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Ralph Hepola’s Tuba Carves Out A Place For The Much-Maligned Horn In Modern Jazz
Source:
Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
Ralph Hepola’s Tuba carves out a place for the much-maligned horn in modern jazz. The virtuoso tuba player leads his quartet through a set of his freewheeling originals, playing with remarkable fluency as the lead instrument. While the tuba has often been stereotyped as a limited instrument that keeps time in marching bands, Dixieland and polka groups, Ralph Hepola on Tuba makes a strong case for his horn being the lead voice in a modern jazz combo. A brilliant player ...
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Some good news for a change, near and far
Source:
Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes
Amid all the economic pain and uncertainty this year for jazz musicians, clubs and festivals due to the pandemic, there is some good news to share. It comes on distant and local fronts, as we continue to await how the “new normal” affects the arts long term. First, from Europe: On September 2, Denmark’s iconic venue, Jazz Club Montmartre in Copenhagen, announced it was closing and laying off all staff. Management said it was economically impossible to keep operating with ...
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Sonny Rollins at 90
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Today is Sonny Rollins's 90th birthday. I never talk to Sonny on his birthday. I know how he feels about this day. It brings too much attention to him, and Sonny is happiest off the grid. But that doesn't mean I cant write about him. My bond with Sonny goes back to to an afternoon we spent in the summer of 2010 just before his 80th birthday. I had just started writing for The Wall Street Journal and came up ...
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Sylwester Ostrowski Releases New Song 'Chiefs Kingdom' Featuring Bobby Watson
Source:
Cheptoo Kositany
Sylwester Ostrowski, new single “Chiefs Kingdom" featuring Bobby Watson is available on August 28, 2020, under the recording label Agora. Fans can enjoy the music on iTunes, Tidal, and Spotify. “Chiefs Kingdom" is a piece of celebratory and uplifting music honoring Kansas City, its Jazz legacy, and the 2020 Super Bowl Champions, the Chiefs. Ostrowski was in Kansas City for a project celebrating Parker’s Centennial in partnership with Jazz Sister Cities during the championship game in February 2020. Together with ...
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Remember this date - 66 years ago in jazz history
Source:
Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes
Yes, it has been 66 years. On July 17, 1954, something happened in Newport, Rhode Island that made an indelible mark on jazz history- and in the scope of popular music presentation as we know it today. Before Woodstock, before Coachella, before Monterey, there was Newport. The first Newport Jazz Festival, actually dubbed the American Jazz Festival that inaugural year, was held July 17 and 18, 1954 at historic Newport Casino, a stately tennis venue now known as the International ...
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Eddie Gale, San Jose’s Ambassador Of Jazz And A Noted Jazz Educator, Succumbs To Cancer At Age 78
Source:
Joann Stevens
Eddie Gale, the pioneering Brooklyn-born jazz trumpeter who began his career as a sideman with legendary jazz artists such as Sun Ra, Larry Young, and Cecil Taylor before forging his path as a band leader on Blue Note Records and a performer and music educator on the East and West Coasts, passed away Friday, July 10, 2020. Gale was 78. He’d resided in San Jose since 1972. In 1974, San Jose Mayor Norman Y. Mineta named him “San Jose’s Ambassador ...
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Ralph Hepola Makes A Strong Case For The Tuba As A Lead Instrument In Jazz
Source:
Ralph Hepola
The tuba, like the banjo and the accordion, has sometimes had an image problem during the past century. While it has had an important role in classical music and early New Orleans jazz, the tuba has often been associated with Dixieland, amateur bands, and comedy. There have been exceptions such as its use in the Miles Davis Birth of the Cool nonet, Gil Evans’ groups, and Howard Johnson’s tuba ensemble Gravity. There have also been around a dozen impressive tuba ...
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Still singing the pandemic blues? Aren't we all?
Source:
Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes
Three months into the pandemic quarantines caused by COVID-19, we have seen our lives changed in so many ways, at least temporarily. And none of us know with any certainty what the “new normal" will be. What's the future for the intimacy of jazz clubs, or large-scale concerts in performance halls, or outdoor jazz festivals that draw thousands of warm bodies soaking up the sun, the vibes, the music? Even event planners and producers lack answers or a quick fix, ...
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