Interview News

Interview: John Levy (Part 3)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
February 18, 2010

When John Levy arrived in New York in 1944, the bassist couldn't believe his good fortune. As a member of the Stuff Smith Trio, John and his white bass stood out and there was plenty of work. The union-enforced recording ban had just ended, and many small labels were surfacing to capture small-group jazz. While playing the Onyx Club for 10 weeks, John quickly fit in with the many different musicians performing in clubs along 52nd Street. During this transition ...

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Chico Hamilton: Living the Beat

Source: JamBase
February 17, 2010

By: Ryan Dembinsky

Are people born with rhythm?

Chico Hamilton by Todd Boebel Sitting down at the kitchen table inside 88-year-old jazz legend Chico Hamilton's midtown Manhattan apartment, chewing the fat about jazz music and his storied career as a drummer and bandleader - a career that includes holding court for jazz royals “Duke" Ellington and “Count" Basie, playing storied musical engagements with his school kid pal Charles Mingus, ...

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Interview: John Levy (Part 2)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
February 17, 2010

John Levy came late to the bass after high school in the mid-1930s. A teenage Milt Hinton agreed to teach him the basics, and John worked hard over the years that followed, practicing and playing locally in Chicago. Back in the days before bebop, the bass was the backbone of small swing groups, serving as time-keeper and audible pulse. In trios and quartets, the bass had to stand out, which required the bass player to produce a strong, thumping sound. ...

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Saxophonist Alonzo Holliday Interviewed At AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
February 17, 2010

Frank Turek's dream: he is in a smoky bar where jazz floats in the background. Coming up to sit down next to him is a hip, old cat who begins to tell him stories of playing sax in bands in the early '40s. He introduces himself as Alonzo Holliday.

Back to waking life, in the '90s: Frank is making plans to start a band with another Frank, and since there can't be two Franks, Turek decides to adopt the name ...

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Interview: John Levy (Part 1)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
February 16, 2010

Bassist John Levy will turn 98 years old on April 11th, but he sounds half his age on the phone, and his memory is rock solid. For those unfamiliar with the name, John played bass in the Stuff Smith Trio in 1943 and 1944 and recorded with Don Byas and Erroll Garner in 1945. John was a member of the original Lennie Tristano Trio with Billy Bauer on guitar in 1947. He also was the bassist in the original George ...

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Singer/Songwriter Mose Allison Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
February 16, 2010

Mose Allison, the singer/songwriter blues/jazz man from the Mississippi Delta, has reached the age of 82. He's packed into that lifetime some 60 years in the music business and on the road. He's still playing more than 100 club and concert dates a year, from New York to California, across the pond in England and elsewhere.

Veteran AAJ Contributor R.J. DeLuke spoke with Allison recently about his new album, The Way of the World (Anti-, 2010), coming in March. Allison ...

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Vibraphonist Joe Locke Interviewed at AAJ...And More!

Source: All About Jazz
February 15, 2010

Vibraphonist Joe Locke has been on an upward trajectory since the beginning of his career, but especially over the last decade, where he's led/co-led a number of fine groups ranging from the intimate chamber jazz of his duo with pianist Frank Kimbrough and straight-ahead swing of his Milt Jackson tribute band to the electrified near-fusion of the Joe Locke/Geoffrey Keezer group.

Locke returns to another area close to his heart--vocal music--with For the Love of You (E1, 2010). Featuring Keezer, ...

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Christian McBride the Consumate Bassist

Source: All About Jazz
February 14, 2010

Musician Christian McBride has an intriguing way of seeing things, which surfaces when he talks about his instrument, the bass, and his devotion, jazz.

“Playing bass is the exact same thing as being in offensive alignment in pro football, “ he tells us. “In jazz, the focus tends to be on the vocalist or the horn player. Usually, the rhythm section is relegated as the support cast; we are the back-up guys. In football, the focus is placed on the ...

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