Jazz News

National Jazz Presenters Network Announces New Board President and Appoints Executive Director

Source: All About Jazz
August 29, 2006

The Artistic and Executive Directors of 18 of Canada's leading jazz festivals gathered together in Ottawa, July 26th - 28th for the eighth annual general meeting of Jazz Festivals Canada.

Jazz Festivals Canada members have elected Catherine O'Grady, Executive Producer of the Ottawa International Jazz Festival, to serve as the association's President. Dr. Julie Smith, Director of Education and Outreach and Community Programs for the Vancouver International Jazz Festival will serve as Vice President and co-chair.

Robert Kerr has stepped ...

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Season Finale Event Features a Salute to the New Orleans Sound at Fulton Street Mall

Source: All About Jazz
August 28, 2006

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - On Saturday, September 16, the Fulton Mall Improvement Association (FMIA) will host the final concert of the 2006 Fulton Street Beat music festival at Albee Square in downtown Brooklyn. The last of three, FREE outdoor concerts is a Brooklyn salute to the New Orleans Sound with headliner Victor Goines & Friends (featuring Marcus Printup and Vincent Gardner), trumpeters Maurice Brown Quintet, and the 2nd line brass marching band, Jambalaya Brass Band. The performance begins at 1:00 PM ...

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ECM Releases Tomasz Stanko Quartet's "Lontano" on August 29, 2006

Source: All About Jazz
August 28, 2006

Tomasz Stanko: trumpet Marcin Wasilewski: piano Slawomir Kurkiewicz: double-bass Michal Miskiewicz: drums

The third ECM album by Tomasz Stanko's popular all-Polish group rings some changes. Where its predecessors, 2001's Soul of Things and 2004's Suspended Night were recorded in Oslo, Lontano shifts the recording locale to the South of France--Studios La Buisonne, near Avignon--and it opens up the group's concept to admit both freer playing and a new look at pieces of historical importance ...

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National Steinbeck Center and Monterey Jazz Festival Present "Jazz with Steinbeck"

Source: All About Jazz
August 28, 2006

"JAZZ WITH STEINBECK" RETURNS WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2006

National Steinbeck Center and Monterey Jazz Festival team up for intimate concert and dinner, benefiting youth programs of both organizations

August 25 - Salinas, CA - The second annual Jazz with Steinbeck takes place Wednesday, September 13, 2006 from 5:30 to 10:00PM at the National Steinbeck Center at One Main Street in Salinas. Jazz with Steinbeck is a collaborative event, presented by the National Steinbeck Center and the Monterey Jazz Festival that ...

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Peter Curtis' Debut Release "Swing State"

Source: All About Jazz
August 28, 2006

GUITARIST / COMPOSER PETER CURTIS SET TO RELEASE DEBUT CD SWING STATE ON AUGUST 29, 2006!

“This guitar-vibes-bass-drums quartet initially reminds one of the Red Norvo - Tal Farlow - Charles Mingus vibes-guitar-bass trio of 1950. However, Peter Curtis' group is more modern than that and not derivative of any past models...Highly recommended." - Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

Though Peter Curtis' forthcoming album Swing State marks his debut, he comes to this point in his career already ...

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A Book for New Orleans - "Blues for a Butterfly"

Source: Michael Ricci
August 28, 2006

In spring 2004, music journalist Sibylle Zerr traveled to New Orleans as representative of the Muddy's Blues and Jazz Club, Weinheim, Germany. The city on the Mississippi and its inhabitants inspired her to record her experiences in book form. The result: an anthology of stories, “Blues for a Butterfly", the proceeds of which will support efforts to rebuild New Orleans. One year after Katrina, the city is a long way from a return to normalcy.

In her book, Sibylle Zerr ...

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Maynard Ferguson Passes Away

Source: All About Jazz
August 28, 2006

Maynard Ferguson: Trumpeter, flugelhornist, valve trombonist, bandleader, b. Verdun (part of Montreal) 4 May 1928. Maynard passed away late last night in California from kidney failure.

After recently completing a new live recording and closing out his amazing performing career with a historic run at Birdland last month in NYC, Maynard Ferguson passed away peacefully in California Wednesday evening.

As a child he studied piano and violin, and played the latter instrument in a Fox-Movietone short. Taking up the trumpet ...

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Arabesque Jazz Releases "The Steve Wiest Big Band: Excalibur"

Source: All About Jazz
August 28, 2006

Arabesque Jazz Releases The Steve Wiest Big Band's Excalibur

Arabesque Jazz announces the release of Excalibur, the debut album of trombonist Steve Wiest and The Steve Wiest Big Band.

Excalibur is a unique approach to the big band format. Steve Wiest has managed to walk a fine line with this album, tackling the big band format from a variety of angles. While approaching this project as a study of composition and arranging, he has at the same time managed to ...

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