Interview News

Singer/Songwriter Robin Holcomb Interviewed at All About Jazz

Source: GoMedia PR
February 14, 2011

While she's been around since the early '80s, emerging in New York's Downtown Scene alongside husband Wayne Hortivtz, pianist/vocalist Robin Holcomb made her first major leap onto a broader radar with her eponymous 1990 debut, on Nonesuch Records. Her ability to combine left-leaning concerns with Americana traditionalism and historical concerns have made her a unique voice in the singer/songwriter arena, while still maintaining unshakable ties with avant concerns on albums like the largely instrumental Little Three (Nonesuch, 1996) and Solos, ...

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Cellist Joan Jeanrenaud Interviewed at All About Jazz

Source: John Kelman
February 15, 2011

Playing it safe is a concept in which cellist Joan Jeanrenaud has total disinterest. Her deep, varied career reflects a restless creative spirit that most recently manifested itself on Pop-Pop (Deconet, 2010), her duo album with producer and percussionist PC Muñoz. The disc seamlessly blends cello, classical, electronica, and hip-hop influences. But, perhaps, the most important element is fun, something Jeanrenaud and Muñoz clearly had a lot of when making the disc. Unlike Jeanrenaud's carefully-architected previous albums, Pop-Pop found her ...

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UYS: Bernard Fowler & Dave Abbruzzese (The IMF's) interviews

Source: underyourskin
February 11, 2011

Bernard Fowler

Dave Abbruzzese.

These interviews are part of the book/dvd project “Under your skin" which includes conversations with Chuck D—Public Enemy, Sam Rivers, Yusef Lateef, Ahmad Jamal, Angelique Kidjo, Liu Fang, Malika Zarra , Zap Mama, Les Nubians, Esperanza Spalding, Lydia Lunch, Lee “Scratch" Perry, Rhonda Smith, DJ KutMasta ...

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Hot Young Pianist Gerald Clayton Born into Jazz Experience

Source: JazzStage.net
February 11, 2011

Many of today's top jazz artists adopted the music after being turned on by a great album, concert, or learning experience. Pianist Gerald Clayton was born into it. His father, bassist and arranger John Clayton, played in the Count Basie Orchestra before co-founding the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra “I was exposed to the lifestyle behind the music," says Clayton. “I saw a lot of sound checks and rehearsals and grown men showing each other so much love, just for the music."At ...

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Pledgemusic Starts "Record Label" and "Signs" Band - So What Does That Mean? [interview]

Source: HypeBot
February 11, 2011

Back in December, PledgeMusic, a fan-funding site, launched their own record label and publishing division and signed the indie rock group The Damnwells. Once the news broke, many questions arose. What does it mean to start a “record label" and “sign" a band? To answer these questions, I spoke with Alex Dezen, a member of The Damnwells. Benji Rogers, the founder of PledgeMusic, chimes in too. In this interview, Dezen talks about how he's managed to leverage the Pledge system to further his career and ...

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Photostory: Fayard Nicholas

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
February 11, 2011

Fayard Nicholas was half the Nicholas Brothers dance team, whose spectacular gravity-defying routines were the highlights of films like Sun Valley Serenade (1941), Orchestra Wives (1942), Stormy Weather (1943), The Pirate (1948) and many others. Paul Slaughter had the honor of photographing Fayard Nicholas several times. [Photo of Fayard Nicholas in 1983 by Paul Slaughter] Here's Paul in his own words on the story behind the photos in this post: “I first met Fayard and Harold Nicholas in 1970. Fayard, ...

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35 years of Jazz in Santa Cruz, California Celebrated through Jazz Alley Mural

Source: Bennett Jackson
February 10, 2011

Santa Cruz, California's Kuumbwa Jazz Center has grown from its small beginnings to one of the most highly respected jazz-presenting institutions in the country, attracting artists of national and international renown. In 2010, the venue turned 35 and celebrated by helping to commission Jazz Alley, a 80-foot-by-12-foot mural depicting five famous jazz artists, but not the usual suspects that have been immortalized on similar murals throughout the world. The artists were chosen by Kuumbwa Jazz as musicians that have been ...

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Moody-Inspired Fan Devotes Life to History of Jazz

Source: JazzStage.net
February 10, 2011

“Jazz Is Freedom. You Think About That." -Thelonious Monk By Stan Lee Special to jazzstage.net That's what jazz brings to me. I have friends with whom I want to share this joy of artistry that started with me in 1986. That's the purpose of this project on jazz history. I started with the birth of jazz from the early years of ragtime music. This project of jazz history will continue as a chronology all the way to today's young lions ...

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