Interview News

Don Sleet: All Members

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
November 17, 2009

There are a number of highly talented jazz musicians from the late 1950s who can't really be called great because they recorded too few albums. In some cases these musicians never had an opportunity to record extensively. Or they came up too late and were trampled by the rock era in the mid-1960s. Or they succumbed to drug addiction and couldn't hold it together long enough to win the trust of record producers. Or they wound up in prison. One ...

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Pianist Mika Pohjola Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
November 17, 2009

From studying music theory with his father to attending Vantaa Music Institute and the Royal College of Music, Mika Pohjola's life has been entwined with both music and the pursuit of knowledge. His work mirrors his desire to journey ever outward, searching for ways to incorporate the various influences and inspirations which have helped him create an oeuvre which defies easy categorization.

AAJ Contributor Maxwell Chandler spoke with the Finnish-raised, New York-resident Pohjola about a fortunate childhood exposed to both ...

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Big Band Leader/Zappa Archivist Ed Palermo Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
November 16, 2009

It's got to be love, hasn't it? Why else would someone bother to transcribe 200 of Frank Zappa's tunes? For what other reason would someone dedicate himself for over 15 years to presenting his arrangements of Zappa's music in the setting of a 17-piece jazz big band, and at a loss to boot?

Yes, it's safe to say that saxophonist, composer and arranger Ed Palermo really, really loves Frank.

AAJ Contributor Ian Patterson spoke at length with Palermo recently, about ...

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Cindy Blackman Interview

Source: All About Jazz
November 14, 2009

Cindy Blackman Interview 2 This interview is part of the book project “Under your skin" which includes Interviews with David Murray, Ornette Coleman, Chuck D - Public Enemy, Taj Mahal, Yusef Lateef, Melvin Gibbs, Bob James, Malika Zarra, Zap Mama, Les Nubians, Lydia Lunch, Lee “Scratch" Perry", Mike Stern, Henry Rollins, Rhonda Smith, DJ KutMasta Kurt, ...

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Interview: Lennie Niehaus (Part 5)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
November 14, 2009

Lennie Niehaus has been writing music for major motion pictures since the early 1960s. And since 1984 he has worked on virtually every movie Clint Eastwood has appeared in and directed. These include Bird, Absolute Power, Space Cowboys, Bridges of Madison County, The Unforgiven and The Rookie and many others. In each case, Lennie was given free rein to create impressionistic and inventive orchestrations. The results are without fail exceptional. What you hear are poetic themes that feed perfectly into ...

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Kyle Hollingsworth: Then There's Now

Source: JamBase
November 13, 2009

By: Andrew Bruss

Kyle Hollingsworth by Tobin Voggesser It's been two years and counting since The String Cheese Incident went on hiatus, and in that time, its members have taken to the road, as well as the recording studio. But keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth has taken it easy. He's toured with The Kyle Hollingsworth Band, but for the most part, starting a family seems to have taken priority over launching ...

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Interview: Lennie Niehaus (Part 4)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
November 13, 2009

Lennie Niehaus' arrangements for Stan Kenton's band in the late 1950s and early 1960s are superb. So are his too-brief solos with the band. But if you really want to hear Lennie's musical genius at work, you have to dig his small-group recordings of the mid-1950s. Kenton, like many bandleaders in the LP era, was smart enough to know that the best way to hold onto star soloists was to let them record on their own during the band's downtime. ...

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Interview: Lennie Niehaus (Part 3)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
November 13, 2009

Up until now, I've focused this interview series on Lennie Niehaus' biography. Today, I want to turn to the alto saxophonist's work with Stan Kenton's band between 1954 and 1961. Lennie's contribution to Kenton's uptempo and ballad output during this period both as a player and writer cannot be overestimated. In Lennie's hands, you hear the birth of a new orchestral sound that combined swing with sectional coloration and spirited risk-taking. Like automotive design in the late 1950s, Lennie's arrangements ...

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