Jazz Articles about Randy Napoleon

About Randy Napoleon

Album Review

What greater satisfaction could a teacher have than to see his or her students achieve success--and in their chosen field, no less. On Waking Dream, renowned jazz guitarist and educator Randy Napoleon shares center stage with four fellow guitarists, all of whom are former students in his classes at Michigan State University (MSU) in East Lansing. The guitarists are part of a core group that includes three more MSU faculty members: pianist Rick Roe, bassist Rodney Whitaker ...

Album Review

Randy Napoleon: Waking Dream

Read "Waking Dream" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
September 8, 2025

In Waking Dream, guitarist Randy Napoleon has assembled a musical family whose shared history fosters a strong sense of cohesion, one that goes beyond the leader's skillful guitar work. Longtime collaborators bassist [[ {{m: Rodney Whitaker, pianist Rick Roe and drummer Quincy Davis form the rhythmic and harmonic foundation, while four additional guitarists , Luke Sittard, Chris Minami, Jocelyn Gould and Ben Turner, create a rich sonic tapestry reminiscent of a modern guitar choir. Throughout the tracks, there are also ...

Album Review

Anthony Stanco: Stanco's Time

Read "Stanco's Time" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
March 14, 2025

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 ...

Album Review

Randy Napoleon: The Door is Open: The Music of Gregg Hill

Read "The Door is Open: The Music of Gregg Hill" reviewed by Paul Rauch

by Paul Rauch
February 5, 2024

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 ...

Album Review

Randy Napoleon: Rust Belt Roots: Randy Napoleon Plays Wes Montgomery, Grant Green & Kenny Burrell

Read "Rust Belt Roots: Randy Napoleon Plays Wes Montgomery, Grant Green & Kenny Burrell" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
November 3, 2021

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 ...

Radio & Podcasts

Randy Napoleon, Dave Brubeck, Troy Roberts and More

by Joe Dimino
March 1, 2020

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 ...

Album Review

Randy Napoleon: Common Tones

Read "Common Tones" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
February 17, 2020

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, ...