Home » Jazz News

Interview News

Timely announcements covering new album releases, tours, concert series, special events, job postings, crowdfunding campaigns and more. You can find more news by searching our website, viewing our news stream, seeing what's trending or reading our blog posts. Subscribe to our news RSS feed and/or embed AAJ news content on your website or blog. Learn about our news service here. Submit news here.

Interview

Bob Flanigan and John Gray

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 12, 2010

Most fans of Four Freshmen recordings know Bob Flanigan as one of the group's founding members. Formed at Butler University in Indianapolis in early 1948, the singing quartet began as Hal's Harmonizers and was initially comprised of Hal Kratzsch, Marvin Pruitt and brothers Don and Ross Barbour. When Pruitt left, the Barbour brothers' cousin Bob Flanigan replaced him, and the group adapted a jazzier vocal harmony style. They changed their name to the Four Freshmen and began touring, catching the ...

Continue Reading

Interview

Notes from the Net: A Miles Davis Interview Rediscovered; Fall CD Releases; Plus News, Reviews, Interviews and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
October 12, 2010

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest: Starting once again with some Miles Davis news, via Miles Davis Online we learn that Soulandjazz.com has posted a radio interview with Davis originally done in the mid-1980s for musician/broadcaster/author Ben Sidran's NPR program “Sidran on Record." Also via MDO, ...

Continue Reading

Interview

An Interview with Doc Severinsen

Source: Groove Notes
October 12, 2010

I was fortunate enough to interview Doc Severinsen last week by telephone, reaching him before a concert on the road in Columbus, Ohio. Below are two links. The first is a short 5 1/2 minute produced piece featuring highlights from his interview as well as music, and audio from The Tonight Show. The second link is the 28 minute full interview with Doc. Also included in this post is video and photos of Doc, as well as a transcript of ...

Continue Reading

Interview

A Chris Forbes Trajectory.

Source: Brilliant Corners, a Boston Jazz Blog
October 7, 2010

Photo Courtesy Chris Forbes. Chris has become a helpful regular in the comment zone and actually likes to write so I badgered him to go through the profile question ordeal and ...voila. 1. What brought you to music? I was interested in music pretty young according to my mother. She said I always seemed to gravitate towards the musical instrument toys at the expense of most of the others. My earliest musical memories revolve around the piano that we found ...

Continue Reading

Interview

Panamanian Pianist Danilo Perez Is a Jazzman for All Seasons

Source: All About Jazz @ Spinner
October 11, 2010

It's not uncommon for musicians to lend their name and/or time to charitable causes. Sometimes these people even have a second life as a hands-on leader of the organization—Bob Geldof comes to mind here. Jazz musicians, on the other hand, tend to lean more toward a grass-roots kind of thing, such as starting schools (see the Ralph Alessi profile) or mentoring young musicians. But in looking at Danilo Pérez, you wonder where he finds the energy: ...

Continue Reading

Interview

Multi-Reedman Dan Willis Interviewed at All About Jazz...and More!

Source: All About Jazz
October 12, 2010

For the past several years, multi-reedman Dan Willis—as prone to play Armenian duduk as he is a saxophone or clarinet—has been exploring the music of renegade classical composer Erik Satie, first with his 2006 Omni-Tone release, Velvet Gentlemen, and now, with his 2010 Daywood Drive follow-up, The Satie Project. In both cases he finds the perfect nexus of reverence for Satie's in some cases near-iconic pieces ("Gymnopedies," for example, which have been brought into the jazz world previously by Jacques ...

Continue Reading

Interview

Pianist Kenny Werner Interviewed at All About Jazz...and More!

Source: All About Jazz
October 11, 2010

Inspiration behind art is a curious thing. It takes many forms, from personal to universal perspectives. Many times it's unexpected. It is intertwined with one's life and the vicissitudes therein. As Charlie Parker famously said, “If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." For pianist/composer/arranger Kenny Werner, music has evolved, over time, into a direct expression of his being, less about a series of notes on paper. His latest release, No Beginning No End (Half Note, ...

Continue Reading

Interview

"Giving Frank Foster a Hand"

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 8, 2010

Tenor saxophonist Frank Foster is best known for his monumental work in the reed section of Count Basie's “New Testament" band starting in 1953. Over the decades that followed, Foster composed and arranged many songs for the Basie orchestra, including Shiny Stockings. Today, Foster, 82, lives with his wife Cecilia in Virginia. Brian Grady is a filmmaker. When Brian began making a documentary on Foster at his family's request several years ago, Brian encountered one of jazz's dirty little secrets: ...

Continue Reading