Jazz News

Crowds throng Fillmore Jazz Festival

Source: Michael Ricci
July 4, 2010

By lunchtime, Stephanie Woodford had drawn an impressive crowd around her waist-high Casio keyboard, which she was playing with a serious, intense frown on her face, her eyes on her hands and her head bowed over the sheet music. She hit the last notes and the crowd whooped--and the frown disappeared. Stephanie grinned and bowed, and then she took a break and thought about going to check out some of the other acts at the Fillmore Jazz Festival. “So I ...

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A 75th Birthday Tribute to Rahsaan Roland Kirk

Source: Michael Ricci
July 3, 2010

A friend of mine once asked me, “What's so great about Roland Kirk?" I told him, “If a five-thousand pound man was coming to town, would you go see him?" --Joel Dorn, Rahsaan's longtime friend and producer. Rahsaan Roland Kirk (Aug. 7th, 1935-Dec. 5th, 1977) was a jazz multi-instrumentalist best known for his miraculous ability to play three saxophones simultaneously. Kirk defied staggering odds in his all-too-brief life--from blindness to critical prejudice to a paralyzing stroke--in order to play the ...

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Mike Baggetta Trio with Cameron Brown, Jeff Hirshfield on the 4th of July!

Source: Michael Ricci
July 3, 2010

If you're looking for some musical plans for your 4th of July evening please consider the Mike Baggetta Trio.

Mike Baggetta - Guitar Cameron Brown - Bass Jeff Hirshfield - Drums

Sunday, July 4th 8pm and 10 pm (two sets)

@

Bar Next Door 129 MacDougal Street (Greenwich Village) New York, NY

The Bar Next Door is a cozy 28 seat venue known for being a listening room that presents ...

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It's All in the Game: Louis Armstrong, 1947-57

Source: Michael Ricci
July 3, 2010

In the spring of 1947 trumpeter Louis Armstrong was 45 years old-considered by some critics and fans to be all but washed up, with his best years behind him and his music made irrelevant by the rising force of bebop. For 20 years he had been one of jazz's leading, most influential figures. He was appearing in a new movie, set in his native New Orleans, and he remained a popular artist. But he was facing some daunting challenges as ...

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Charlie Harrington Signs with Remo

Source: Michael Ricci
July 3, 2010

Award-Winning acclaimed artist, Charlie Harrington, has signed with Remo Drumheads. Charlie, an in demand session player with a well-established reputation as a first call drummer, is proud to endorse the fine quality products offered by Remo. As the world's drumhead specialist for over 50 years, Remo, Inc. has developed an incredibly wide variety of drumheads to fit every drumming application. Not only is a full selection of Remo heads available to meet the diverse needs of drumset players in country, ...

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How I Used Twitter to Live-Blog the Opera

Source: All About Jazz
July 3, 2010

Opera and Twitter: Could any two vehicles for human expression be more diametrically opposed? And yet they kind of go together, as I found out this week while live-tweeting the San Francisco Opera's performance of Wagner's Die Walkre, a four- and-half-hour epic noted for its ambitious staging, bravura solos, massively overwhelming orchestration and ladies with pointy Viking hats.

Yes, I was the annoying guy sitting amid a sea of evening wear in a T-shirt and sneakers, holding an iPhone as ...

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July 4, 1776: Preserving the Declaration

Source: All About Jazz
July 3, 2010

1776: The Declaration of Independence is signed. It will take 127 years before someone gets around to saying, Hey, maybe we should preserve this thing.

The Declaration of Independence can be fairly said to stand alongside the Magna Carta and Bill of Rights as the most important documents in the history of democracy. Its significance was understood from the moment it was signed, so one is left to wonder why its preservation was ignored for so long. During the Revolutionary ...

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Montreal Jazz: A Conversation with Andre Menard

Source: Michael Ricci
July 2, 2010

The Montreal International Jazz Festival is enormous, and it grows a little bit every year. The 31st edition, with more than 700 concerts over 12 days, ends on Tuesday with a festival first: a Mardi Gras parade through the city, complete with floats from New Orleans and music by Trombone Shorty and Allen Toussaint.

The organization behind it keeps growing too. The festival is a nonprofit enterprise run by a for-profit media company, L'quipe Spectra, and two years ago, with ...

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