Catching Up With

Daily articles carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. Read our popular and future articles.

Less formal than our standard interviews with a focus on an artist's recent recording project or tour.

CATCHING UP WITH April 2, 2020

COVID-19 Quarantines Plague Venues, Labels and Artists

While musicians and bands are canceling tours because of “stay home" mandates in California and around the world, indie labels, local venues and online platforms are supporting artists by running special promotions, planning online performances and continuing operation as much as possible. After California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a statewide stay-home mandate on March 19 following several counties announcing separate shelter-in-place policies, several local artists and labels responded by canceling tours. Dan Vado, owner of jny: San Jose ...

CATCHING UP WITH March 24, 2020

Dominique Fils-Aimé: Princess of Peace

By Kevin Press

Montreal's Dominique Fils-Aimé is two albums into a trilogy exploring African American music and culture. Stay Tuned! is a smooth-as-silk jazz vocal disc with broad appeal. It was shortlisted by the 2019 Polaris Music Prize selection committee, and named jazz album of the year at the ADISQ First Gala, a Quebec-based industry event.Her debut, the blues-themed Nameless, opened the trilogy in 2018. Part three will dip into soul and rhythm and blues.All About Jazz: There is ...

CATCHING UP WITH February 25, 2020

Charlie Porter: Discovering Horizons Past, Present and Future

By Nicholas F. Mondello

Charlie Porter is one of the most insightful, creatively brilliant and truly dynamic trumpet artists performing today. Porter straddles both the jazz and classical trumpet worlds with ease and has garnered highly-celebrated performance and recording reviews. An innovative composer and arranger as well, Porter recently performed on Joyce DiDonato's Grammy-winning recording, Songplay and released Immigration Nation on Origin Records. All About Jazz: Charlie, on behalf of All About Jazz, thanks for taking time to chat and congratulations on ...

CATCHING UP WITH February 12, 2020

Emma-Jean Thackray: Utterly Unique

By Emmanuel Di Tommaso

Composer, multi-instrumentalist, singer, producer, band-leader, solo performer and DJ Emma-Jean Thackray is, simply put, one of the most talented and versatile young musicians around. After two acclaimed EPs (Ley Lines and Walrus), she started a collaboration with Makaya McCraven and other members of the jny: Chicago jazz scene. Her single “Too Shy" was featured in both McCraven's Where We Come From (CHICAGOxLONDON Mixtape) and then on her own debut on the increasingly influential label International Anthem, a 12" vinyl which ...

CATCHING UP WITH February 10, 2020

Dave Stryker: Guitars, Organs & Eight-Tracks

By Mark Sullivan

Guitarist Dave Stryker grew up in Omaha, Nebraska and moved to New York City in 1980. His big break came when he joined organist Jack McDuff's group for two years, from 1984-85. It was through McDuff that Stryker met tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, who would occasionally sit in. After leaving McDuff, Turrentine asked Stryker to join his quintet (1986-1995, then again at the end of Turrentine's life). Stryker began recording his own albums in 1988, and has also had a ...

CATCHING UP WITH January 10, 2020

Josiah Everhart: From YouTube Cover Artist To Confessional Songwriter

By John Bricker

While in the third grade, Josiah Everhart recorded a mixtape of music for his school bus by setting a Casio boombox in front of his television and recording songs from his favorite video games. The Oregon-based singer-songwriter's love for video game soundtracks eventually led to a career on YouTube, where he has posted covers of video game music since 2012, now reaching an audience of more than 10,000 subscribers. After YouTube unexpectedly terminated his channel on December 18, ...

CATCHING UP WITH December 17, 2019

Michael Weiss: Soul Journey

By Luke Seabright

Bebop is a complex craft, and like all crafts the only way to get any good at it is by learning from those who mastered it before you. Jamming through the night, getting on to that bandstand and firing away your best improvised lines, jousting with your partners (be they friends or strangers) like in the cutting contests of old. This is all part of the studious process that jazz musicians all over the world work their way to hone ...