Jazz News

New William Parker Quartet CD Released on AUM Fidelity

Source: Improvised Communications
October 14, 2008

“Bassist-composer William Parker’s quartet may be the best working band in jazz today –- it’s certainly one of the most exciting. Every track on their third CD contains examples of their unexcelled collective and individual brilliance. Their liberated and disciplined use of the music’s possibilities makes this a deeply hopeful and uplifting album." --Ed Hazell, PointofDeparture.org

“A welcome return to the studio from one of today's most esteemed working groups, Petit Oiseau is one of Parker's most accessible ...

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Firehouse 12 to Present Josh Roseman's Execution Quintet October 17th

Source: Improvised Communications
October 14, 2008

On Friday, October 17th, Firehouse 12 will present a two-set performance by renowned trombonist/composer Josh Roseman's Execution Quintet. One of Roseman's newest ensembles as a leader, this eclectic Brooklyn-based group creates music ranging from the intense to the theatrical, with elements of game theory thrown in for good measure. Its chord-less line-up features trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, Dutch saxophonist Ben Van Gelder, bassist Chris Lightcap and drummer Dave Treut.

“Josh Roseman has the quirky charisma necessary to turn the often sedate ...

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B.B. King and Paul G. Allen to be Honored by Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at the Kodak Theatre on Sunday, October 26

Source: All About Jazz
October 14, 2008

14-time GRAMMY winner and Blues Legend will receive the Institute's Founder's Award; Microsoft Co-Founder will receive the 2008 Herbie Hancock Humanitarian Award (Los Angeles, Calif.)--the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz announced that 14-time GRAMMY winner and blues legend B.B. King will receive the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Founder's Award and Microsoft Co-Founder and Global Philanthropist Paul G. Allen will be presented with the Herbie Hancock Humanitarian Award during the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz The Blues and Jazz: Two ...

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American Jazz Legends Roy Haynes and Ahmad Jamal Receive Top French Music Awards

Source: All About Jazz
October 14, 2008

Dreyfus Jazz Artists Dominate at the Prestigious 'Les Victoires du Jazz' Awards in Paris with Wins, Nominations, and Star-Studded Performances New York, NY — Roy Haynes, Ahmad Jamal, and Geraldine Laurent each took home France's most prestigious music award at Les Victoires du Jazz, France's equivalent of the American Grammy Awards. This year's star-studded awards event, televised on French Nation Television from Paris, was an exciting night for Dreyfus Jazz. The French record label, owned by producer Francis Dreyfus (with ...

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Jazz Pianist Rob Mullins to Headline Denver Amphitheatre

Source: All About Jazz
October 14, 2008

Los Angeles CA --Jazz pianist, recording artist, and educator Rob Mullins will headline the Grand Opening of the new City Hall Event Center in Denver, CO on October 18, 2008. Mullins, a former Denver resident who released his first five albums in Colorado, will make his first appearance in Colorado in 25 years for Denver nightclub mogul Regas Christou.

“I am happy to be the club owner who first believed in Rob's extraordinary abilities and gave him a five night ...

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Trombonist/Composer John Fedchock Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
October 14, 2008

On October 30, 31 and November 1, 2008, the University of the Arts will hold an exciting symposium and series of concerts dedicated to the memory of the great trumpeter, Clifford Brown. This interview, with trombonist/big band leader John Fedchock, is the second of two interviews conducted in advance of this event, sponsored by the University of the Arts and the Philadelphia Jazz Heritage Project, the first being with legendary saxophonist Lou Donaldson.

At the performance, Fedchock will be premiering ...

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William Claxton Photographer Helped Make Chet Baker Famous

Source: Michael Ricci
October 13, 2008

William Claxton, the master photographer whose images of Chet Baker helped fuel the jazz trumpeter's stardom in the 1950s and whose fashion photographs of his wife modeling a topless swim suit were groundbreaking years later, has died. He was 80.

Claxton died from complications of congestive heart failure Saturday morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his wife, actress and model Peggy Moffitt Claxton, told The Times.

In a career spanning more than a half century, Claxton also became ...

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"Let's Get Lost" The Lasting Allure of Chet Baker

Source: All About Jazz
October 13, 2008

Let's Get Lost captures the seductive power of the conflicted jazzman. Bruce Weber's 1989 film is a vivid portrait of trumpeter-vocalist Chet Baker.

Early on in Let's Get Lost, Bruce Weber's 1989 documentary about Chet Baker, the jazz trumpeter is asked if he'd like a glass of wine? Yeah, he replies in that wispy exhale of a voice that always made his singing sound so imperiled - and irresistible. The way Baker pronounces the word you hear diffidence, ...

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