Interview News

Pianist Geoffrey Keezer Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
July 21, 2008

Pianist/composer Geoffrey Keezer has been playing piano since age three and has been on the road since 1989 when he joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers after a year at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Over the years, he's recorded steadily and played with numerous jazz luminaries including Ray Brown, Diana Krall, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, Kenny Barron, Chick Corea, Benny Green, and Mulgrew Miller.

But of late, things have changed for Keezer. In a few different ways.

He ...

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Saxophonist JD Allen Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
July 15, 2008

Volant solos, melodic tapestries, mournful cadences, orphic rhythms. JD Allen's extraordinary I AM-I AM (Sunnyside, 2008) sculpts an aural monument to transformation, a musical testament to the power of the mind to overcome itself through introspective endeavor. Each of its ten compositions roils with the intensity and exposition of a soul wrestling with its two halves, seeking resolution and enveloping the listener in an experience composed equally of musical mastery, intellect, and spiritual renewal.

More than a culmination of studies, ...

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Pianist/Composer Django Bates Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
July 14, 2008

July, 2008: It's been 13 years since British keyboard player and composer Django Bates released the third album in his “four seasons" series, Winter Truce (And Homes Blaze) (Winter & Winter, 1995). That album followed close behind Autumn Fire (And Green Shoots) (Winter & Winter, 1994) and Summer Fruits (And Unrest) (Winter & Winter, 1993).

It has long been Bates's intention to complete the series with a spring-themed album, and in June, 2008 he finally did so with Spring Is ...

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Pianist Amina Figarova Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
July 8, 2008

Born in Azerbaijan, but located now in the Netherlands, and in demand at festivals and clubs around the globe, pianist Amina Figarova is a case study in the internationalization of jazz. A prodigious talent from early childhood, Figarova was drawn to jazz as a young player, even as she established herself as a formidable professional classical performer.

While studying composition by invitation in Rotterdam, she switched to a jazz course, and within a year was at the Berklee School in ...

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All Four Members of Return to Forever Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
July 7, 2008

The word has long been out and the reunion tour of the Return to Forever group, one of the standard bearers of the jazz-rock fusion movement of the 1970s, is well on its way. Intricate, emotive and--yes--loud music that hasn't really been heard from the band in some 32 years, is being played and enjoyed live once again. With great vigor, to say the least. The tour started on the U.S. West Coast, careened through Canada, and will take off ...

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Violinist/Cryptogramophone Label Founder Jeff Gauthier Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
June 30, 2008

With over three decades playing in some of L.A.'s most innovative and interesting musical projects, violinist/composer Jeff Gauthier threatens to succumb to the irony of being better known as the founder/CEO of Cryptogramophone Records. Now in their tenth year, Cryptogramophone has outgrown underground status, even meriting a feature in trendy Details magazine. Boasting a roster including Nels Cline, Vinny Golia, Peter Erskine, Don Preston, Steuart Liebig, Alex Cline, and Gauthier's Goatette, Cryptogramophone also provided a safe haven for the long ...

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Pianist George Cables Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
June 25, 2008

Throughout his more than four decades playing jazz, pianist George Cables has been among the most sought after, dependable and talented players on the scene.

Born in New York City on November 14, 1944, Cables cut his teeth barely out of his teens and hasn't looked back, appearing on hundreds of recordings. Whether a sideman for a timeless luminary, taking the lead with his own band or playing solo, Cables' aggressive, flowing style and distinctive sound have made him a ...

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Bassist/Composer Tom Abbs Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
June 23, 2008

Bassist, composer and film-maker Tom Abbs has enlivened not only the ensembles in which he has played, but also the New York City free jazz scene with his brand of musical activism, through the Jump Arts Foundation. An accomplished instrumentalist on tuba as well as bass, he has collaborated with downtown stalwarts Daniel Carter, Steve Swell, Cooper-Moore, Jemeel Moondoc, Assif Tsahar, Andrew Lamb and Warren Smith among many others.

He boasts a distinctive compositional conception manifest through his adventurous Frequency ...

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