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An Interview with Dewey Syntax: Progressive Rock meets Jazz Fusion
Source:
Lauren Rogers
The death of progressive rock has been greatly exaggerated. While it's true that prog has long been extinct from the public eye for decades now, the genre remains a living and breathing entity, kept alive by its pioneers and followers in an underground network of the faithful. Among them is Denver, Colorado-based guitarist Eric Dewey, who has dubbed his project Dewey Syntax. The latest album from Dewey, the consistently mesmerizing Lark the Ivy On, is quite unlike those from his ...
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Q&A: Dave Schroeder
Source:
Jazz Online By Joseph Vella
By day, Dave Schroeder is the Director of New York University's Steinhardt Jazz Studies program and by night, he is the leader and one of the featured instrumentalists of the New York City based eclectic group Combo Nuvo (a group comprised of some of Schroeder's esteemed NYU faculty). Combo Nuvo combines influences from blues, jazz, classical and world music into a hybrid of melodically rich and inspiring music that balances beautiful ensemble work, intriguing rhythmic textures and skillful improvisation and ...
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Meet Olaf Polziehn
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Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Researching key signatures in performances of “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams," I made a discovery. Everyone else out there may have known about Olaf Polziehn, but he was new to me. After I heard him play the piece (in E-flat), further research turned up these facts: Polziehn is 40 years old. He was born in Ludwigsburg, Germany. He is professor of jazz piano at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria. That is where the expatriate American ...
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New band Circuit makes its mark on London
Source:
Jerzy Bielski
London-based modern jazz contemporary classical and rock group Circuit, featuring nine members from Poland, Italy, Denmark, and the UK are set to quite literally “explode" (a term written in their music) onto the scene in 2011. With their next set of gigs they'll prime their audience for the release of their debut album in September (with a guest appearance of renowned British multi-instrumentalist Stuart Hall, playing violin, banjo and guitar on it). Featuring such instruments as cello, harp and live ...
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Alex Skolnick Incorporates Thrash-Metal Origins Into His Jazz Work
Source:
All About Jazz @ Spinner
People have their own path to becoming a jazz musician. Sometimes a parent or other family member who plays. Sometimes a musician starts off in one direction and then goes in another. Alex Skolnick has to be one of the most unique examples of the latter. The guitarist joined the thrash-metal band Testament when his was 16, immediately putting him on tours with arena acts like Judas Priest, Megadeath, White Zombie and Slayer. Within a few years he began to ...
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Makanda Project Jazz Ensemble is Profiled in Boston Globe
Source:
MassJazz: Jazz in Massachusetts
The Makanda Project and its work in bringing jazz back to Roxbury in Boston has been profiled in The Boston Globe by Alexandra Legend Siegel. To read the full story, click here. The group was formed in honor of the late Makanda Ken McIntyre, a Boston-born jazz musician and educator who composed over 400 pieces of music in his life. The Makanda Project continues the legacy of Makanda through live concerts and educational programs. Their next performance takes place at ...
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Jake Shimabukuro: Defying Genres to Bring the Ukulele Mainland and Mainstream
Source:
Groove Notes
Jake Shimabukuro recently visited the KPLU performance studio. Below is the audio and photos from KPLU’s Nick Morrison, Abe Beeson, and Justin Steyer. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE STUDIO SESSION KPLU was pleased to welcome ukulele virtuoso, Jake Shimabukuro, into our studios on March 29, 2011. Jake played before not only a record number of KPLU Leadership Circle members, but four young ukulele players from Foster High School we recently featured in an installment of Artscape, which explored the ...
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Latin Jazz Conversations: Alexa Weber Morales (Part 3)
Source:
The Latin Jazz Corner by Chip Boaz
Musicians are tasked with tapping into the thoughts and feelings of the current social climate and finding relevant ways to reach people. Musical statements are meant to be shared, and the most effective expressions find a way to connect with an audience. They discuss topics that effect the audience's everyday life and they they relate to common experiences. These musical ideas reach people through communication paths that are both modern and traveled constantly. An artist that can share these types ...
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