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Korean Jazz Singer Youn Sun Nah Interviewed at AAJ
Source:
All About Jazz
Since she moved to Paris in 1995, Korean jazz singer Youn Sun Nah has won over French and Korean audiences alike with her rather special voice; dramatic, sensuous and bluesy, it is a tantalizing cross between Bjork and Melody Gardot. Hers is a jazz soul.
For years, she led the Youn Sun Nah 5Tet and has recorded a half-dozen CDs. The most recent, Voyage (ACT, 2009), sees her backed by some of Europe's finest jazz musicians, including Ulf Wakenius, Lars ...
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Correspondence: Breitenfelds
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
As a young adult, Paul Breitenfeld adopted the last name Desmond. Over the years, to amuse himself and confound others, he concocted several reasons for the change. He sometimes said he did it because he thought that in the event that he ever made records, the shorter name would fit better on 78 rpm labels. In truth, the inspiration came when he and his friend and fellow saxophonist Hal Strack were at Sweets Ballroom in Oakland, California. Hal's story is ...
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Creators of "Chaography," a New Kind of Jazz Film, Interviewed at AAJ
Source:
All About Jazz
Who wants to see a movie about jazz musicians that tells a good story, accurately portrays the lives of musicians and contains good, happening music?
Show of hands not necessary. Skepticism understood, based on past history.
Yet that's exactly the lofty goal of young filmmaker Doug Chang, a jazz fan who is hoping to start filming the project by mid-2010 or so. The story will be fiction, but loosely based on five jazz icons. The music will be original, composed ...
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Trombone Shorty Bursts onto National Scene
Source:
Michael Ricci
In 2010 alone, 24-year-old New Orleans singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist and all-around musical powerhouse Troy “Trombone Shorty" Andrews has signed with Verve Forecast Records and performed on Good Morning America and ESPN's SportsCenter in the run-up to the Super Bowl. He has seen recordings he contributed to earn a Grammy award (Buckwheat Zydeco's “Lay Your Burden Down") and an Oscar nomination (Dr. John's “Down In New Orleans" from the hit Disney film 'The Princess and the Frog'). He has taped two appearances - ...
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Weekend Extra: Desmond Speaks
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
After three years of keeping his alto saxophone in the closet, in 1974 Paul Desmond finally succumbed to the exhortations of the Canterino family and agreed for the first time in a quarter of a century to play a club date as leader. The Canterino's club, the Half Note, had moved from lower Manhattan to Midtown. The new proximity was an important factor. “After all," he told me, “It's only a couple of blocks away. I can fall out of ...
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Bobby Shew on Buddy Rich (Part 3)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Bobby Shew turns up on the tastiest recordings. A long-time jazz trumpeter and studio musician, Bobby has a warm, solid tone and gracefully hits all the right notes with understated clarity and confidence. In the 1970s and 1980s, Bobby recorded extensively with the bands of Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabackin and Louie Bellson. More recently he has recorded steadily with big bands in Los Angeles and has led many small-group recordings. Bobby built his chops while playing first trumpet in Buddy Rich's ...
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Bobby Shew on Buddy Rich (Part 2)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
As big bands go, the orchestra Buddy Rich founded in 1966 holds a special place in the hearts of many jazz fans. The band had a quirky hipness and energy, mostly because Rich was early to dig the youth scene, Nehru jacket and all. The band was made up mostly of young musicians, and the book included arrangements of rock, pop and soul hits like Norwegian Wood, Hello I Love You, Up Tight and The Beat Goes On. During this ...
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Dark Star Orchestra: Life After Dead
Source:
JamBase
By: Jarrod Dicker
Dark Star Orchestra by Peter Wochniak “We are NOT the Grateful Dead," professes Dark Star Orchestra's rhythm guitarist and vocalist Rob Eaton. “I think the main misconception is that we strictly copy the Grateful Dead's music or somehow mimic their persona and none of that is true. We love this music, we live and breathe this music and when we step onstage there is no thought process of us trying to be or do anything except serve ...
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