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Musicians Preferred; Loud Music O.K.
Source:
Michael Ricci
CARMEN STAAF, a 28-year-old New England Conservatory-trained jazz pianist, does what she has to do to make ends meet. Last year, she played accordion in a musical about Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, starring puppets. More recently, she played ragtime piano with a xylophone band--in a dog costume. But those gigs were nothing compared with talking her way into a $920-a-month studio apartment big enough for a bed and a baby grand. “I kept pestering the landlords,” said Ms. Staaf, a ...
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Weekend Extra: Fitzgerald and Peterson
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Thanks to Julius LaRosa for pointing us toward a performance with the Oscar Peterson Trio by Ella Fitzgerald late in her career. Peterson sits out most of the first chorus. Bassist Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen generates the powerful swing with Fitzgerald. Then the pianist and drummer Martin Drew join the ride. Ella is rarely singled out for her low-register chops, but take notice of her deep range in the third chorus.
It do mean a thing if it has got that ...Continue Reading
Threadheads Jazz Lovers Give Up-and-Coming Musicians a Boost
Source:
Michael Ricci
The music lovers have evolved from an online chat room group into a nonprofit record label.
Reporting from New Orleans -- Like a lot of out-of-towners who came to New Orleans in the years after the levees failed, Chris Joseph found that the singers John Boutte and Paul Sanchez spoke to the city's post-Katrina trauma better than almost any other artists.
Like his fellow visitors, Joseph felt frustrated that he couldn't buy a CD of the cathartic songs the duo ...
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Guitar Market Strikes a Nostalgic Chord
Source:
Michael Ricci
In one upside to a down economy, collectors are finding there's a string of vintage options on the market -- and some lower prices
Signature guitars of the rock 'n' roll era -- candy-colored Fender Stratocasters, slab-bodied Fender Telecasters, flame-topped Gibson Les Pauls and voluptuously shaped Gretsch hollow bodies -- are symbols of a uniquely American pop culture that continues to excite guitar enthusiasts. But aside from their nostalgia value, they've proved to be good investments.
A Gibson Les ...
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Mark O'Connor: Living on the Cracks
Source:
JamBase
By: Dennis Cook
Mark O'Connor Not everyone can communicate without words. Getting meaning, feeling and narrative across using nuance and texture instead of defined syllables is beyond the grasp of many musicians. Yet, Mark O'Connor has always told vivid tales with his violin and compositions. From his early pithiness as a Nashville session hot shot through innumerable award winning projects in the jazz, bluegrass and classical fields, O'Connor has ...
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Jazz This Week: The Yellowjackets with Mike Stern, New Music Circle Turns 50, and More
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
This will be a relatively short post by the usual “Jazz this week" standard, both because yr. humble editor has some time constraints due to other pressing matters, and because there's a slight lull in the St. Louis concert scene this weekend with regard to jazz and creative music. Specifically, we're at the time of year when some of our not-for-profit presenters, such as the Sheldon and the Touhill, have already wrapped up their jazz concert series for the season; ...
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What Ever Happened to Ron Crotty?
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
One of the pleasures of the 3000-mile motor excursion down and up the west coast of the US was silence. Except for conversation between two people who don't seem to get enough of it at home, and a modicum of music, we cruised along luxuriating in the glorious spring scenery. We saw shades of green I'd forgotten existed. This was along the old Columbia Gorge highway in Oregon.
For purposes of relief and recharging, we limited listening to a ...
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Next Music Battle: Hulu vs. Vevo
Source:
All About Jazz
Music videos started life online as giveaways to win bands new fans — much as they did when MTV actually showed videos. But now, as the future of music sales seems dim, music labels see gold in what they used to handout for free. The change started about five years ago when labels began charging distributors for the right to show videos. Then the rise of YouTube brought enormous exposure for music videos online, but record labels claim YouTube’s payouts ...
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