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Danilo Perez: Cultural Ambassador and Music Humanitarian
Source:
The Independent Ear by Willard Jenkins
I have no idea who adjudicates the MacArthur Foundation's annual Fellowships, aka the “Genius" awards, but if you do... please recommend an eminently worthy candidate: pianist-composer-educator Danilo Perez. What Danilo has done in his native Panama in the name of music education for disadvantaged children is nothing short of miraculous. And that doesn't even take into account what he has done to enrich his home country's annual cultural calendar with his Panama Jazz Festival. But calling that event Danilo's festival ...
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All About Jazz Launches New Column With Pianist Ahmad Jamal!
Source:
All About Jazz
Since its inception, All About Jazz has delivered exhaustive coverage with some of the most extensive, in-depth interviews anywhere. AAJ will continue to provide the same degree of feature-rich coverage (e.g. Jack DeJohnette Week), but for those artists who have already received the “in-depth" treatment, our new Catching Up With column will allow us to revisit them while focusing primarily on recent topics. AAJ Senior Editor Chris May kicks off the new column with Catching Up With Ahmad Jamal, where ...
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Trumpeter Terell Stafford Interviewed at All About Jazz
Source:
All About Jazz
Terell Stafford is as likely to credit his influences as he is to impress his listeners. Coming to jazz comparatively later than many players, and even with his busy schedule as a sideman, leader and educator, he remains devoted to exploring the music's roots, while expressing a relentless desire to learn more. Stafford's latest release, This Side of Strayhorn (MAXJAZZ, 2011), began with a commission for an educational project from the Cityfolk arts outreach group, with Stafford and his quintet ...
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Interview: Arno Marsh (Part 2)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
On the phone, Arno Marsh sounds the way he plays. There's a smoothness to his voice, and the cadence of his words swings. Swinging, in general, is a lost art. Those who came up in the '40s and '50s have a real knack for it. When they start blowing,they slip right into the groove, with that two-four junkyard dog chasing after them. [Pictured: Arno Marsh in recent years, courtesy of Arno Marsh] Swinging, of course, has nothing to do with ...
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Interview: Arno Marsh (Part 1)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
If you were a superb musician back in the 1940s and lived in a city or moved to one, you were likely going to find yourself auditioning for a name band pretty quickly. But for every great musician who wound up in a major orchestra, there were hundreds of others who remained in their smaller home towns and earned a decent living playing in territory bands. Tenor saxophonist Arno Marsh was one of those regional musicians—until he ran into Urbie ...
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Jazz Face: Mike Lewis
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JazzINK by Andrea Canter
If saxophonist Mike Lewis ever left the Twin Cities (and we are always afraid he will), there would be a sudden brown-out, at least musically. Aside from his amazing horn chops, Lewis infuses vital energy into everything he touches, from Fat Kid Wednesdays and Happy Apple to the Bryan Nichols Quintet, tours with Andrew Bird and his guest appearances last year with Adam Linz's Charles Mingus project at MacPhail and Ann Millikan's House of Mirrors experiment. Last Sunday at the ...
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Interview: Geri Allen (Part 3)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
If you were to guess what pianist Geri Allen is like to talk to on the phone based solely on her music, you might say, “stormy," “short on patience" and “booming." Actually, the opposite is true on all counts. Geri is gentle, patient and embracing. In conversation, you hear the lyrical voice of a kind, caring person—which may seem in stark contrast with the powerful, energetic and domineering artist you hear on disc. [Photo by Alan Jackman] Geri will be ...
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Jazz Be Nimble
Source:
Tamela D'Amico
In the music “business," art is often eclipsed by commercialism, and these days, I find myself growing partial to songs that showcase vocals and instrumentation over electronic enhancements. I recently touched upon artists who present a retro sound that appeals to my nostalgia and longing for a modicum of purity. This type of player is perhaps not exposed as readily as Lady Avril Cyrus Bieber, but hey, if ye seeketh, ye shall find. One of the most flexible and enduring ...
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