Interview News

Noted Author Nat Hentoff Interviewed at AAJ...And More!

Source: All About Jazz
June 23, 2010

Nat Hentoff was eleven years old when, walking down the road one day in Boston, he heard music so exciting that he shouted with pleasure and ran into the shop to learn that the music was of clarinetist Artie Shaw. In that moment was born a love affair with jazz which has lasted seventy-four years thus far. At nineteen, Hentoff was hosting his own jazz radio program, and by the age of twenty-eight he was an editor of Downbeat Magazine, ...

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Pat O'Leary's Nightingale

Source: Jazz Lives by Michael Steinman
June 22, 2010

If you had asked me, a few months ago, to tell you all I knew about Patrick O'Leary, I would have said, “Wonderful bass player--a real melodic sensibility and strong time--and an extraordinary jazz cellist. Witty fellow, a good sort." And I would have directed you to some of the videos I've taken at The Ear Inn for proof. But that estimate, which remains true, would have sold Mr. O'Leary short as a classical composer and arranger, someone able to ...

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Master Guitarists Wolfgang Muthspiel and Mick Goodrick Interviewed at AAJ...And More!

Source: All About Jazz
June 22, 2010

When guitarists Wolfgang Muthspiel and Mick Goodrick walked up to the stage on January 30th, 2008, they were not only preparing to record a live album for Muthspiel's Material Records label, they were celebrating a musical and personal relationship that stretches back more than two decades. First meeting at the New England Conservatory, where Muthspiel studied under the Goodrick's tutelage, these two iconic players have continued to work together as duo partners over the years, with 2010's Live at the ...

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Dark Star Orchestra Picks Jeff Mattson as New Guitarist

Source: JamBase
June 22, 2010

TRICKSTER GETS THE GIG

Dark Star Orchestra announced today that Jeff Mattson will be taking on the Jerry Garcia role and welcomes him as a full time member of the group. The band's statement reads:

“After months of touring and playing with Jeff, we have decided to offer him the full time gig, which he has gratefully accepted. Jeff has blown us away with his energy, licks, and presence on stage. He is a great guy, an inspiring musician and ...

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Music Veteran Alfonzo Blackwell Sizzles During Black Music Month

Source: One Creative Publicist & Management
June 22, 2010

June 2010 Marks Black Music Month and American Saxophonist Alfonzo Blackwell continues to make Major Contributions to the History and Legacy of Black Music

New York, NY (USA) American Jazz Saxophonist/Composer/Producer Alfonzo Blackwell is an African-American musician and entertainer who marks 2010 as his fifteenth year recording in the music business. He has much to celebrate with the major contributions to American music history and Black music history that he has made.

The multi-talented and gifted artist burst onto the ...

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Randy Weston Interview - "African Rhythms" - Autobiography

Source: All About Jazz
June 21, 2010

Randy Weston - Tribute to James Reese/Uhuru Afrika. This conversation is part of the book/dvd project “Under your skin" which includes discussions with Ahmad Jamal, Angelique Kidjo, Melissa Auf der Maur, Chuck D - Public Enemy, Delinquent Habits, Airto Moreira, Flora Purim, Marc Ribot, Ron Carter, Liu Fang, Malika Zarra, Zap Mama, Les Nubians, Tinariwen, Lydia ...

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Interview: Lou Donaldson (Part 1)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
June 21, 2010

Lou Donaldson helped invent two major jazz movements. In 1952, he led a Blue Note recording that became one of the earliest hard bop sessions. The date included Blue Mitchell, Horace Silver, Percy Heath and Art Blakey. Seven months later he recorded with trumpeter Clifford Brown. Then in 1957, Lou began recording a series of albums with organist Jimmy Smith that popularized the sax and organ trio sound. Throughout the 1960s, Lou's merging of the hard bop feel and r&b ...

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Ernest "Ernie" Ranglin in Demand at 78

Source: JamaicaMusic Offbeat
June 21, 2010

Ernest 'Ernie" Ranglin O.D, Jamaica's legendary guitarist who pioneered Jamaica's fertile reggae and ska scene of the late 1950s and early '60s and who's celebrated for his fluent and versatile guitar style, coupled with his arrangement skills is in constant demand at 78 (June 19. In recent years, Ernest Ranglin has gone back to his roots and has made various cross cultural collaborations and concept albums including Below the Bassline on which he covers some of the greatest ...

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