Jazz Articles about Marcus McLaurine

About Marcus McLaurine

Album Review

George Gee Swing Orchestra: Winter Wonderland

Read "Winter Wonderland" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
November 4, 2023

After an absence of several years the New York City-based George Gee Swing Orchestra is back in a recording studio, doing what it does best--swinging merrily through a Winter Wonderland chock-full of holiday favorites that kids of all ages can relate to and appreciate. Gee formed his first band while still in college at Carnegie Mellon University, one day after interviewing Count Basie on the campus radio station. After moving back to New York City, where he ...

Album Review

Horace Tapscott with the Pan Afrikan People’s Arkestra: Ancestral Echoes – The Covina Sessions, 1976

Read "Ancestral Echoes – The Covina Sessions, 1976" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
August 1, 2020

When pianist/composer/conductor Horace Tapscott founded the Pan Afrikan People's Arkestra (PAPA) in 1961, it was by design a support collective for all arts, bringing pride to the black community, specifically that of South-Central Los Angeles. PAPA signified social activism, teaching empowerment, and advocating Tapscott's belief that channeling African ancestral roots was a key to succeeding. Tapscott, who died in 1999, had forsaken wider recognition to bring music and teaching to his community, but his catalog has seen a revived interest ...