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Anzic Records Artist Anat Cohen On The Move!
Source:
Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
Following her sojourn to Istanbul, Turkey to perform and participate in the International Jazz Day Celebration along with Herbie Hancock, Eddie Palmieri, Esperanza Spalding, and many other celebrated artists, the JJA declared reed virtuoso Anat Cohen “Clarinetist of the Year" for the seventh year in a row, and “Multi-Reeds Player of the Year" for the second consecutive year, and in a major feature in the May 5 Sunday Arts & Leisure Section, The New York Times called her, an “ambassador ...
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Interview: Huey Lewis
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
In the Mansion section of today's Wall Street Journal (go here), I catch up with Huey Lewis in an interview about his Montana ranch. Huey, of course, rocketed to fame and fortune with the release of Sports in late 1983—an iconic rock-soul album that has just been remastered and will be re-issued as a two-CD set on Tuesday. [Photo above by Tom Robertson for The Wall Street Journal] I found Huey to be a down-to-earth guy who seems to connect ...
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Jazz Face: The Beautiful Dreams of Bill Frisell
Source:
JazzINK by Andrea Canter
I actually walked out of a Bill Frisell concert (at the Walker) once upon a time. It was just too outside for me. Not sure but I suspect I would stick around if the same music presented itself now. I've enjoyed everything I've heard from the eclectic guitarist ever since, from a quartet with cellist Hank Roberts to a quartet with trumpeter Ron Miles to his “All We Are Saying" (Lennon project) ensemble to a stunning solo evening this past ...
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Jazz Face: All Smiles from Francisco Mela
Source:
JazzINK by Andrea Canter
Hang out with drummer Francisco Mela for even a few minutes, and your mood will brighten. You can't help but smile. Watch him perform for a few minutes, and you will understand the inner joy that music brings to those who live with in 24/7. And, at least for the duration of that drum solo, that conversation, you will be transformed. Thanks to the efforts Alden Drew, support from Jazz Central, and funding from McNally Smith, MacPhail Twin Cities Jazz ...
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Interview: Sonny Rollins
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
I have two articles in today's Wall Street Journal—a “House Call" column for the Mansion section on Sonny Rollins (link soon) and an “Anatomy of a Song" column for the Arena section on the Four Tops' Reach Out I'll Be There (go here). Sonny first. Two weeks ago Sonny invited me to up to his house in Woodstock, N.Y. Sonny recently moved there from Germantown, N.Y., where he had lived since the 1970s. Sonny made the move because his former ...
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STLJN Interview: Anat Cohen
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
The Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival began as primarily an educational event for local student jazz bands, and although the festival has been booking headlining talent for several years now, the professionals performing at the GSLJF still are involved in putting on workshops and adjudications for the students. As you'd expect, the questions they get from young musicians can cover a wide range of topics, from technical to philosophical. But if any aspiring jazz clarinetists ask Anat Cohen this week ...
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Dexter Gordon: "Ernie's Tune"
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
In the late '50s, Jack Gelber wrote a play called The Connection, which dramatized the lure of narcotics and the stark perils of addiction. The play—which opened in New York at the Living Theatre on July 15, 1959—featured jazz musicians who were initially going to improvise music on stage. But when pianist Freddie Redd wrote a score, he persuaded Gelber to use it and Redd, alto saxophonist Jackie McLean, bassist Michael Mattos and drummer Larry Ritchie performed it during the ...
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Creed Taylor on Phil Ramone
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Producer Creed Taylor deserves enormous credit for the American bossa nova movement of the early 1960s. Instead of recording jazz artists interpreting the new Rio de Janeiro sound—as many jazz producers at the time were doing—Creed [pictured above] carefully blended the two. By recognizing the jazziness and seductive qualities of Antonio Carlos Jobim's melodies, Creed was able to insist that the two styles feed off each other—giving each equal expressive footing. During Creed's years at Verve—between 1961 and 1966—this new ...
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