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Interviews
Anoushka Shankar: Music Makes the World a Better Place
Esoteric, eclectic and prolific, the Indian sitarist and composer Anoushka Shankar has mapped out an intriguing artistic path by delivering intriguing music that has veered between the modern and the traditional. Her ambitious, progressive and multicultural musical world view has been growing exponentially from a record to record and has taken her on a path of creating music without borders. For the past 20 years, she has been crossing border after border and culture with culture, and most of the ...
read moreDorothy & George Jacob: Putting Bray On The Jazz Map
Twenty years is old for a car and really old for a dog, but in jazz festival terms twenty years is perhaps not so long in the tooth. For a jazz festival twenty years means established, with the major storms of the early years weathered, a brand that people recognize and a heap of good will from the local community. Bray Jazz Festival (view 2019 events), having come through a few tempestuous patches and made a good many ...
read moreHarold Danko: His Own Sound, His Own Time
The famous sculptor, Henry Moore, hit the nail on the head when he said: “there's no retirement for an artist, it's your way of living so there's no end to it." This statement certainly rings true in the case of pianist and composer, Harold Danko. Even though he has retired from a long and distinguished career as a music teacher and now holds Professor Emeritus status at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, the school where he chaired ...
read moreNenette Evans: My Life With Bill
Originally from Southern California, Nenette Evans met and married Bill Evans in 1973. Ms. Evans now handles the legendary pianist and composer's estate along with attorney Steven Lowy and others. She is also involved with the Bill Evans Piano Academy in jny: Paris, France. I met Nenette through her friend Carol Baker and our work with the Chet Baker estate. In this interview, Nenette discusses how she met Bill Evans and her introduction to his music.
read moreAaron Rimbui: Nairobi to New York City
Kenya is noted for an extraordinary array of musical offerings yet its jazz scene has historically been quite slim. However, Nairobi-born pianist Aaron Rimbui may change that dynamic. Drawing on the musical traditions of Kenya and East Africa, Rimbui has established a singular and absolutely arresting approach to jazz piano. With several solo records under his belt and a recent move to New York City, Rimbui seems poised to emerge as one of the leading figures ...
read moreMatt Davis: Big Family, Big Picture
If there's a defining trait to be found in the value system guiding guitarist Matt Davis and his music, it's most definitely a healthy respect and admiration for kith and kin. A love of community and belonging drives nearly every aspect of this artist's life, including his flagship ensemble, Matt Davis' Aerial Photograph, and it speaks ever so clearly on the aptly named Big Family (Self Produced, 2019). This long-awaited album, visiting music from the past while highlighting tight bonds ...
read moreCasey Benjamin: EclectRic Expressionism
Casey Benjamin aka Stutzmcgee--all-through New Yorker with Caribbean roots, born in 1978--grew up in the borough of Queens in a musical household. Despite economically rough conditions that his mother, a single parent, heroically managed, he started with piano around six, added the alto saxophone around ten, and the vocoder and talk-box around fifteen. At sixteen, he performed on alto saxophone together with Grover Washington Jr. on TV, and two years later he toured Europe as a saxophonist with Betty Carter, ...
read moreCooper-Moore: Catharsis and Creation in Community Spirit
It's tempting to think of a life in music as a linear story with a beginning, middle and end, because that's the way life is: we are born, we live, and then we die. In this narrative, one could assume there will be highs and lows and masterpieces might emerge out of a misty fog of events. The idea is that some pieces of music must be better than others. This way of thinking naturally poses the question of which ...
read moreSusanna Risberg: Bold As Love
Listen to Susanna Risberg playing and it doesn't take long to realize that the twenty-eight-year-old Swedish guitarist is a bit special. Despite her relatively young years Risberg has been gigging for fifteen years already, turning more than a few heads along the way with a style that is unflashy yet exciting, technically impressive yet emotionally keen. Respected BBC/Jazzwise journalist Kevin Le Gendre describes Risberg as “a brilliantly expansive soloist" and, in a review of her trio's performance at ...
read moreDave Liebman: Archives and Improvisations - The Past and the Now of a Life in Jazz
Prolific saxophonist, composer, band leader, and educator Dave Liebman is a living legend, an NEA Jazz Master who has been making waves since the 1970s and never stops growing, learning, and discovering. His autobiography, What It Is (Scarecrow Press, 2012, with Lewis Porter) is an honest probing of his more than half century experience as a musician in the context of his personal life and those with whom he has performed. During all those years, Liebman has collected ...
read moreDavid Crosby: A Revitalized Creativity
David Crosby has had--and is still having--quite a long and storied career. While many musicians obviously have had those too, music doesn't always come out on top for many at this late stage of the game. It has though for Mr. Crosby--quite conspicuously. All About Jazz had a conversation with the seemingly unstoppable music icon about his influences, jazz fandom and new found inspiration at this part of his journey. All About Jazz: In the past ...
read moreChuck Deardorf: Hanging On To The Groove
Bassist Chuck Deardorf has gained a reputation for virtuosity and professionalism over a career that has thus far spanned 40 years. He has been the first call bassist in Seattle for most of his career, playing with some of the most renowned musicians in the history of jazz. For many years, despite having a prolific local jazz scene, the now burgeoning city of Seattle was considered a remote outpost in the jazz world. Many touring musicians would arrive on the ...
read moreVenue Poll Results
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Album Showcase
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Five Roads by Mauricio de Souza
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Walking to New Orleans by George Benson
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Infinite Itinerant by Domas Žeromskas
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Epistrophy by Bill Frisell
Jazz Story
I was first exposed to jazz as kid listening to Buddy Rich and West Side Story. As a young guitarist studying jazz, hearing the big band exposed me to the many sounds of the big band, improvisation, arranging, and advanced chord harmonies
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By Shambhu Vineberg
Member since: 2019
