Interview News

Interview

Singer Roberta Gambarini Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
October 12, 2009

It's been an out-of-the-ordinary career trip for Roberta Gambarini--a trip that's seen her go from a young girl in Italy, scatting along with records by American singers Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, to struggling to get singing gigs in her native land, to grabbing an opportunity to come to the United States, to gaining recognition by respected elders like Benny Carter, James Moody, Clark Terry and nonagenarian pianist Hank Jones, who has proclaimed her “the best jazz singer to emerge ...

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Interview

Interview: Herman Leonard

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 10, 2009

Herman Leonard's photographs of the 1940s and 1950s can be credited with building a national appetite for jazz. Early on, Herman grasped jazz's drama and genius, and he began spending as much time as possible in New York's clubs and recording studios documenting jazz artists at work. Herman's goal was twofold: to preserve the expressive poetry of exceptional musicians and singers, and to capture and share jazz's nocturnal mystique. All of Herman's iconic images from this golden era have polished ...

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Interview

Other Places: Stryker and Primack on Marcus Belgrave

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
October 9, 2009

Trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, admired within jazz circles but little known outside them, has received tangible recognition for his work as a player and a teacher. Belgrave left Ray Charles in the early 1960s ago to settle in Detroit. In today's Detroit Free Press, Mark Stryker reports on the award and on Belgrave's contribution to the city's cultural life. Stryker writes:

For 46 years, Belgrave's world-class musicianship, charisma, swing and commitment to mentoring young musicians -- many of whom have become ...

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Interview

In My Life: Robert Hilburn's 'Corn Flakes with John Lennon'

Source: Michael Ricci
October 9, 2009

Robert Hilburn was pop music critic for the Los Angeles Times for 35 years, from the psychedelic era to the emergence of the iPod. He witnessed many of rock 'n' roll's seminal moments and interviewed virtually every major pop figure of the period.

All of this is chronicled in his memoir, “Corn Flakes with John Lennon (and Other Tales From a Rock 'n' Roll Life)," to be published this month. In this abridged excerpt, Hilburn explores his relationship with Lennon ...

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Interview

Julian Lage Live Interview with Dave Schroeder at Barnes & Noble (NYC)

Source: All About Jazz
October 9, 2009

Julian Lage Live Interview with Dave Schroeder at Barnes & Noble (NYC) on Friday October 9th Join us this Friday, October 9th for an in-store Barnes & Noble interview with guitar prodigy Julian Lage. Time: 7:00pm - 8:00pm Barnes and Noble 150 East 86th Street New York, NY 10028 About Julian Lage Julian Lage is a former child prodigy guitarist who has developed into one of the world's leading guitarists, playing since age five, then playing with such renowned artists ...

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Interview

Italian Vocalist Roberta Gambarini's Imperfect Jazz

Source: All About Jazz @ Spinner
October 8, 2009

As the child of parents who met at a jazz concert, it would seem that singer Roberta Gambarini was destined (or cursed!) to become a jazz musician. Born and raised in Torino, Italy, Gambarini has since gained a reputation as one of the best new singers on the jazz scene, singing in a warm but light alto voice that recalls early Ella Fitzgerald. She came to the States in 1998 to study at the prestigious New ...

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Interview

Interview: Sonny Rollins (Part 2)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 8, 2009

Way Out West is a jazz concept album. It was conceived by Sonny Rollins in 1957 as an homage to the Wild West and the Westerns of his youth. But for years, some thought the recording was an imposition on Sonny by kitschy West Coast commercial interests. Nothing could be further from the truth. On tour in Los Angeles in 1957 with Max Roach, Sonny was approached by Lester Koenig of Contemporary Records, a label that specialized in newly emerging ...

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Interview

Interview: Sonny Rollins (Part 1)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 7, 2009

To truly understand Sonny Rollins, you need to know something about Westerns. The simple ones from the 1930s that weren't big productions and didn't have elaborate musical scores. Just terse dialogue, tough looks and lots of justice. Sonny loves them. He grew up in Harlem during the Depression and regularly tuned into Westerns on the family radio and watched two-reelers at local movie theaters. These films are as important to who Sonny is as his Caribbean roots or passion for ...

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