Interview News

Hal McKusick: Cross Section-Saxes

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
May 11, 2010

Hal McKusick was and remains a jazz musician's musician. Even in his earliest days in Boyd Raeburn's band in the mid-1940s, Hal's distinct sound on the alto saxophone was admired by bandmates Lucky Thompson, Oscar Pettiford and Dizzy Gillespie as well as contemporaries like Charlie Parker, Claude Thornhill and Quincy Jones. Hal's ability to navigate the most complex arrangements effortlessly while delivering a cool, urgent sound made him one of the most sought-after session musicians of the 1950s and beyond.

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Bassists Anthony Jackson and Yiorgos Fakanas Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
May 11, 2010

It may come as a surprise to anyone wading through bass guitar giant Anthony Jackson's discography, which mind bogglingly totals over three thousand recordings, that he has never recorded a solo album. The legendary bassist--who has played with an astonishing variety of artists of the caliber of Chick Corea, Roberta Flack, the O'Jays, Buddy Rich, Paul Simon, Chaka Khan, Michel Petrucciani, Michel Camilo, Pat Metheny, Quincy Jones, Steely Dan and Wayne Krantz to name but a small number--has simply never ...

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Guitarist Nels Cline Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
May 10, 2010

While joining alt-country group Wilco in 2004 has done a lot for Nels Cline's profile, it's his own work as a fearless, boundary-averse guitarist that's turned him into what Jazz Times has called “The World's Most Dangerous Guitarist."

The guitarist's latest release with Nels Cline Singers, Initiate (Cryptogramophone, 2010), represents a number of first for his nearly decade-old group with bassist Devin Hoff and drummer Scott Amendola. It's the trio's first double album and, with one disc recorded in the ...

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Justin Kauflin's Transcendent Vision

Source: Michael Ricci
May 10, 2010

Justin Kauflin's debut CD is a testament to his remarkable artistry, wisdom and faith By Tom Robotham Eight years ago, I attended a concert featuring the Governor's School Jazz Band under the direction of Jae Sinnett. I knew I was in for an enjoyable evening; over the preceding decade, I'd seen at least a dozen performances by students in the Governor's School's music, theater and dance departments, not to mention exhibitions by ...

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Ethan Iverson Interviews Gerald Early

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
May 8, 2010

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Avant-Jazzsters Claudia Quintet's Album Whimsically Extols the Wonders of Toast

Source: All About Jazz @ Spinner
May 8, 2010

Over the years, various musicians have gone out of their way to prove that jazz can have a sense of humor. The most obvious example is Horace Silver's 'Jazz Has a Sense of Humor.' And, of course, there was Slim and Slam with their playful mugging back in the old days when jazz was popular music. More recently, there's been folks like Matt Wilson, whose been known to don a costume for a mid-set heavy metal tribute. While his large ...

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Mary Lou, We Hardly Know Ya ...

Source: The Augmented Ear by John Patten
May 7, 2010

The Princeton University Concert Jazz Ensemble will be paying tribute Saturday to Mary Lou Williams, possibly jazz's most overlooked genius, on the centennial of her birth.Maybe it was her gender, maybe it was the company she kept (she worked for Dorsey, Goodman, Ellington ... you name it, anyone with a decent band in the 1930s wanted her arrangements), maybe she's just not had the kind of continuous presence many others have gotten; whatever the reasons, it's time to ...

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Yo la Tengo: From Monk to the Mets

Source: JamBase
May 7, 2010

By: Ron Hart

Yo La Tengo

Yo La Tengo of Hoboken, NJ, formed 25 years ago when New York Rocker scribe and local soundman Ira Kaplan met artist Georgia Hubley, daughter of legendary Disney animator John Hubley, and the two bonded over records and the New York Mets. Since then, alongside longtime bassist James McNew, the band has established themselves as one of the truly great American rock bands in modern times, with a sage-like knowledge of pop history and ...

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