-based pianist Clifford Lamb explores New Orleans' musical and cultural aspects with Blues & Hues New Orleans by offering ...
Continue ReadingYohan Giaume: Whisper of a Shadow
by Jim Worsley
Collaborations are quite common projects in the jazz world, and in most forms of music, for that matter. Collaborations, however, are slightly more rare when a modern day composer's album is in conjunction with a composer from the nineteenth century. Such is the case with the works of Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869) melding with composer and trumpeter Yohan Giaume. Giaume has had a deep connection, both musically and intellectually, with Gottschalk for many years. Gottschalk's world travels, influences, and notable ...
Continue ReadingSpodie's Back
by Jim Trageser
Still a teenager when signed to Quincy Jones' Warner Bros. subsidiary, Qwest, trumpeter Derrick Shezbie was nonetheless a veteran on this debut as leader--having been playing in the traditionalist Rebirth Brass Band for several years already. Produced by fellow Crescent City native Delfeayo Marsalis, “Spodie's Back" is a much more modernistic outing than anything he would have tackled in Rebirth. But unlike the throwback neo-bop so popular with other young jazz lions in the 1990s, this is more ...
Continue ReadingHerlin Riley: Perpetual Optimism
by Chris Mosey
Herlin Riley, a drummer from New Orleans, is a member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, led by Wynton Marsalis. Indeed, he played a large part in developing the drum parts for the Pulitzer Prize-winning album by Marsalis, Blood on the Fields (Columbia, 1997). On his own album, Riley leads a mainstream quintet playing five of his own numbers, Gene de Paul's lovely ballad “You Don't What Love Is," Victor Young's “Stella By Starlight," Ellis Marsalis' “Twelve's ...
Continue ReadingCecile McLorin Salvant: WomanChild
by Phil Barnes
There is no getting away from it, jazz is a 'mature' art form where the considerable achievements of past greats can sometimes weigh heavy on the shoulders of young artists. In the CD and internet era that illustrious past is ever present, constantly available at the click of a mouse, or an inexpensive out of copyright CD. So how does the modern jazz singer compete when, to pick a random example, it is currently possible to buy an official release ...
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