Profile
Daily articles carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. Read our popular and future articles.
Roy McCurdy: From Cannonball to the Rochester Music Hall of Fame
by Scott Gudell
When we placed a call from New York to Los Angeles in the early part of 2021, the articulate and vibrant drummer Roy McCurdy answered and quickly connected us back to the 1950s. He told us about his hometown of jny: Rochester, New York, his early days performing with Chuck Mangione and Gap Mangione and how he went on to play with world class jazz saxophonists, including Sonny Rollins, Cannonball Adderley and others. Now, as a teacher at the USC/Thornton ...
read moreChick Corea: The Passing Of A Giant
by Doug Hall
The passing of a giant in all categories of jazz. Chick Corea, NEA Jazz Master, 22-time Grammy Award winner, keyboard virtuoso as pianist, composer and arranger has earned, by contribution and breadth of musicianship, all the accolades, awards and recognition. If ever the title applied: a legendary figure in jazz. Beyond Corea's range of solo compositions and collaborations are the breadth of cutting-edge bands he formed over six decades. A highlights list includes the seminal jazz-rock fusion group Return to ...
read moreFrank Kimbrough: From Now to Forever - A Remembrance
by Ludovico Granvassu
On December 30, 2020, pianist Frank Kimbrough passed away at the age of 64. True to form, 2020 wreaked havoc until the end. The cause of death was not Covid-19, but the shock at the untimely loss of a revered artist was not any less powerful. Frank Kimbrough had the rare gift of touching lives with much more than his remarkable music. In order to pay tribute to his legacy, we have collected remembrances, anecdotes and ...
read moreFela Kuti: King Grenade
by Mick Raubenheimer
His Dark Majestic. Fela Kuti was born royalty, despite coming from a middle class family. One of those gifted spirits whose very presence teems with potency, Olufela Olusegun Oludan Ransome-Kuti (Fela to his friends and fans) was majestic, arresting the attention or desire of all who encountered him. He was also a rousing rebel, founding his own state in defiance of the militant Nigerian government. Embodied. Born into a middle class, but auspicious family ...
read moreTom Waits: Ringmaster Of The Elegant Riot
by Mick Raubenheimer
[For Tammi Tam.] Somewhere change is jingling, there is an accordion moaning softly in some corner somewhere, a barstool is creaking--somewhere foul glasses are being grimly emptied... The dark eerie carnival is rising once more--hurry your children into safe dreams, lock the wine cabinet; tuck your long-lost sweethearts into forgettance. Tom Waits is here, those sub-human genius features are sizing you up, asking you how your night's been; he's pouring himself a drink (he doesn't ask). ...
read moreNancy Kelly: A Dynamic And Determined Voice
by Scott Gudell
Nancy Kelly has been singin,' swingin' and scattin' for a long time. Her first musical path took her into the world of classical music when she started playing by ear at age three and her mother guided her to piano lessons by age four. The Beatles arrived a decade later and she abruptly shifted her allegiance to rock. But Ms. Kelly eventually followed the musical breadcrumbs that lead her to the world of jazz and American Standards which is where ...
read more20 Seattle Jazz Musicians You Should Know: Matt Jorgensen
by Paul Rauch
The city of Seattle has a jazz history that dates back to the very beginnings of the form. It was home to the first integrated club scene in America on Jackson St in the 1920's and 1930's. It saw a young Ray Charles arrive as a teenager to escape the nightmare of Jim Crow in the south. It has produced such historical jazz icons as Quincy Jones and Ernestine Anderson. In many instances it has acted as a temporary repose ...
read more
Premium
Contest Giveaway
Radio
Vanessa Williams
Weekly newsletter
Get more of a good thing
Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories and includes your local jazz events calendar.
