Jazz News

Russian Pianist Ivan Farmakovsky Interviewed at AAJ

Source: Michael Ricci
October 7, 2009

Crisis or no crisis, the 2008-2009 jazz concert season in Russia was far from being eventless. New fruitful collaborations were unveiled, new record labels were launched, old festivals have convincingly confirmed that they were well alive and kicking, and many good Russian jazz albums have hit the stores. Those albums revealed a new trend, that of many exciting Russian-American joint ventures in jazz this year. Of those intercontinental collaborations, pianist Ivan Farmakovsky's debut as a leader, Next To The Shadow ...

Continue Reading

Miles Davis Masterly Kind of Blue Turns 50

Source: All About Jazz
October 6, 2009

One of the greatest records ever made continues to define jazz music. Miles Davis's recording session in 1959 for Kind of Blue.

It's a record that sounds like it was made yesterday. It's as hip as anything on the planet. It's the accumulation of everything that ... modern jazz is about. Quincy Jones

Jimmy Cobb could hardly imagine he would be making history when he arrived at Columbia Records' 30th Street Studio 50 years ago for the first ...

Continue Reading

B.J. Thomas' Scepter Sides Reissued on Collectors' Choice

Source: conqueroo
October 6, 2009

Eight LPs to be reissued on four individual CDs with rare bonus tracks. Including such hits as “Hooked on a Feeling,” “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” and “Rock ’n’ Roll Lullaby,” which featured Duane Eddy .

B.J. Thomas is best known for his huge pop hits like “Hooked on a Feeling” and “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head.” But few realize that his support network during his years on Scepter Records (1966-’73) included legendary writers and producers — people ...

Continue Reading

Turiya Mareya and the Tijuana Latin Jazz Project

Source: All About Jazz
October 6, 2009

Tijuana has long been a haven for punk and electronica, plus the top-40 and hip-hop blaring from clubs along Avenida Revolucion. Latin Jazz pianist Turiya Mareya hopes to diversify the city's musical portfolio.

In August 2009 Turiya Mareya returned to her home base in Tijuana, Mexico after an extended tour in Canada and Israel to begin a new weekly concert series at El Dragon Rojo Bar. The program will include jam sessions, composer-driven performances and spoken word.

“We are going ...

Continue Reading

Encuentro! Latin Jazz Weekend: An NJPAC Exclusive Double-Bill

Source: All About Jazz
October 6, 2009

Baila Mi Gente Latin Jazz Dance Party, October 30th, 7:30pm,Victoria Theater

Paquito DRivera, Cuban Jazz, the Next Generation, October 31st, 7:30pm, Victoria Theater

Spanish Harlem Orchestra and Tito Puente Jr. Orchestra, November 1st, 5pm, Prudential Hall

NJPACs Alternate Routes Series presents its annual fiery weekend of Latin jazz with three performances from Friday, October 30 through Sunday, November 1, 2009. The culminating event on Sunday, November 1 at 5:00pm brings together on Prudential Halls ...

Continue Reading

Progressive Cuban Jazz with the Elio Villafranca Quintet at the Jazz Standard

Source: entertainmentPR
October 6, 2009

When it comes to authentic Cuban Jazz, The Elio Villafranca Quintet brings you only the best.

Elio Villafranca first appeared on stage with his quartet in the New Dimensions in Latin Jazz Series in 2007. Since then, this gifted pianist and composer won the first NFA/Heineken Green Ribbon Master Artist Music Grant from the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC).

“The musical history of Cuba is full of extraordinary pianists,” says the legendary Paquito D’Rivera, “and Elio ...

Continue Reading

Marianne Faithfull at Royce Hall

Source: Michael Ricci
October 6, 2009

The '60 survivor takes an emotional journey through her career, including her new album and the hit that started it all, Jagger-Richards' 'As Tears Go By.'

Marianne Faithfull has lived a life of reinterpretation. She began as a pretty young face with a sweet voice, scoring her first hit with the precocious Jagger-Richards ballad “As Tears Go By," a 1964 Brit-pop single that might have suggested a career as Kiki Dee or Petula Clark. But she had other ideas, and ...

Continue Reading

Laura Mae Gross, 'Mama' Nurtured the Blues at Babe's and Ricky's Inn in L.A. Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
October 6, 2009

In Laura Mae Gross' club, bluesman Ray Bailey said, “it didn't matter if you were a total amateur or a seasoned professional. Everybody gave you the same respect."

Laura Mae Gross, a strong-willed Mississippi woman who came to the West Coast and founded a club that became a staple of Los Angeles' blues scene, died Saturday of heart failure, according to relatives. She was 89.

Gross, also known as “Mama," opened Babe's and Ricky's Inn on Central Avenue in 1964 ...

Continue Reading