Interview News

Jazz Bassist Dave Holland Continues to Find New "Pathways"

Source: All About Jazz @ Spinner
March 12, 2010

By Tad Hendrickson

If you look around the scene, you'll find that Dave Holland has few peers. He came into the jazz public's consciousness as a bassist for Miles Davis from the late '60s to the early '70s, making his debut as a leader in 1972. He's currently at the very top of the game, leading a variety of bands and participating in non-leader groups like the Overtone Quartet. He can also be found playing as a sideman from time ...

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Fats Waller in a Nutshell

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
March 11, 2010

Here's a beautifully written passage on pianist Fats Waller from Jazz (Norton), a deftly written book by Gary Giddins and Scott DeVeaux. Jazz provides you with a robust, friendly overview of the music and artists as well as an in-depth analysis of select recordings:

“Adapting the guise of a Harlem dandy--in a derby, vest, and tailored pinstripes--Fat Waller burlesqued the worst of Tin Pan Alley, creating satirical gems with painfully sentimental material like The Curse of an Aching Heart. ...

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Cuban Pianist Roberto Fonseca Interviewed at AAJ...And More!

Source: All About Jazz
March 10, 2010

Recognition for the considerable talent of Cuban pianist, Roberto Fonseca has spread far and wide, and if there was another dimension to enter, it would be the one that qualifies an artist to greatness. However, Fonseca fights shy of any attention that distracts from his music. A deeply spiritual person, who just happens to express himself through his art, he prefers to defer to the mysterious and invisible force that compels him to make music.

AAJ Contributor Raul d'Gama Rose ...

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Billy Verplanck Said It

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
March 10, 2010

In April 1958, Coleman Hawkins recorded Meets the Big Sax Section for Savoy. The session lived up to its billing. Hawkins was teamed with Count Basie's Marshall Royal, Frank Wess, Frank Foster and Charlie Fowlkes. The result, as you can imagine, was heavenly, inserting Hawkins' big bossy tenor into Basie's refined saxes. I posted about this session here.

The date's arrangements were by Billy VerPlanck. Recently, singer Marlene VerPlanck, Billy's widow, sent me a copy of the April 2009 interview ...

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Young Trumpet Phenom Christian Scott Interviewed at AAJ...And More!

Source: All About Jazz
March 9, 2010

Since emerging a mere eight years ago as a member of New Orleans native Donald Harrison's group, trumpeter Christian Scott has gone on to become one of the most exciting young players and bandleaders on the North American scene.

With three releases already under his belt, including 2008's hot Live at Newport, Scott returned earlier this year with his third--and, considered by many to be his finest--studio disc, Yesterday You Said Tomorrow (Concord), already released in Europe but seeing North ...

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Trombonist Luis Bonilla Interviewed at AAJ...And More!

Source: All About Jazz
March 8, 2010

Trombonist, composer, bandleader and professor Luis Bonilla is not a tortured artist. One cannot imagine him careening from one imbalanced extreme of self- reflection to the other or participating in anything particularly self-indulgent, whatsoever. He is a loving husband and a father who seems to inhale and exhale commitment to his two-year-old daughter. The middle son of a Costa Rican father and mother, he grew up in a workingman's home and is a hard working man himself, dedicated to getting ...

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Lenny Kravitz Drummer Cindy Blackman Honors Jazz Legend Tony Williams

Source: All About Jazz @ Spinner
March 7, 2010

By Tad Hendrickson

Cindy Blackman is best remembered by many up to this point as the badass woman behind the drum kit in Lenny Kravitz's band for many of his classic recordings and videos. Before, during and after the Kravitz gig, however, Blackman has drummed with countless jazz notables and young stars and released an eclectic series of jazz albums -- the latest, her 11th, is 'Another Lifetime.' Here she pays homage to her friend and hero Tony Williams, the ...

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Victor Goines Follows Jazz Wherever It Leads Him

Source: Michael Ricci
March 5, 2010

Victor Goines, saxophonist and clarinetist, and Wynton Marsalis, composer, trumpeter and music director of the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra, have known each since they attended Martinez Kindergarten in New Orleans. While Marsalis lived in Kenner and Goines lived in the city, the young musicians nevertheless kept crossing paths, drawn together in honor bands and all-state orchestras. As a teen, Goines attended St. Augustine High School, but frequently visited the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, where Marsalis was ...

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