Articles by R.J. DeLuke

Interview

Fred Lipsius: The Blood, Sweat & Tears Sax Voice Still Resounds

by R.J. DeLuke
October 28, 2026

There's an alto saxophone sound that a huge percentage of the Baby Boom generation heard and enjoyed in the 1960s and into the 1970s, even though many may not have been jazz fans. And younger folks who appreciate great music and understand the value of sounds generated in that era have also heard the clean, quicksilver saxophone approach on hit records that emanated from one man. The resounding horn is that of Fred Lipsius and the band was ...

Interview

Kelly Green: Taking Care of the Music

by R.J. DeLuke
September 28, 2026

Singer/pianist Kelly Green works in a field that can be difficult to negotiate: jazz. In the United States, its popularity doesn't reach that of pop music in all its forms or rock music. But it is always there as a thriving art form. For the keepers of the flame at all levels of talent, it takes dedication and determination to put together a career. Green has those qualities in abundance. She's enjoying a strong ...

Interview

Rachel Spencer: Trumpeter Making Artistic Statements

by R.J. DeLuke
September 24, 2026

A person's journey in life that takes them into the world of music and, more specifically, down a path that leads to becoming a professional player and performer is an individual and personal thing. There are some similarities with fellow musicians, but each story unfolds amid circumstances and events that are unique to a given individual. For Rachel Spencer, a trumpeter, composer and educator living in Austin, Texas, it started with classical music. She grew up in a ...

Interview

Zela Margossian: Music That Is Healing

by R.J. DeLuke
August 17, 2026

The music of pianist Zela Margossian draws on many influences. It's an amalgam of what she's learned from classical training, investigating of jazz, and her vast exposure to the folk music of her native Armenia. Her music is garnering praise for its varied textures and originality. It carries listeners down interesting pathways. Fans of varied music genres can find something intriguing. Margossian is of Armenian heritage, and that plays a big part in her art. But ...

Interview

Dorota Piotrowska: Jazz With International Voices

by R.J. DeLuke
August 10, 2026

As a child in Poland, Dorota Piotrowska was musical. She played piano and listened to records of music from America that her father was fond of, like The Doors, Led Zeppelin and Queen. At age seven her piano studies centered on classical music, as is the case with most kids taking up the instrument. But in high school, she had a friend who played in a band of his peers. She was invited to attend a rehearsal. There ...

Interview

Oscar Rossignoli: Expanding His Musical Journey

by R.J. DeLuke
August 3, 2026

When Oscar Rossignoli was a child in Honduras, he wanted to be a drummer. He was captivated by the instrument and when he went to church services each Sunday with his family, he would scamper to the front row and seat himself close to the drummer. The church services featured a band. His father, while not really a professional musician, was the bassist. Music was frequently played in his home in the city of San Pedro Sula, and ...

Interview

Lucy Yeghiazaryan: Serious And Seriously Talented

by R.J. DeLuke
July 31, 2026

Lucy Yeghiazaryan is one of the most compelling jazz vocalists to emerge in recent years. Especially in New York, where she regularly performs in the city's jazz clubs, audiences have been drawn to her rich, powerful tone and her ability to bring an enchanting emotional depth to every lyric. Those qualities, along with her no-nonsense approach to classic songs and her effortless sense of swing, are behind the steady growth of Yeghiazaryan's audience. That's impressive these ...

Interview

Ellen Pieroni: Balancing Act for a Life in Music

by R.J. DeLuke
June 17, 2026

By day, a mild-mannered music teacher in the Buffalo public school system in western New York state--the city known for its brutal snowstorms and the NFL's Bills--Ellen Pieroni is, by night, ready to pour out streams of jazz-inflected, funk-infused solos from any given bandstand. From that vantage point, she's fierce and fun. Her band, the Encyclopedia of Soul, is gaining fans and growing a reputation known for delivering moving and memorable live experiences. Pieroni is a lifelong resident ...

Interview

Eliane Elias: Lively and Live

by R.J. DeLuke
May 28, 2026

Eliane Elias is a jazz musician of the highest order. Her skills as a superlative pianist became known not long after she arrived in New York City from her São Paulo, Brazil, home in 1981. She drew notice as a member of Steps Ahead, a groundbreaking fusion group of the early 1980s that included Mike Mainieri and Michael Brecker, among others. As her career grew, she became a prolific composer and interpreter of songs across a broad spectrum ...

Interview

Jamile and Vinicius Gomes: Acoustic Thrills With Brazilian Twist

by R.J. DeLuke
May 23, 2026

The music of Brazil made its way into the jazz lexicon in the late 1950s and early 1960s when the bossa nova style emerged and caught on in the U.S., its chords and harmonies ripe for combining with the sensuous side of jazz. It's been a popular style ever since, with people in North America discovering artists like Antonio Carlos Jobim, Joao Gilberto, Sergio Mendes and many others. Over the years, the music of South America and Cuba ...