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Jazz Face: Irv Williams, Still Feisty After All These Years
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JazzINK by Andrea Canter
What will I be doing if and when I get to 92? Surely not playing the saxophone since I never have... But will I be working as I am today? With enough motivation and energy to sustain my activities at an admirable level? Although every year he hints at retirement, and with every CD release (nearly annually) he suggests it will be his last, saxman Irv Williams keeps chugging along. His gigs are fewer, his late nights earlier, but put ...
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The Poetry of Walter Bishop, Jr.
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The Independent Ear by Willard Jenkins
Relaxin' With Max, The Invincible Roach By Walter Bishop, Jr. There was a Roach named Maxwell. He was unusual in that he could fly, having been born with wings. He also played the drums, of all things. From his home in South Carolina, he came to the Big City, via Brooklyn. There he got hooked up with some other insects. Let me see... there was a Yardbug that flew in from K.C. And man, he could play the blues on ...
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Interview: Rhoda Scott
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Rhoda Scott is easily the finest Hammond B3 organist around today. Name unfamiliar to you? That's probably because Rhoda moved to Paris in 1968 and has resided there ever since. Over the past 43 years, Rhoda has become a jazz celebrity on the European jazz concert and club circuit. Over here, not so much. Nevertheless, organ buffs revere her albums, many of which were recorded in Paris and have a terrific relaxed feel. As you probably can tell, Rhoda is ...
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Something Else! Interview: Billy Sherwood, Formerly of Yes
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Something Else!
Billy Sherwood has had a busy year—producing the new solo album by former King Crimson/UK/Asia singer John Wetton, co-leading the terrific third release from Circa and then issuing his own well-conceived solo recording. He is, of course, best known for trying to sew together the frayed scraps of that ever-evolving prog-rock amalgam Yes in the 1990s, overseeing the initial reforming of the band's classic line up for the first time in decades. Through the course of the '90s, he would ...
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Interview: Sol Schlinger (Part 3)
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Sol Schlinger is a modest big-band legend. At first he was surprised I had tracked him down. Then he didn't quite understand why I or anyone else would care about his career. When it finally dawned on him that he must be worthy given my enthusiasm, he said, “Gosh, if I knew then I was going to be interviewed by you today, I would have kept a journal." That's the Schlinger touch. Other touches include saying, “Goodbye, babe" when getting ...
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Interview: Sol Schlinger (Part 2)
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
In the 1950s, the two baritone saxophonists who were mostoften called for studio sessions on the East Coast were Sol Schlinger and the late Danny Bank. Though Bank was a studied musician and tended to play forcefully in the lower register, Sol was a spirited swinger and sharp reader who favored playing a little higher. Both were section players, meaning they were hired because their particular sounds would mesh beautifully with the rest of the assembled section. [Photo, from left, ...
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Singer Tierney Sutton Interviewed at All About Jazz!
Source:
All About Jazz
Bands come in all shapes, sizes and dynamics. Some thrive on the tensions, while others fall apart too soon due to creative differences or inflated egos. None of these challenges seem to present themselves to the group of musicians that takes its name from the vocalist Tierney Sutton. With nine albums under its collective belt, complemented by three Grammy nominations, the Tierney Sutton Band is about to tour again in support of its American Road release (BMF Jazz, 2011). Todd ...
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An interview with guitarist Ray Ferretti
Source:
Lauren Rogers
Guitarist Ray Ferretti lives in that twilight zone between progressive rock and jazz. It's a balance that isn't always executed with such precision and melody as Ferretti achieves on his new album, Leaf Juice. Quite the contrary, too many musicians fuse together those elements in a self-gratifying way; the result is often a record that quenches the intellectual thirst of the artist but leaves audiences cold, especially casual listeners. Ferretti manages to avoid that, producing a collection of songs that ...
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