Interview News

Dusty Rhodes: Winning You Over

Source: JamBase
August 14, 2009

By: Mike Bookey

Getting hit by a pickup truck is a categorically bad thing. That's just a rule of life, physics and motor vehicle safety. However, if it weren't for an absent-minded driver that smashed into a scooter-riding young man earlier this decade, there's a good chance that the planet would never get to know, and fall increasingly in love with, Dusty Rhodes and the River Band. Riding home from work in Anaheim, CA on the Honda Elite scooter that ...

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Jack McDuff and Jimmy Forrest

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
August 13, 2009

I love organ combos, especially when a take-charge tenor sax is in the mix. Groovy pairings that come to mind include Stanley Turrentine and Shirley Scott, Sonny Stitt and Don Patterson, and Charles Earland and Grover Washington Jr. One of the very best “stops 'n' reed" albums is organist Jack McDuff's The Honeydripper with Jimmy Forrest on tenor sax. Talk about slippery organ playing, big builds, and a swinging, commanding sax. This album has it all--plus guitarist Grant Green. [Photo: ...

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Catching up with John Stowell

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
August 13, 2009

John Stowell, Solitary Tales (Origin). The CD's title suits the guitarist, a peripatetic performer who roams the world. I recently heard a musician say, “You never know where he'll show up." Although Stowell often plays with others, some of his most stunning work, as here, is unaccompanied. He alternates acoustic and electric guitars, but when he is plugged in he keeps his amplifier volume low and his attack subtle. The listener is more likely to be involved with the gentle ...

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John Pizzarelli: Thanks to Bucky

Source: Michael Ricci
August 13, 2009

Listen

Guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli wanted to be a rock and roll star when he was a teenager. Luckily for the world of jazz, his father, Bucky Pizzarelli, introduced his son to the music of the 40s and 50s. Today John is one of the great upholders of that tradition, whether performing the songs of Richard Rogers on his latest CD or composing his own tunes. John will be doing his Radio Deluxe program live at the Tanglewood Jazz ...

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Woodstock Jazz Memories: Blood, Sweat & Tears

Source: Michael Ricci
August 12, 2009

With all the media attention focused this week on the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, its worth noting that, while there was no jazz at the festival, there were some fine jazz musicians. Weve already looked at David Sanborns Woodstock memories; heres what some of the players in Blood, Sweat & Tears have said about the event.

Blood, Sweat & Tears were, hands down, the jazziest act to play Woodstock. What does it tell us, then, that most people remain unaware ...

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Saxophonist Paul Taylor Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
August 12, 2009

One of the knocks on smooth jazz has been that it's too commercial. Being commercial isn't necessarily a bad thing. There's nothing wrong with creating a product with the primary objective being to appeal to as many potential customers as possible. However, when it comes to music, too often the drive for sales, radio play and that elusive “hit single" leads to a bland product. Like food in a school cafeteria, it's sustenance without seasoning.

With Burnin' (Peak, 2009), saxophonist ...

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Steely Dan Alive and Well Again

Source: Michael Ricci
August 11, 2009

One could make a case that Steely Dan is the most well known and popular jazz/rock fusion band of all time. I have had the privilege of seeing them three times in concert. Originally consisting of Donald Fagen, Walter Becker, and whomever they chose to invite into the studio, they were primarily a studio band. However, once they got their feet wet and became world renowned as songwriters, they decided to perform more consistently in the mid 90's originally as ...

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Ramsey Lewis: Still in the 'In' Crowd

Source: Michael Ricci
August 11, 2009

Remember a tune called “The 'In' Crowd"? Recorded live at the Bohemian Caverns in Washington, D.C., by Ramsey Lewis and his trio at the time, it was (and is) irresistible: upbeat, swinging, punctuated by approval from the audience ("Play that song!"). “The 'In' Crowd" reached #2 on the Billboard pop albums chart in 1965, the height of the British invasion, the same year as “(I Cant Get No) Satisfaction" and “Eight Days a Week." The mop-tops are mostly retired or ...

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