Home » Jazz News

Interview News

Timely announcements covering new album releases, tours, concert series, special events, job postings, crowdfunding campaigns and more. You can find more news by searching our website, viewing our news stream, seeing what's trending or reading our blog posts. Subscribe to our news RSS feed and/or embed AAJ news content on your website or blog. Learn about our news service here. Submit news here.

Interview

Meredith D'Ambrosio on Jackie Cain

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
September 22, 2014

When Jackie Cain died last week, I immediately thought of jazz singer-pianist Meredith d'Ambrosio. Meredith also has an intimate, conversational vocal style and, like Jackie, has an ear for great little-known songs that match her personality perfectly. Meredith and I chat often, so I asked her for a few recollections on Jackie (and Roy). Here's what Meredith said... “From the moment I heard Jackie and Roy's Euphoria on Symphony Sid's amazing jazz show on Boston radio in the early 1950s, ...

Continue Reading

Interview

Interview: Lady Gaga + Tony Bennett

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
September 18, 2014

After Tony Bennett and I spent a few minutes catching up at his art studio two weeks ago, we sat down on a sofa to chat for The Wall Street Journal about Cheek to Cheek, his new duet album with Lady Gaga. About 10 minutes into our conversation, I asked him the question that for many jazz fans is the elephant in the room: “What do you say to jazz fans who view the new album as a marketing strategy—a ...

Continue Reading

Interview

Interview: Mahan Mirarab Of Sehrang

Source: Eric Taylor
September 17, 2014

Q: How did Sehrang form? A: Sehrang was formed in early 2013 in Vienna. We three Iranian Europe-based musicians got together with an idea to make music that we love to listen to and play such as jazz/world/folk/Latin and combine it with our Iranian roots. Besides the very strong personal and musical connection we share, our desire is to blend all these elements. Because of all these possibilities and cultural depth we started a long, fascinating journey which is always ...

Continue Reading

Interview

"Mike Cuozzo Was My Dad"

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
September 16, 2014

In April, I posted on Mike Cuozzo, a superb, swinging saxophonist who recorded two swinging albums as a leader in 1955 and '56 and then stopped recording. Back in the spring, I called saxophonist Sol Schlinger, who told me that Cuozzo had owned a car dealership in New Jersey. And that was that—until several weeks ago, when I received an email from his son, Michael Cuozzo Jr., who offered a warm and informative portrait of his dad and sent along ...

Continue Reading

Interview

Last Interview: Joe Sample

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
September 15, 2014

Back in March, when I was interviewing artists for my Wall Street Journal “Anatomy of a Song" column on Rock the Boat, I called Joe Sample, who played keyboard and led the rhythm section on what is widely considered the fist pure disco single. Joe had just finished undergoing chemotherapy when I called, which had miraculously pushed his lung cancer into remission. Sadly, the treatment's positive effects didn't last. Joe died September 12. He was 75. Like many superb musicians ...

Continue Reading

Interview

Jazz "Messengers" Spread The Word At 2014 Jazz In The Valley

Source: Carolyn McClair Public Relations
September 10, 2014

By Charley Rosen On a glorious summer day in August, the fifth and final set of the 14th Annual Jazz in the Valley Festival was thrilling, nostalgic, even historic; transporting the seven musicians and hundreds of enraptured witnesses into Jazz Heaven. Six of the jazzmen had been members of various editions of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messenger, and they were all world-class artists. Calling themselves “The Message, ” the lineup had Javon Jackson playing tenor sax, Gary Bartz on either soprano ...

Continue Reading

Interview

Interview: Jan Lundgren

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
September 8, 2014

Pianist Jan Lundgren is widely known in Sweden but a little less so in the States, though he tours here occasionally. Wowed by his two most recent albums—Flowers of Sendai and All By Myself—I reached out to Jan, 48, for an email chat. His playing is both lyrical and rich with mood, influenced by a Swedish background and extensive listening to Bill Evans and other masters of chord voicings: JazzWax: Where were you raised in Sweden—and when did you first ...

Continue Reading

Interview

Drew Nugent And The Midnight Society Performs At Paris Bistro & Jazz Café

Source: Wendy Wolf
August 27, 2014

For Drew Nugent and the Midnight Society, playing a gig isn’t just about music. It’s about taking a step back in time. Led by pianist, trumpeter and vocalist Drew Nugent, his ensemble recreates the music of a bygone era—playing what has been coined HOT Jazz—which was popularized from 1897 to 1935. “In essence, it’s jazz in its original form,” says Nugent, “the original American pop music.” But the band does it in its own eclectic way. The tunes, the clothes ...

Continue Reading