Interview News

Guitarist Wayne Krantz Interviewed at AAJ...And More!

Source: All About Jazz
August 25, 2009

Guitarist Wayne Krantz is one of the great non-conformists. An improviser who avoids stylistic limitations and cliché like the plague, his music draws from diverse elements and welds them sonically to create something quite personal.

Krantz has turned his back on recording studios for the last 15 years, choosing instead to release live shows through his own Website. After a month or so, these recordings are removed, as Krantz has little interest in the work which lies behind him and ...

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Maybe Willie Nelson is Too Prolific

Source: Michael Ricci
August 25, 2009

Willie Nelson is one of music's greatest - few can argue that. His popularity crosses genres, entertainment mediums and socio-economic boundaries. Even as he creeps up on 80, he's cool, he's smart, he's - just as the title of his latest album suggests - an American Classic. Yet American Classic is his second CD this year (the first was with Asleep at the Wheel), and he put out two CDs last year (and we're not counting the constant flow of ...

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George Benson: Songs and Stories

Source: Michael Ricci
August 25, 2009

Fans of smooth jazz appreciated guitarist/vocalist George Benson's last album, 2006's Givin' It Up, a collaboration with Al Jarreau. While the two seemed to have great fun covering each other's songs as well as other soul and jazz classics, they sounded somewhat reserved, as if afraid to really cut loose. Benson's followup, Songs and Stories, features him doing what he does best: jazz-inflected R&B. While some cuts venture into smooth jazz territory, others allow him to display his funkier side. ...

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Photostory 6: Dizzy Gillespie

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
August 25, 2009

One of my favorite photos of Dizzy Gillespie is this one by Paul Slaughter. I love it because Dizzy has an expression not often seen in other images of the trumpet great. It's a before-the-gig look, and through his face you feel all of his creative energy and physical exhaustion. Paul picks up the story behind the image:

“I first met Dizzy Gillespie in 1970, at the home of Arthur and Joyce Dahl, in Pebble Beach, CA. The Dahls were ...

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Pizzarelli & D'Rivera Interviews Today for Tanglewood Jazz Festival

Source: Dawn Singh Publicity
August 24, 2009

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Twin Albums from Twin Bandleaders Inspire a Post-Bop Celebration

Source: Michael Ricci
August 24, 2009

The identical twin brothers Marcus and E. J. Strickland, from Miami, have spent most of this decade carving a foothold on the New York jazz landscape. At 30 both are central figures within the present wave of dynamic and open-minded post-bop. Marcus, a saxophonist, and E. J., a drummer, each have impressive new albums that draw on a wealth of references without losing an ounce of clarity or purpose. They played in each other’s groups at Joe’s Pub on Friday ...

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Harmolodic Guitarist Bern Nix Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
August 24, 2009

New York-based free jazz guitarist Bern Nix is one of the few people who are well-versed in Ornette Coleman's “harmolodics" style. He played with Coleman from 1975-1988, and now leads the Bern Nix Trio in New York City. In his compositions and his intriguing covers of standards, he is always looking in the corners of the music for something new.

AAJ Contributor Simon J. Harper spoke at length with Nix, about his early roots, the life-changing experience of working with ...

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A Onetime Sideman, Now Front and Center

Source: Michael Ricci
August 23, 2009

AFTER 50 years as a darling of the cognoscenti, the pianist Steve Kuhn is expanding his reach among the jazz public. Mr. Kuhn — a sideman for luminaries like John Coltrane and a leader of pioneering trios — is gaining notice for a new CD on the ECM label, “Mostly Coltrane,” and a striking run of performances in Manhattan. Last month, he played for a packed house at Birdland, leading a quartet in support of the CD’s release. This month, ...

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