Interview News

Interview: Dave Brubeck (Part 4)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
February 5, 2010

In 1956, the U.S. State Department began sending jazz musicians on world tours as a way to showcase the excitement of American creativity and the spirit of American culture. The move was an attempt to checkmate Soviet influence in vulnerable areas during the Cold War. In 1958 the Dave Brubeck Quartet visited Eastern Europe and the Far East on such a tour. The result for Dave was exposure to a range of new and fascinating cultures. For the group, the ...

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Correspondence: About Mike Wofford

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
February 5, 2010

Rifftides Washington, DC, correspondent John Birchard has rediscovered pianist Mike Wofford and filed this appreciation:

I've been listening lately to Mike Wofford. I first heard his work on an Epic LP titled Strawberry Wine back in the early 60's and was impressed, especially with a couple of his originals, “Strawberry Wine" and “Three For All." In '67, he did another trio LP, Sure Thing, on Discovery, produced by Albert Marx, that I still have on my LP shelf. In '76, ...

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Interview: Dave Brubeck (Part 3)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
February 4, 2010

Many listeners who are new to jazz tend to think of Dave Brubeck as a pianist who flowered in 1959 with Time Out, the album that gave us Take Five. In truth, the promise of Dave's musical brilliance actually can be heard on recordings 13 years earlier. If you want to hear why Dave's commanding officer in World War II protected him from the front or why composer Darius Milhaud was willing to teach Dave for free, you need only ...

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Michael Cuscuna: Evolution of a Record Man

Source: The Independent Ear by Willard Jenkins
February 4, 2010

Michael Cuscuna is one of the most prolific record producers in jazz. His career has taken him from jazz radio to the deepest regions of some of the most fertile catalogues in recorded jazz history. He has produced records for the Atlantic, Motown, ABC, Arista, Muse, Freedom, Elektra, Novus and perhaps most significantly Blue Note labels. Throughout all those affiliations he has been responsible for some of the most essential reissue packages since that process became such a significant priority ...

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Interview: Dave Brubeck (Part 2)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
February 3, 2010

Dave Brubeck brings enormous enthusiasm and swinging delight to every original and standard piece he plays. Whether it's Will You Still Be Mine from Angel Eyes (1962), So This Is Love from Dave Digs Disney (1957) or Nomad from Jazz Impressions of Eurasia (1958), Dave always sounds vibrant and airy. In Dave's playing exists the same spirit and heart that went into those postmodernist glass homes built in the 1950s by Mies van der Rohe, Pierre Koenig and Richard Neutra. ...

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Pianist/Conductor Peter Nero Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
February 3, 2010

In July 2009, All About Jazz published an interview with legendary pianist and Philly Pops maestro Peter Nero. That interview jumped between his early musical development and his current 30-year tenure as founder and music director of the Philly Pops. There wasn't time then to ask him about the long intervening period including his salad days as a pianist, an ongoing venture which he continues to pursue in addition to being director of the Pops, the subject of this follow-up ...

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The Popdose Guide to the Steve Miller Band, Part 1

Source: Pop Dose
February 3, 2010

Thats it. Ive had it. Or in the immortal words of Frank Costanza, I got a lot of problems with you people. Steve Miller at San Francisco's Fillmore in 2008 For months upon months, Ive watched as Popdose readers have slammed the guy who got me into pop music as a pre-teen and has held a special place in my heart ever since. That guy is none other than Steve Miller. Laugh if you want to. But your image of ...

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Interview: Dave Brubeck (Part 1)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
February 2, 2010

You can actually hear Dave Brubeck's two-octave grin over the phone. Dave talks slowly, at a measured pace, as though playing a ballad. His Memories of You speaking pace gives him plenty of time to be pinpoint accurate and to pause for reflection. It's at those moments, when he happily thinks back in time, that the image of his winning smile and squinting, almond-shaped eyes spring to mind. His optimistic disposition has been toasted by the sun, refueled by a ...

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