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Pianist John Escreet Interviewed at All About Jazz
Source:
All About Jazz
Looking forward—moving forward—is an essential quality to pianist John Escreet, a United Kingdom native who moved to the United States, specifically New York City, in 2008 to pursue an education at the Manhattan School of Music. So is achieving a unique sound and approach, both for artistic and practical reasons. Escreet, age 22 when he moved from England, has been playing music on the modern edge of jazz with artists like David Binney, Ambrose Akinmusire and Tyshawn Sorey—all people who ...
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Saxophonist Patrick Brennan Interviewed at All About Jazz
Source:
All About Jazz
Since moving to New York City in 1975, one-time bassist/painter Patrick Brennan has crafted a musical path that is open in its candor and indebtedness to all facets of black music. Much like trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, the alto saxophonist brews a thicket of his own distinct musical language that “unlike much contemporaneous vanguard music is built specifically upon the potentialities of swinging and polyrhythm." For the astute lay person this means moving the expressive expansiveness of trap playing and ...
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An Interview with Anton Schwartz
Source:
Groove Notes
I had the opportunity this week to speak by phone with tenor saxophonist Anton Schwartz. Anton recently moved to the Seattle area. I had the chance to ask him about what brought him to the Puget Sound, and how he has networked himself into the local jazz scene so far. We also talked about the differences between a jazz scene like Seattle versus the scene in New York, his recent project with vocalist Ed Reed, being in a high school ...
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Cleveland, Ohio jazz band modQUAD unites improvisational jazz with funk on new CD
Source:
Lauren Rogers
The cleverly, playfully named modQUAD has avoided the mistake that improvisational jazz acts often make, especially those who are making their debut. That fatal flaw is in skidding off the rails rhythmically, letting creative egos dominate the groove instead of working collectively towards producing a compelling song. On the Cleveland, Ohio band's new album, It's Not Your Mama's Jazz (or is it?), modQUAD pledges allegiance to funk while working within the framework of jazz, producing a taut, tightly performed collection ...
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Something Else! Featured Artist: Genesis
Source:
Something Else!
Believe it or not, Phil Collins was once just a member of this group called Genesis. Back then, before Collins turned Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks into his backing band, Genesis had begun its musical life as a witty, sometimes quite theatrical prog-rock project. The twin departures, however, of Peter Gabriel and then Steve Hackett led to a turn into more popular sounds. Before you knew it, Collins had launched his own concurrent solo career—memorably unleashing the mid-1980s earplug “Sussudio" ...
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An interview with Israel's acclaimed bassist Noam Elron
Source:
Lauren Rogers
His dynamic touch with the double bass might not suggest it, but Noam Elron is a late bloomer. The Israel-based musician didn't begin experimenting with the instrument until he was in his mid-20s. On his latest album Fluctuation, Elron shows no sign of inexperience with the double bass; in fact, it sounds like he was born to play it. Elron took some time off from his hectic schedule for this revealing interview. Q: How did you learn to play the ...
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Latin Jazz Conversations: Jose Rizo (Part 4)
Source:
The Latin Jazz Corner by Chip Boaz
Radio personality and bandleader José Rizo built upon his years of experience with Latin Jazz to reveal a new perspective on a legendary figure. Growing up in Oxnard, California, Rizo flirted with music but didn't dive deeply into the art form until he started college at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Discouraged by the representation of Latinos on the radio, Rizo found a spot on local station KIST in a public affairs show and began training his peers ...
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Russ Garcia + Others on O'Day
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
While writing my post the other day on my favorite Anita O'Day album for Verve (Anita O'Day and Billy May Swing Rodgers and Hart), I reached out to arranger-composer Russ Garcia in New Zealand for a comment. Here's what Russ had to say, followed by a few other stories from readers [Photo of Anita O'Day by Malcolm Moore]... “Dear friend Marc, I did several albums and odd arrangements for Anita over the years. Yes, she was very kooky, but she ...
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