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Interview: Al Porcino (Part 3)
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Tell most big band trumpeters from the '50s that you dig jazz, and they'll likely correct you by saying that they didn't play jazz. A majority of musicians who played in the trumpet sections of prominent bands viewed themselves as highly skilled readers who added a particular flavor to the whole ensemble, not improvisers. Except, that is, the second trumpet, who usually played the jazz solos. Al Porcino was a first chair trumpeter, and his job was to lead the ...
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Something Else! Interview: Jazz Guitarist Bill Frisell
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Something Else!
We might be tempted to take for granted quietly impactful triumphs like guitarist Bill Frisell's forthcoming All We Are Saying, an Americana-infused tribute to John Lennon. After all, the prolific Frisell has made a career of deftly combining the distortion and verve of modern rock, the raw emotion of backwoods roots music and the sophisticated harmonics of jazz. But we shouldn't. Not because of our familiarity with the subject matter, not because of the furious pace at which Frisell issues ...
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Interview: Al Porcino (Part 2)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
If you own a big band album from the post-war years, chances are Al Porcino is playing first trumpet on the recording. Al often was featured in that chair for his swinging leadership skills, the clarity of his playing, his sight-reading abilities and his knack for hitting screaming high notes. A trumpet section's job is to punctuate a big band arrangement, and the first trumpet always needs to be rock solid and distinct. Al spent much of the early and ...
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Interview: Al Porcino (Part 1)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Al Porcino is easily one of jazz's greatest living trumpet players. In addition to playing on 342 recording sessions since 1942, he is the last known surviving member of Charlie Parker's first strings date—Neal Hefti's recording of Repetition in December 1947. Al also has the distinction of having played first trumpet in nearly every major big band of the '40s, 50s, '60s and '70s—from Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman and Charlie Barnet to Count Basie, Stan Kenton, Gene Krupa, Chubby Jackson ...
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Hypebot Interviews Kevin Lee: CEO of SOL Republic
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HypeBot
Former Monster VP of Marketing and Product Development, Kevin Lee, is the visionary mind behind SOL Republic, a new audio company that seeks to bring high-quality sound to the masses by innovating in sound, style, and durability while keeping their product affordable to consumers. Hypebot's Hisham Dahud caught up with Lee in San Francisco, where the CEO shared some insight on his decision to start his own company, and the mission behind his new brand: Dahud: “Your father [Noel Lee, ...
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Ronnie Cuber on Maynard (PT. 2)
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Ronnie Cuber comes out of the Harry Carney and Pepper Adams school of blowing. He corkscrews into a song on the baritone saxophone and then works it over with an aggressive attack, feeding into the instrument's deep, barrel feel. Ronnie began in the Newport Youth Band and moved on to Slide Hampton's band and then Maynard Ferguson's while he was still in his early '20s. After leaving Maynard Ferguson's band in 1965, Ronnie recorded steadily, bringing enormous life and energy ...
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Ronnie Cuber on Maynard (PT. 1)
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Ronnie Cuber is a baritone saxophonist with a beefy sound who came up through the big bands of the 1960s. During this problematic big band era, rock and soul put the squeeze on orchestras' abilities to earn a profit. Yet top-name leaders still managed to tour and record, in many cases by arranging rock and soul hits and, by decade's end, incorporating jazz-rock fusion into their books. Ronnie had the good fortune to play in Maynard Ferguson's band from 1963 ...
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Interview: Eddie Floyd
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
As I write in today's Wall Street Journal (go here), the Stax Music Academy is working wonders down in Memphis giving at-risk high school students purpose and direction. Most interesting is that the academy treats soul like classical music and jazz—taking it seriously and teaching the next generation the essence and art of the music and performance. In case you hadn't noticed, soul is a dying art form. One of the former Stax stars who is actively involved in showing ...
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