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Daily articles carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. Read our popular and future articles.
The Hogtown Syncopators: Rotman's Hat Shop
For 75 years, Rotman's hat shop on Spadina Avenue in Toronto was the place for the Jewish community and others still wearing hats to buy a fedora, a beret, almost any kind of hat. More than that, it was the story of one man's life; David Rotman lived and worked there, every day fighting a forlorn sartorial rearguard. Finally, the ailing hat shop, a Toronto institution, closed. In some part Mr. Rotman's tenacity served as inspiration for this group; singer ...
read moreJay Danley: Ethio Jazz Volume One
Complex rhythms and relentless grooves are what set music from the so-called golden era of Ethiopian jazz apart, and it's that essential and even hypnotic energy that guitarist and composer Jay Danley captures in Ethio Jazz Volume One. Arguably the most important--certainly the most recognizable--element of classic Ethiopian jazz is its bass-heavy groove patterns. In the hot music scene of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from the 1950s to the mid-1970s, musicians fused traditional Ethiopian music with North American jazz, ...
read moreJay Danley: Ethio Jazz Volume One
The roots of Ethio-jazz may date back to the '50s, but Jay Danley and crew show that it's too fresh and funky to be chained to any era--the grooves are slick, the bass catchy, the brisk rhythms expertly woven like the strands of a rope, and the cast is clearly having a good time. The Canadian guitarist covers a lot of figurative ground with Ethio-Jazz Volume 1, though it's the kind of mix that welcomes everyone to the party regardless ...
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