Jazz News

Steely Dan at the Gibson Amphitheatre

Source: Michael Ricci
August 24, 2009

A few minutes before Steely Dan took the stage to play the entirety of its 1977 album Aja, a man wandered the Gibson Amphitheatre dressed as Jesus wavy, honey-colored hair, a shapeless sackcloth and a benevolent gaze for every sinner who cheered him on.

It was a fitting image for a band that has been both worshiped as melody masters and reviled as purveyors of buttery jazz-rock. The split reputation still dogs the band to this day, among the revivalist ...

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Big Labor Day Week: Corea, Clarke, White at Bowl; Angel City Jazz Fest at Ford

Source: DL Media
August 24, 2009

For Jazz fans, Labor Day week presents an array of all-star attractions.

Jazz greats Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White, the original members of Return to Forever, re-uinite, Sept. 2, at the Hollywood Bowl in Southern California.

The concert will feature guest appearances by vocalist Chaka Khan, violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and original RTF guitarist Bill Connors. The event heralds the beginning of Corea, Clarke & White's first worldwide trio tour.

Khan is expected to perform some of her own ...

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Cape May Traditional Jazz Society Presents Dixieland Jazz on September 24

Source: Michael Ricci
August 24, 2009

When: Thursday September 24, 2009 from 6 to 8 pm Where: VFW Post 386 419 Congress St. Cape May, NJ 609-884-7961 Who - “Atlantic City Jazz Band" Herb Roselle trombone, Franny Smith banjo, Bob Rawlins clarinet, Bob Ferguson trumpet, Harry Solotti tuba, Tom Angello drums, Nancy Rawlins keyboard playing great Traditional Dixieland Jazz. Ticket charge - $10 advance purchase 609-884-7961 $15 at door - everyone is welcome $10 CMTJS member price Proceeds donated to ...

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Neil Alexander & Nail Present "A 400 Year Musical Journey"

Source: Michael Ricci
August 24, 2009

Aug 4th 2009 - Newburgh resident Neil Alexander and his stellar Jazz-Fusion trio NAIL will bring a one of a kind performance to the Newburgh Free Library on September 13th at 2 pm. Entitled “A 400 Year Musical Journey”, the performance will feature Keyboardist/Composer Neil Alexander, drummer Nadav Snir-Zelniker and bassist Dan Asher with guest musicians violinist Zach Brock and woodwind master Premik Russel Tubbs. The ensemble will perform music from each century (1609, 1709, 1809) including arrangements of Bach ...

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Diana Krall at the Hollywood Bowl

Source: Michael Ricci
August 24, 2009

The singer makes Latin-jazz syncopations and Brazilian New Wave riffs seem utterly organic to her performance.

Friday at the Hollywood Bowl was billed as a Latin-themed night, with “an exotic lineup of romantic, jazzy and Latin American orchestral music" executed by the L.A. Philharmonic, segueing into an appearance by Diana Krall. The artist is fresh off releasing her “Brazilian-inspired" album Quiet Nights, featuring “sultry selections of standards and sambas."

Krall, bless her, had a different idea. Rather than treat the ...

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Joe Henry Gives His Own Tone to the Blues

Source: Michael Ricci
August 24, 2009

The musical wanderer's 'Blood From Stars' was released last week, also has become a noted producer.

Joe Henry is tapped into the American past in unexpected ways. He lives in a roomy South Pasadena Craftsman designed for President Garfield's widow, and his preferred attire, a black suit and pointy boots, suggests that the 48-year-old singer and guitarist would have been at home playing in Elvis Presley's first band.

“I typically come to things late," Henry said. “I was too busy ...

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Larry Knechtel Bassist, Keyboardist for '70s Soft-Rock Group Bread Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
August 24, 2009

Knechtel played keyboards and bass with the Wrecking Crew, a group of L.A. studio musicians, before joining Bread in 1971. His arrangement of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' won a Grammy in 1970.

Larry Knechtel, a member of the 1970s soft-rock group Bread, who had a wide-ranging career as a studio musician, has died. Knechtel died Thursday at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital in Yakima, Wash. He was 69. A hospital official would not release a cause of death, but a report ...

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John E. Carter R&b Tenor in Dells and Flamingos Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
August 24, 2009

John E. Carter, R&B lead tenor and two-time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, died Friday at Ingalls Memorial Hospital in his hometown of Harvey, Ill. He was 75 and had lung cancer.

Carter, known for his falsetto, was the last surviving founding member of the doo-wop group the Flamingos, which gained fame with such hits as “Golden Teardrops" and their reworking of the pop classic “I Only Have Eyes for You."

Carter, who was ...

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