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Interview: Geri Allen (Part 2)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Pianist Geri Allen loves drama. Whenever she opens a song, she sets the mood with dynamic intrigue. Whether the song is an original ballad like Flying Toward the Sound or the churning Soul Heir, Geri splashes the ear with sparkling beauty—instinctively knowing that to win audiences' hearts, you have to engage their ears fast with colorful surprises. Even on Billy Strayhorn's Lush Life, you sense the curtain going up on both the familiar and the new, which she follows with ...
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Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman Celebrate 40th Anniversary of Yes' Fragile; Stream the Interview!
Source:
Something Else!
Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman are appearing this week on “InTheStudio: The Stories Behind History's Greatest Rock Bands," as the syndicated rock radio show celebrates the 40th anniversary of Yes' Fragile. “Probably around 'Fragile' was the time that I started to become a little bit more like a director—they used to call me 'Napoleon,'" Anderson says on the program. “They never told me to my face. (Chuckles.) It didn't matter, I didn't care, as long as it was happening. Later ...
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Interview: Geri Allen (Part 1)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Too many jazz fans are unfamiliar with pianist Geri Allen. Though not yet a household name, Geri will be soon. Her recordings and live performances make her one of jazz's most vibrant and dynamic musicians. Geri has been categorized as avant-garde, but that term seems ironically passe. Geri's free approach and warmth transcends “avant-garde," placing her at the front of a group of musicians today who are forging a new jazz style. I call it the jazz-feelings movement. Last week Geri ...
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An interview with New York-based saxophonist Mark Lopeman
Source:
Graham Taylor
It's fitting that the cover of saxophonist Mark Lopeman's latest album, Nice Work If You Can Get It, is a watercolor portrait from his daughter Rosie. After all, Lopeman approaches his instrument like a painter himself, utterly spellbinding in his ability to illustrate various moods from the unbridled joy of “My Reverie" to the warm caress of “I'm a Fool to Want You" to the gentle introspection of “Everything Happens to Me." Stellar musicians such as the New York-based Lopeman ...
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Two Hollywood Songbirds
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
I wasn't around in Los Angeles in the '50s and early '60s, but from what I hear, it was quite a place. Actually, you kind of sense that the city was overflowing with musical talent. Anyone who loves rare jazz albums by little-known singers knows that there were a lot of superb vocalists on the scene there whose names today have been largely forgotten. Two examples are Thelma Gracen and Mavis Rivers. Thelma Gracen [pictured] was a big band singer ...
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In Praise of DeJohnette
Source:
RJ on Jazz by R.J. DeLuke
Recent NEA Jazz Master is among best drummers ever It was nice to see the recent National Endowment for the Arts annual Jazz Masters awards ceremony and concert broadcast online recently from the Jazz at Lincoln Center. All the honorees were fitting, and all—the ones present—eloquent. Particularly trumpeter Jimmy Owens speaking about the needs of aging musicians (and the lack of support from jazz club owners in that regard), and the good works of the Jazz Foundation of America. Among ...
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Remembering Michael Brecker, Five Years Later
Source:
Something Else!
Hard to wrap my mind around the fact that as of yesterday, Michael Brecker has been dead for five years, now. With over 900 recordings to his name, it's damned near impossible to avoid that singular sax sound of his whether the music is funk, rock, mainstream jazz or fusion jazz. Moreover, I find that more and more of the current crop of sax players are drawing major elements of their style from Brecker, perhaps the most significant indication of ...
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Interview: Anthony Ortega (Part 3)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Lionel Hampton loved Anthony Ortega's playing in 1953, likening his sound on the alto sax to Charlie Parker's. There are indeed similarities, notably the yearning, bluesy tone and pushing off on the high notes. Anthony wound up in Hampton's band at just the right moment in time, when an amazing collection of musicians had assembled—including Quincy Jones, Art Farmer, Clifford Brown, Gigi Gryce, Jimmy Cleveland and Monk Montgomery. In Part 3 of my four-part series on Anthony Ortega, the alto ...
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