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Lift Every Voice And Sing: Twenty #BlackLives Albums That Matter
by Chris May
Jazz has been inextricably linked with social and political protest since at least the late 1930s, when Billie Holiday made famous the leftist songwriter and poet Abel Meeropol's “Strange Fruit." The song, which has a power to move that is undiminished by familiarity, likens the bodies of lynched African Americans to fruit hanging in trees. But the alignment of jazz and protest goes back further than “Strange Fruit." It is likely to have begun with the emergence ...
Continue ReadingAt A Korean Jazz Picnic, No Need To Know The Music
by Arthur R George
That jazz appeals to younger audiences, is fun, and not so serious, is more than a mere notion, materializing in, of all places, South Korea. The Jarasum Jazz Festival created there by promoter In Jae Jin has become one of the largest in Asia by hosting a multi-day event which features camping, western and Korean performers, and is intended to be so user-friendly he says it is “like a picnic where you do not need to know the music."
Continue ReadingTerence Blanchard: Music, Social Justice and Raising Awareness About Violence Against Black People
by Christine Passarella
A few years ago, I was applauding as the cast of Motown was taking their bows on Broadway when I recognized a mother's face sitting across my row. Without question or trepidation, I felt compelled to say something, hopefully comforting, to Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin. In addition to my heartfelt condolences for the tragic violent death of her son, I told her about my Kids for Coltrane work, and she smiled with warmth and an appreciation hearing ...
Continue ReadingTerence Blanchard and E-Collective at Ardmore Music Hall
by Geno Thackara
Terence Blanchard and E-Collective Ardmore Music Hall Ardmore, PA June 12, 2018 It's meant as a compliment on originality, not a sign of mere imitation, to say there was a heavy Miles Davis vibe in the air when Terence Blanchard and his E-Collective group hit the snug-sized stage of the Ardmore Music Hall. Like fellow trumpeter Davis, Blanchard refuses to sit still and doesn't hesitate to forthrightly speak his mind. Taking a cue also ...
Continue ReadingTerence Blanchard: Live
by Mike Jurkovic
As trumpeter Terence Blanchard is wont to do, he blends spoken word, rock, funk, the electrified, the experimental, the second line, the bop, blues, and hip hop on the swaggering, often staggering, Live, his latest Blue Note release. Bidding us to ..."find our voices..." Marcus Miller's “Hannibal" evolves from a floating piano intro (courtesy of Fabian Almazan) into a Zappa-like wash of horns, synths, and lots of guitar, bass 'n' drums. The music swims, the horn heralds and ...
Continue ReadingTerence Blanchard at Christ Church Cranbrook
by Troy Dostert
Terence Blanchard Quintet Christ Church Cranbrook Bloomfield Hills, Michigan December 23, 2017 The idea of inviting a jazz combo to help ring in the Christmas season isn't new to the folks at Christ Church Cranbrook. The Episcopal congregation in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan has sponsored a Christmas Eve jazz mass for three years running, with bassist Rodney Whitaker's hand-picked band becoming an essential holiday staple for many church members and guests. But this is ...
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