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Interview
Pablo Diaz: Drumming Life
Rhythm is in our body and in our blood. The heart beats and our pulse is a sign of life. Instinctively, humans have connected themselves with rhythm from early days until the present. Just think of ancient tribe rituals or the mechanic trance of a techno party. Many jazz percussionists have dedicated their life to the rhythms of the body and the world. One of them is the Argentinian drummer Pablo Diaz, who has been on a ...
read moreCraig Taborn and his multiple motion
Craig Taborn is among the most creative musicians on today's scene. His music is shaped by a deep intellectual curiosity towards a wide range of artistic forms and sources of knowledge. His technical, stylistic, emotional and mental versatility have allowed him to collaborate with a large range of recognized masters in diverse styles of contemporary jazz. Despite such diversity and versatility, Taborn has a distinctive, recognizable and focused approach. His piano style, especially evident on the solo album ...
read moreRichie Cole: Blue Collar Bebopper
Jazz alto saxophonist Richie Cole wants to reach out to you, whether you are the mayor of a highly popular tourist city or just a guy dropping over for a couple of beers. “I play for people," says Cole. “People are all the same. If they understand or want to understand jazz, I welcome them." Recently, Richie Cole spent a few days in jny: Charleston, South Carolina, winning over hundreds of new friends, with his friendly ...
read moreCharles Lloyd: The Winds Of Grace
At seventy nine years young Charles Lloyd is showing no signs of slowing down. The summer months see the Memphis saxophonist/flautist on the North American and European festival circuits with his quartet of Gerald Clayton, Reuben Rogers and Eric Harland, followed by dates with The Marvels, Lloyd's most recent group, featuring Bill Frisell, Greg Leisz, Rogers and Harland. The latter formation's baptism came with the acclaimed I Long to See You (Blue Note, 2016), and the good news ...
read moreSteve Swell: Appreciating the Avant Garde Today
[This is the third of an All About Jazz series of interviews and articles on “The Many Faces of Jazz Today: Critical Dialogues" in which we explore the current state of jazz around the world with musicians, journalists, and entrepreneurs who give us their own unique perspectives. In the first interview of the series, saxophonist Bobby Zankel spoke about his efforts to maintain his creativity and independence in an increasingly “homogenized" consumer-based environment. The second interview with public relations expert ...
read moreRandy Weston: Music of The Earth
Pianist Randy Weston has long been known to be a student of his African heritage and proud of it. Born in Brooklyn, he has lived in Africa, been involved with musicians there--he has been involved with the entirety of its culture. An expert? “I've lived there for years, man, and I know nothing," he says with a bold, generous laugh that speckles many of his comments. “I'm no expert on anything because you're dealing with the magic ...
read moreNicole Johänntgen: Henry And The Free Bird
In Richard Bach's book Jonathon Livingston Seagull (Macmillan 1970), the tale of a seagull with a passion for flight and freedom, there is a line that goes: “Don't believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding. Find out what you already know and you will see the way to fly." Nicole Johänntgen, jazz musician, composer, bandleader, educator and advocate for women musicians, saw the way to fly from an early ...
read moreAaron Parks: Rising To The Challenge
"I'm always trying to put myself into scenarios with people who play in a way that challenges me and gives me a chance to grow," says pianist Aaron Parks, who has carved an impressive career in jazz since going to jny: New York City early in the new century and eventually garnering a major gig with trumpeter Terence Blanchard's band. The group's he's played in are nothing but challenging, as he serves music made by people like Kurt ...
read moreGeneration Next: Four Voices From Seattle
Each generation, an insidious notion arises, and is passed about the musical world that jazz music, the only uniquely American art form is somehow experiencing a slow, but certain death. Inevitably, this notion is set aside, and somehow projected forward in time, as a new generation of artists rise to the occasion, not only facilitating the survival of, but enabling the forward journey of the genre. In Seattle, the vibrant scene has moved forward from Quincy Jones and Ernestine Anderson, ...
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