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Interview

Interview: Sheila Jordan (Part 3)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
January 6, 2012

Sheila Jordan isn't a trained singer. But she is a passionate singer whose roots date back to Charlie Parker and other bebop musicians of the late '40s and early '50s whom she knew and sang with as a teen. Sheila also is an example of an artist who had a very rough early life but used her love for music as a way to keep her spirits high and positive through it all. When Sheila walks into a room, everyone ...

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Interview

Interview: Sheila Jordan (Part 2)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
January 5, 2012

There aren't too many musicians today who have truly lived the jazz life in the '40s and '50s. To live the jazz life back then, you had to be completely committed to the music and at one with the artists. Creativity was currency, and the music you heard coming from musicians' instruments often said more about humanity than the written and spoken word. You also had to see integration as normal way of life at a time when much of society and ...

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Interview

Interview: Sheila Jordan (Part 1)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
January 4, 2012

On January 10, Sheila Jordan will be honored in New York by the National Endowment for the Arts as a 2012 NEA JazzMaster—the nation's most prestigious jazz award. Joining her on stage will be co-honorees drummer Jack DeJohnette, saxophonist Von Freeman, bassist Charlie Haden and trumpeter Jimmy Owens. It's going to be a big evening for her, and a long time coming. [Photo at top of Sheila Jordan at 52nd St. club in 1953, courtesy of Sheila Jordan] Many jazz ...

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Interview

Something Else! Interview: Drummer Danny Seraphine, Formerly of Chicago

Source: Something Else!
December 29, 2011

Chicago co-founder Danny Seraphine is putting the finishing touches on his second album with California Transit Authority—which fashioned its name and its muscular jazz-rock approach from his old group's initial sound: “If you love early Chicago, then you are going to love this," Seraphine said in the latest SER Sitdown. “I'm very proud of it, and I think everybody in the band is." A group co-founder, Seraphine had been in two prior groups with eventual Chicago saxophonist Walt Parazaider and ...

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Interview

Remembering Hoagy Carmichael

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
December 28, 2011

Interview

A Chat with Perpetual Groove's John Hruby

Source: JamBase
December 23, 2011

By Eric Bell As keyboardist Matt McDonald returns to Perpetual Groove, we talk to departing keyboardist John Hruby, who plays his last shows with PGroove at Center Stage in Atlanta on 12/30 and 12/31. Find full Perpetual Groove tour info here, and check out Eric Bells' earlier conversation with Albert Suttle and Matt McDonald discussing the changes in PGroove here. JamBase: When you came into the group I know the guys probably gave you an iPod or something full of ...

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Interview

A Chat with Keller Williams

Source: JamBase
December 20, 2011

By Dennis Cook Bass, the new album from Keller Williams (released December 13 on SCI Fidelity Records), begins with a warming blast that's akin to finding expected sunlight outside when one opens the door. It's a thick, inviting sound and the studio debut of Keller's live reggae-funk band Kdubalicious, where he's joined by Jay Starling (keyboards) and Mark D (drums). It doesn't take long until one is “feeling fine, toes to the sky," and the album keeps this positive momentum ...

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Interview

Chasing Paradise with Great American Taxi

Source: JamBase
December 15, 2011

By Dennis Cook It's hard to imagine someone not liking Great American Taxi. In their bone structure and general jiggle, GAT is a modern equivalent to Little Feat, Los Lobos and the Grateful Dead—i.e. bonhomie rich, barroom ready rockers with a healthy facility with twangy stuff, all anchored to quality songwriting, playing and presentation. The Taxi is the whole dang package for someone looking to lift their heels whilst wetting their whistle and getting their head and heart fed, too. ...

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