Interview News

Rising Stars at Bake's - The Yesberger Band

Source: Seattle Jazz Scene
July 28, 2011

The Yesberger Band at Bake's Place Friday, July 29. 7:45pm

Bake's Place continues its “Rising Stars" series this weekend with a featured performance from “The Yesberger Band."

Pianist Devon Yesberger is the prodigy of the Edmonds-Woodway High School jazz program and is presently enrolled in the Berklee School of Music. While performing with Edmonds-Woodway, Devon was a finalist for the Gibson-Baldwin Grammy Jazz Ensemble and was also a participant in the All-Northwest Jazz program. The Yesberger Band includes ...

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Latin Jazz Conversations: Jose Rizo (Part 1)

Source: The Latin Jazz Corner by Chip Boaz
July 28, 2011

There's nothing stronger in the human soul than a message that you need to share with the world. Most people aren't born with this type of drive, and some people never capture it during their lifetime. Still, there are insightful individuals discover issues in their life that drive them to educate, inform, and speak on topics ranging from politics to race, art, and more. The simple discovery plants a seed in their head and continued exposure causes their desire to ...

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Interview: Helen Shapiro

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
July 27, 2011

Helen Shapiro and Amy Winehouse had a few things in common. In my interview with Helen in today's Wall Street Journal (go here), we touched on what life was like for her at age 14 in 1961, when she had two No. 1 hits and a No. 3 hit on the British pop charts. In 1962, more hits followed along with two teen movies, a world tour and an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show that October. Then came a ...

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Georgie Auld in the Late '40s

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
July 26, 2011

Georgie Auld should be better known today, but he isn't. In his prime, he was a furiously swinging tenor saxophonist and leader of some pretty hip bop bands of the '40s. Today, the late reedman is probably best known for appearing in Martin Scorsese's New York, New York (1977) as bandleader Frankie Harte, working as a consultant to help Robert De Niro with his sax fingering and dubbing all the sax solos. That is, if you remember this marginal film. ...

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Something Else! Featured Artist: Supertramp

Source: Something Else!
July 24, 2011

Supertramp was many things over its too-brief period of hitmaking—art-rockish proggers, post-Beatle popsters, kinda-classical rockers, memory-defining radio monoliths. There was much to love as they moved, over the course of the early-1970s to the early-1980s, from the esoteric to the very top of the charts—something perhaps hastened by the core group's relocation to the shiny sunscape of Los Angeles in 1977. What Supertramp never was, at least back then: Forgottable. Which only makes their slide into relative obscurity in the ...

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Daniel Bennett on Creating a Truly Unique Musical Statement and More

Source: Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever.
July 22, 2011

Generously lauded in publications such as The Village Voice, The Boston Herald, The Boston Phoenix, and the Boston Globe, it's obvious that Daniel Bennett is the toast of his former town (he is now based in New York City). With a list of teachers that includes Jerry Bergonzi and George Garzone, it's easy to see why Daniel exhibits a unique voice and ninja-like control over his instrument.

Sharing concert billings with artists like Bill Frisell, Charlie Hunter, Greg Osby, James ...

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UYS: Aki Takase interview

Source: underyourskin
July 21, 2011

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Something Else! Interview: Steve Smith, of Journey and Vital Information

Source: Something Else!
July 21, 2011

Drummer Steve Smith is in the midst of a flurry of activity in advance of the 30th anniversary of his jazz group Vital Information. The first VI album appeared in 1983, even as his tenure with the melodic rock band Journey reached its chart-topping zenith. Smith eventually left Journey to pursue jazz, his first true love, and will commemorate that with the release of three albums over a two-year period. The initial 30th anniversary VI album will be an unreleased ...

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