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Jazz Articles about Randy Napoleon
Anthony Stanco: Stanco's Time
by Jack Bowers
Anthony Stanco. Keep the name in mind, as you are likely to hear it mentioned soon enough as the most recent link in a chain of renowned bop trumpeters that started with Dizzy Gillespie and has numbered among its illustrious members Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Donald Byrd, Carmell Jones and a host of other luminaries. Now, after a lengthy period during which no one stepped forward to assume the mantle of bop trumpeter extraordinaire, and as ...
Continue ReadingRandy Napoleon: The Door is Open: The Music of Gregg Hill
by Paul Rauch
In and around the formidable jazz studies program at Michigan State University is a plethora of jazz talent devoted to instrumental and compositional excellence. Most of this talent is young, benefiting from a wide array of world-class instructors that includes program director Rodney Whitaker and veteran guitarist Randy Napoleon, among other notables. Within this labyrinth of jazz wisdom in the Detroit / Lansing metroplex is composer Gregg Hill, a former truck driver and tech entrepreneur whose performing ambitions were superseded ...
Continue ReadingRandy Napoleon: Rust Belt Roots: Randy Napoleon Plays Wes Montgomery, Grant Green & Kenny Burrell
by Jack Bowers
One's response to jazz--indeed, to music of any kind--most often depends on where he or she is coming from. To erase any doubts about where he is coming from, guitarist Randy Napoleon has subtitled his album, Rust Belt Roots, “Plays Wes Montgomery, Grant Green and Kenny Burrell." This is music born of a Midwestern ethos: Indianapolis (Montgomery), St. Louis (Green), Detroit (Burrell). Napoleon called Michigan home before moving to New York City in 1999, and has never forgotten the enormous ...
Continue ReadingRandy Napoleon, Dave Brubeck, Troy Roberts and More
by Joe Dimino
This episode features a number of artists interviewed by host Joe Dimino. We begin with guitarist Randy Napoleon and his mentor Donald Walden. Then, we look into the music of Canadian cat Eric St-Laurent and we profile Australian-born saxophonist Troy Roberts . Finally, we pay our respects to the great Lyle Mays and his contributions to the world of jazz. Playlist Randy Napoleon “Wouldn't It Be Nice" Common Tones (Detroit Music Factory) 00:00 Host talks 5:57 Donald Walden ...
Continue ReadingRandy Napoleon: Common Tones
by Chris M. Slawecki
Randy Napoleon may represent the new school of Detroit guitar players emerging from the lineage of Kenny Burrell and (Motown) Funk Brothers Dennis Coffey and Joe Messina, but his approach and sound on Common Tones are old school for sure. His fifth set as a leader (on the Detroit Music Factory label) collaborates across four generations of Michigan jazz musicians and sounds and feels like an old-school jazz conversation, as if Napoleon and friends are playing directly to each other, ...
Continue ReadingRandy Napoleon: Playing for the Jukebox Crowd
by Trish Richardson
When guitarist Randy Napoleon titled his latest effort, The Jukebox Crowd (Gut String Records, 2012), the jukebox he referred to was not some nostalgic 1950s era one that sits idly in a corner. Rather, she is a much sleeker, hipper, and more modern version. She is cool and, of course, jazzy, and she commands center stage. One trait she does share with her older cousin is that she is filled with songs that are worth paying to hear.According ...
Continue ReadingTake Five With Randy Napoleon
by AAJ Staff
Meet Randy Napoleon: Randy Napoleon is one of the most sought after guitarists in New York today. Just off from a two-year tour with Warner Brothers recording artist Michael Bublé, he has recorded a new CD, Between Friends, released in November 2006 by Azica Records and has been touring in the United States and the United Kingdom to promote the album.Napoleon's career took off one month after moving to New York City, when he joined pianist Benny Green's ...
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