Interview News

A Swell Double-Date with John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey

Source: Michael Ricci
July 25, 2009

They're sort of the George Burns-Gracie Allen of music, but with a gender switch from that late, revered comedy couple. Guitarist and crooner John Pizzarelli is the zany Gracie of this pair. And his singer-actress wife, Jessica Molaskey, plays the calm, droll George Burns role to perfection in their act. Together, they make a charming twosome, musically and otherwise, at Jazz Alley, where the couple continues a four-night stand through Sunday. During Thursday's highly satisfying opening show, the fleet-fingered instrumentalist ...

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Billy Taylor Said It

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
July 25, 2009

Today is Billy Taylor's 88th birthday. Happy birthday, Billy! In 1982, the pianist who was mentored by Art Tatum, wrote a book called Billy Taylor: Jazz Piano in Jazz History. When I saw him several months ago, he graciously gave me a copy. Beautifully written, it's an authoritative historical analysis of the jazz piano from the perspective of a practitioner, insider and educator. Or, you might say, a working historian. What's more, Billy is one of the few jazz pianists ...

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Billy Taylor is 88

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
July 25, 2009

Today is Billy Taylor's 88th birthday. It has not gone unnoticed by his publicists that, coincidentally, the piano has 88 keys. Appropriately, they have posted on his web site 88 videos of Taylor playing in a variety of contexts; speaking informatively on CBS Sunday Morning, where for years he did commentary; and being interviewed by Charles Kuralt, Charlie Rose, Charles Osgood and William F. Buckley, Jr., among others.

It is worth noting that Taylor and Dave Brubeck have long maintained ...

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Singer Splices Tunes for Hybrid Jazz Sound

Source: Michael Ricci
July 24, 2009

Some jazz singers forge a distinctive identity by finding overlooked tunes, while others put an indelible stamp on familiar standards through the force of their personality. And then there are the rarefied few who weave a new repertoire out of whole cloth, outfitting their book with material transformed by a bracing new concept.

Jacqui Naylor, a self-possessed San Francisco vocalist with a pleasingly smoky sound, belongs to the latter category. She started her career as a jazz chanteuse captivated by ...

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Hefti, Quincy and Vocalese

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
July 24, 2009

With the enormous success of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross' Sing a Song of Basie in 1958, copycat groups were quickly formed to duplicate the swinging vocalese and rake in some of the dough. Though none could compare with the magical vocal harmonies and lyric treatments of Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks and Annie Ross, two attempts you may not know about are worth hearing.

The first is an album by Neal Hefti and the Neal Hefti Singers called Pardon My Doo-Wah. ...

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Russ Freeman in Canada

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
July 23, 2009

To those who who knew Russ Freeman or his work it was a source of frustration that he elected during his final years not to play the piano. Freeman died in 2002 at the age of 76. He was part of the west coast jazz scene before it was called that. He worked in Los Angeles in the late forties and early fifties with Howard McGhee, Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon and other bop musicians. Then he got famous as the ...

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Interview: Dick Katz

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
July 23, 2009

It's hard to peg Dick Katz. The pianist was on the New York jazz scene starting in the early 1950s. He has played with virtually all of the greats, including Oscar Pettiford, Coleman Hawkins, J.J. Johnson and others. He has recorded on quite a few significant albums, including Benny Carter's masterpiece Further Definitions. He has arranged sessions. He's been an entrepreneur--co-founding Milestone Records in the mid-1960s. And he has produced many sterling sessions, including Alone Together with Jim Hall and ...

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Chantale Gagne: Silent Strength

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
July 21, 2009

I came upon Chantale Gagne's Silent Strength completely by accident. The French-Canadian jazz pianist recorded this album in 2007, but I only discovered it last weekend while searching to see who had recorded Bill Evans' Peri's Scope. After sampling the Evans track and then others, I had to get hold of the CD. And ask Chantale a few questions. Chantale Gagne (pronounced SHAN-tahl Gan-yay) was born in 1980 and began her jazz career on the organ. At age 15, after ...

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