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Gary Bartz & NTU: Damage Control
by Pierre Giroux
After a 12-year break from the recording studio, legendary saxophonist Gary Bartz makes a powerful return with Damage Control. This deeply personal passion project honors and re-imagines the soul genre. The album showcases Bartz's unwavering curiosity and artistic evolution, transforming soulful classics into meditative, jazz-infused compositions that cross genre boundaries. At the heart of the album's unity is Bartz's core trio, featuring pianist Barney McAll and drummer Kassa Overall. This trio is often joined by a lineup of exceptional musicians ...
Continue ReadingFestival International de Jazz de Montreal 2022
by Mike Chamberlain
Various venues Festival International de Jazz de Montreal Montreal, Quebec, Canada July 5-9, 2022 All hail the return of live music! After a three-year break imposed by Covid-19, the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal (FIJM) was back this year with a scaled-down but user-friendly slate of 350 concerts, about 2/3 of which were free. This was a year of transition for the festival, now under new management. In the past, the festival ...
Continue ReadingKamasi Washington, Trombone Shorty and George Clinton Kickoff a New Season of Outdoor Music
by Dave Kaufman
The New York City summer music season kicked off with a series of extravagant concerts that turned out large crowds to the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn in Prospect Park and Central Park SummerStage presentations. The comfortable temperatures and low humidity created perfect conditions for outdoor events. Perhaps, the crowds were also buoyed by a collective sense of the need to get out and experience live music after two years of living with greatly diminished live music opportunities. The BRIC series opened ...
Continue ReadingRavel, Chopin & Debussy for Jazzheads
by Ludovico Granvassu
In the second part of this week's exploration of jazz inspired by classical music, we focus on projects in tribute to the works of three composers that have influenced scores of jazz musicians, Maurice Ravel, Frédéric Chopin and Claude Debussy. Happy listening! PlaylistBen Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Frank Woeste, Ryan Keberle “Ostinato (Prelude)" Reverso--Suite Ravel (Phonoart) 0:16 Host talks 6:59 René Marie “Bolero/Suzanne" Live at the Jazz Standard (Maxjazz) ...
Continue ReadingThrottle Elevator Music: Final Floor
by Chris M. Slawecki
Final Floor marks the last stop of a band that one might say never really was. Throttle Elevator Music was the name given to a jazz-punk studio cooperative project organized and operating from 2011 through 2017 around saxophonist Kamasi Washington, drummer Mike Hughes (aka “Lumpy") and composer and guitarist Gregory Howe. Howe also founded and serves as producer and engineer for Wide Hive Records, the label that recorded and distributed their music. He notes on the back jacket ...
Continue ReadingWest Coast Get Down: Kamasi Washington, Cameron Graves, Throttle Elevator Music
by Russell Perry
In the past several years, a suite of players have emerged from Los Angeles, many of whom grew up together, loosely connected by the name West Coast Get Down. The most visible player in this scene is Kamasi Washington from a jazz perspective, but Stephen “Thundercat" Bruner and Miles Mosley have made significant records in a pop and R'n'B vein. Composer and pianist Cameron Graves anchors Washington's releases and has become known as a significant artist through his own release. ...
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