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Interview

Ross Prior: From Thrash Metal To Jazz

Source: Eric Taylor
November 29, 2014

Q: When did you decide to enter the music field? A: Hmm, would you like the short or long answer? Not long after I played my first band, I guess I realized how happy and free it made me feel. I'd never experienced anything like it before so I was instantly drawn to it. Q: How old were you when you started? Did you even think of music as a business at all then? A: I was quite late to ...

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Interview

An Interview With Wren Marie Harrington

Source: Eric Taylor
November 25, 2014

Q: What are your goals as an artist? A: My primary goal as a singer is to deepen the level of understanding of the intentions of songs with my particular voice, and a rich variety of languages and musical idioms. I consider the human voice a crucial element in uniting the listener with the spirit of any given song. Words and language are what give us humans our identity in the world, like plumage is to birds, or leaves on ...

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Interview

Bill Kirchner at the New School

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
November 19, 2014

Back on Oct. 7, soprano saxophonist Bill Kirchner performed at New York's New School, where he teaches. Bill was accompanied by singer Holli Ross, singer/bassist Jim Ferguson and pianist Carlton Holmes. It was an extraordinary evening—so extraordinary that I wondered whether anyone was recording it. It turns out the school videotaped the concert and has made it available at YouTube. Before I show it to you, a few words about Bill and why he's such an inspiration. In addition to ...

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Interview

Interview: J.Q. Whitcomb

Source: Eric Taylor
October 27, 2014

Q: What do you hope to accomplish as an artist? A: I'd like to continue improving my playing and writing in general of course, but I'm especially interested in flamenco and flamenco-jazz fusion. I aspire to build more musical contacts in these musical areas, create more bands focused on flamenco-jazz, and get deeper into the rhythms of flamenco. This is my musical direction moving forward currently. Q: What music were you raised on? A: I listened to plenty of classical ...

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Interview

Interview: Trumpeter/Composer Michael Sarian

Source: Eric Taylor
October 27, 2014

Q: What are your goals as an artist? A: Right now my goal is to keep busy: keep playing, keep composing, keep working. Working on new projects, teaching, working behind the scenes at a non-profit - everything affects the music, and the more I do, the more I’ll have to say musically. Long-term, my goal as an artist is something I think most artists share: to stay relevant. I feel like I have something to say musically, whether it's composing ...

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Interview

Thaddeus Ford plays from the heart

Source: Michael Ricci
October 19, 2014

By Jerry Armbrister Thaddeus Ford is lucky to be alive. One year ago, he suffered a heart attack—at the young age of 34. Now one year later, he has assembled his band and will play—at the Tuesday Nite Jazz series at the St. Paul United Methodist Church—a set of original tunes that he himself wrote. He is proud of the fact that he will be playing his own songs. Ironically, that fateful night a year ago this was the concert ...

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Interview

Remembering Lester Bowie

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
October 12, 2014

Today, we remember the great St. Louis trumpeter Lester Bowie, who was born October 11, 1941. Though Bowie actually was born in Maryland, he grew up in St. Louis as part of a family that included two brothers who also became professional musicians: Joseph Bowie, a trombonist and leader of the funk-jazz band Defunkt; and Byron Bowie, a saxophonist and arranger/composer. After developing his trumpet chops playing blues gigs around St. Louis with singers including Albert King and Little Milton ...

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Interview

Bandzoogle Founder Chris Vinson Reflects on 10 Years in Music Tech

Source: Bandzoogle Blog
October 11, 2014

It all started in 1999, with a single band website, built by Bandzoogle's founder Chris Vinson for his alt- rock band, Rubberman. Grassroots promotion, plus the online community that the website created, helped the band get a record deal. In between tours, Chris worked at the record label, building websites for multi-platinum selling artists. To save time, he built a “control panel" to let managers and artists make the changes themselves. Realizing this could also help independent bands and musicians ...

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