Jazz Articles about Lewis Porter
About Lewis Porter
Instrument: Piano
Article Coverage | Calendar | Albums | Photos | Similar ArtistsDizzy Gillespie, Charlie Porter and More

by Joe Dimino
The 587th Episode of Neon Jazz is ushered in by the sounds of Lewis Porter on the keys and followed by those of his friend Dizzy Gillespie. From there, we look into Kansas City-born, New York-based trumpeter Dave Scott with a cut off his new CD In Search of Hipness. We then move on to the world of Kansas City singer Bukeka Blakemore and pay our respects to both Andre Previn and Ed Bickert. Finally, we give listeners a look ...
read moreLewis Porter: Piano Solo

by Dan Bilawsky
The solo format is, quite often, a window into an artist's soul. For Lewis Porter, performing all by his lonesome at the piano, it also serves as a showcase for a tripartite balancing act between patience, impulse, and calculated intellect. In an autonomous state, left to his own devices and desires, this pianist-scholar produces music that's as much about respecting a moment as it is about developing it. This hour-long studio session finds Porter taking liberties with ...
read moreLewis Porter: Beauty & Mystery

by Mike Jurkovic
A somber, modern/Romanticist solo piano Prologue" beautifully opens jazz scholar, historian, and accomplished pianist Lewis Porter's Beauty & Mystery, his fourth disc as a session leader. Accompanied throughout this often inspired recording by bassist John Pattitucci, sought after Grammy-winner and frequent trio companion drummer Terri Lyne Carrington and high-flying, rep-rising saxophonist Tia Fuller, Porter unleashes his vast knowledge of John Coltrane, and the multitude of jazz avenues on a frothy mix of original covers and time tested covers. ...
read moreA Pair From Lewis Porter: Beauty & Mystery/Three Minutes To Four

by Dan Bilawsky
Lewis Porter is living proof that the marriage of a wide knowledge base and an open mind makes for a beautifully creative whole. As an esteemed author, a revered academic, a highly respected composer, and a first-rate pianist, Porter operates from a unique, variable-angle vantage point occupied by few others. He knows from whence this music came, he's able to arrange his thoughts in clear-headed fashion, he has a thirst for knowledge and a desire to explore the unknown, and ...
read moreLewis Porter on John Coltrane

by Victor L. Schermer
The following interview with Lewis Porter, author of John Coltrane: His life and Music, was conducted by telephone on April 15, 2000. I am indebted to Dr. Porter for taking the time from his exceptionally busy schedule as musician, writer, teacher, and father to share his views with us. All About Jazz: It's indeed an honor to interview you, Dr. Porter. Just to get us started, could you tell us your favorite albums and books about jazz, ...
read moreCatching Up With Lewis Porter

by Jeffery S. McMillan
On April 19, 2012, at 8:00 p.m. in Paine Hall on the Harvard University campus, jazz pianist, composer, educator, and author, Lewis Porter's Concerto for Saxophone will receive its world premiere with jazz icon Dave Liebman as the soloist:Dr. Porter was kind enough to answer some questions about the piece and his collaborations with Liebman:All About Jazz: Your achievements as a scholar and educator are tremendous. You have been a Professor of Music at Rutgers University ...
read moreLewis Porter: Second Voyage

by David Adler
Lewis Porter has a well-earned reputation as one of jazz's most meticulous and thoughtful scholars. He is the founder and director of the Masters Program in Jazz History and Research at Rutgers University, not to mention the author of John Coltrane: His Life and Music (Michigan, 1998), which many consider the definitive Coltrane biography. But part of what makes Porter's academic work so valuable is his applied knowledge of the music, gained through a parallel career as a pianist (and ...
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