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RADIO May 15, 2020

50th Anniversary Blue Notes for May

Time for 50th anniversaries of Blue Note recordings from May 1970 (logically enough!): Lonnie Smith's Live at Club Mozambique; Donald Byrd's Electric Byrd; Joe Williams' Worth Waiting For and the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra (Consummation). Then there's some 21st century music (Jane Ira Bloom, Andy Hunter, Tony Kofi and Brian Bromberg), as well as previously unreleased Eddie Lockjaw" Davis--Johnny Griffin live at Seattle's Penthouse Club from 1962 and BN-22 (the original 78) with Meade Lux Lewis tickling the ivories. Enjoy ...

IN PICTURES September 6, 2018

Jazz dans la Nuit at The Montreal International Jazz Festival 2018

By Dave Kaufman

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4jny: Montreal is a city known for its beautiful historic churches and cathedrals. Église du Gesù, a magnificent church situated in the heart of downtown Montreal, opened its doors in 1865. The basement in the church has housed an amphitheater dedicated to the arts for almost 100 years. It was renovated in 1992 and reopened as Le Centre de créativité du Gesù. The facility offers space for art ...

LIVE REVIEW July 11, 2018

Still Dreaming and Dr. Lonnie Smith at Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland

By C. Andrew Hovan

Still Dreaming/Dr. Lonnie Smith Playhouse Square Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland, Ohio June 29, 2018 Now in its 39th year, Cleveland's Tri-C JazzFest has evolved over the years having started as an educational springtime event. Most recently, the action has shifted from the Cuyahoga Community College campus to downtown Cleveland's Playhouse Square complex. The event which now takes place in mid-June covers roughly three days and offers both free outdoor performances along with paid indoor shows ...

LIVE REVIEW June 3, 2018

Gilmore Keyboard Festival

By John Ephland

Gilmore Keyboard Festival Kalamazoo, Michigan April 25 to May 12, 2018 Thursday night is always the second night of the biennial Gilmore Keyboard Festival. Thursday night is also the first night for jazz, the festival putatively a classical music rollout with jazz confections, albeit well-considered, strewn throughout this 22-day cultural jewel based in Kalamazoo but spread throughout Southwest Michigan as well. For the first of two jazz shows at Bell's Eccentric Cafe (yes, that ...

IN PICTURES August 17, 2017

San Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2017

By Gregory Savage

August 11th to 13th turned out to be a great weekend of jazz at this year's San Jose Jazz Summer Fest. Whether you enjoyed the lawn-chair, open air atmosphere or the traditional jazz club scene, it was your choice. The power lineup included Chris Botti, Randy Brecker, Eddie Gomez, Jimmy Cobb, Dr. Lonnie Smith, George Cables, Cyrille Aimee and more. One of the festival highlights was Dr. Lonnie Smith. How he works the Hammond B3 is known worldwide, but thumbing ...

YEAR IN REVIEW January 1, 2017

Top 25 "Read" Album Reviews: 2016

By Michael Ricci

All About Jazz tracks how often an album review is read, and the reviews listed below represent our top twelve published in 2016. Evolution Dr. Lonnie Smith by Dan Bilawsky Published: January 4, 2016 Spark Hiromi by Jeff Winbush Published: April 1, 2016 A Multitude of Angels Keith Jarrett by Karl Ackermann Published: ...

MY BLUE NOTE OBSESSION April 4, 2016

Dr. Lonnie Smith: Then and Now – Think! (1968) vs Evolution (2016)

By Marc Davis

The “doctor" with the mysterious turban and manic Hammond B-3 fingers is back. And if you think the old man at 73 can't possibly match the passion and pyrotechnics of the young man at 26... well, surprise! Evolution is Dr. Lonnie Smith's triumphant return to Blue Note. I feared it might be like a Beatles “reunion" of Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr--a sentimental experiment that's bound to disappoint. I bought Evolution and resigned myself to liking Smith's younger ...