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Interview: Vicki Burns on 'Lottus Blossom Days'
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Last October, I received an email from vocalist Vicki Burns: Hello Marc. I'm not sure if you remember me. I wrote you years ago and asked if you'd consider reviewing a live album I did in 2008, Vicki Burns: Live at Anna’s Jazz Island. You wrote back with some excellent advice that I took to heart. You said I had a great voice but the standards I was singing were really over done and that I needed to find ...
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Interview: Dave Stryker, 'As We Are'
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
If there was an upside to the pre-vaccine pandemic of 2020-2021, it's that creative artists had solitary time to think about the road forward. For guitarist Dave Stryker, that period of confinement resulted in As We Are (Strikezone), a fascinating new album recorded in January 2022, featuring a jazz quartet backed by an inventive string quartet. The group includes Dave Stryker on guitar, Julian Shore on piano, John Patitucci on bass, Brian Blade on drums, Sara Caswell on violin (with ...
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Interview: Michael Abene
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Michael Abene has always been a double threat. In addition to being a gorgeous pianist and accompanist, he's a towering arranger of big bands, orchestras, singers and instrumental ensembles. Fans of Maynard Ferguson are probably most familiar with his piano playing and arrangements for the band's recordings for Roulette and Mainstream in the 1960s. These days, Michael has been keeping busy, as you'll soon read. I recently caught up with Michael for a JazzWax interview after writing about him in ...
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Interview: John Scofield, Solo
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
John Scofield has one of the most distinct and fascinating guitar sounds in jazz. Notes are picked and bent, creating a pizzicato-like, jagged sound that meows in places and lingers in others. John and I have been long-time e-mail pen pals and he's a regular reader of this blog, just as I am an avid John Scofield fan and listener. Dating back to 1977, John has recorded more than 40 albums as a leader and is a three-time Grammy winner. ...
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Andrea Brachfeld & Insight: 'Evolution'
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
One of the finest jazz flutists around today is Andrea Brachfeld. She studied with Hubert Laws, Jimmy Heath and George Coleman, among others, and has released 10 CDs as a leader. Andrea's latest, with her trio, Insight, is Evolution (Origin). And what a trio: pianist Bill O'Connell, bassist Harvie S and drummer Jason Tiemann. After hearing Andrea on Evolution and becoming smitten by her playing, I reached out for an email interview. To fully understand Andrea's grace, spiritual energy and ...
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Alan Broadbent: 'Like Minds'
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Out today is Alan Broadbent's new trio album, Like Minds (Savant), with Harvie S on bass and Billy Mintz on drums. It's a terrific trio recording, featuring Alan's elegant piano and superb conversational interactions with Harvie and Billy. I've known Alan for many years, and it's always a joy to hear his new releases, see him live and catch up. I first fell in love with his playing on his duo albums backing vocalist Irene Kral—Where Is Love (1974) and ...
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Interview: Heidi Glow on Bernie Glow
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Hollywood in the 1950s and '60s had its share of top pop studio trumpeters, including Conrad Gozzo, Uan Rasey, Shorty Rogers, Maynard Ferguson, Harry “Sweets" Edison, Don Fagerquist, Pete and Conte Candoli, Ray Linn, Manny Klein, Jimmy Zito, Shorty Sherock, Jack Sheldon and Joe Triscari, to name a bunch. New York had plenty of greats, too, including Ernie Royal, Al Porcino, Al Stewart, Dick Collins, Nick Travis, Jimmy Maxwell, Al Derisi, Billy Butterfield, Jimmy Maxwell, Clark Terry, Burt Collins, Doug ...
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Interview: Marshall Rogers on Shorty
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Ninety-eight years ago today, Milton Rajonsky was born in Great Barrington, Mass. Milton would later become better known as Shorty Rogers, a trumpeter and flugelhornist and composer-arranger who was one of West Coast jazz's primary architects in the early 1950s. He also pioneered a brassy cool sound for TV shows and his music inspired Henry Mancini. Rogers died in 1994 at age 70. Among Rogers's milestone albums are Modern Sounds : Shorty Rogers And His Giants (1951), Cool & Crazy ...
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