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16
What is Jazz?

Back In The Groove: Material Matters

Read "Back In The Groove: Material Matters" reviewed by Tarik Townsend


An aspect of jazz that is often overlooked is the material. That is, the very tunes that the musicians are performing. Arguably more important than the key or the tempo, the song itself dictates where the musician's inspiration will go, and even that isn't always a sure thing. They're a launching pad and an indicator of an artist's imagination. The material can also lead the players into some fascinating places normally not tread by anyone else--including themselves. Some recent records ...

21
The Big Question

What was the most memorable jazz concert you attended?

Read "What was the most memorable jazz concert you attended?" reviewed by Chris May


If you are an AAJer, you will almost certainly have some live performances filed under magic moments. My first came in 1966 when I saw Charles Lloyd at the Juan-Les-Pins Jazz Festival in Antibes, France. At the time I knew Lloyd only through his recorded work with Chico Hamilton's group and nothing had prepared me for the new look Lloyd Quartet other than a few tabs of Owsley's finest earlier that summer. The band delivered half an hour or so ...

17
The Big Question

Which jazz records in your collection are most sentimental to you and why?

Read "Which jazz records in your collection are most sentimental to you and why?" reviewed by Michael Ricci


An old friend alerted me to a Reddit discussion entitled “Which records in your collection are most sentimental to you and why?" and I thought we should repurpose (ok, steal) it for our community but add “jazz" as a qualifier. Sentimental being key, for me it's the The Chuck Mangione Quartet (Mercury, 1972)--a live set with inspired arrangements and soloing by Gerry Niewood and Chuck, with congas and an electric piano heard throughout. Only five tunes, three of which are ...

6
Interview

Quinsin Nachoff: The Science of the Sublime

Read "Quinsin Nachoff: The Science of the Sublime" reviewed by Lawrence Peryer


New York-based tenor saxophonist and composer Quinsin Nachoff creates at the intersection of jazz and classical music--and his work history demonstrates he is equally at home in both worlds. From saxophone concertos, chamber music and string quartet to his stellar group Flux--featuring David Binney, Matt Mitchell, Kenny Wollesen and Nate Wood--Nachoff is obliterating genre divides. It is in the context of two projects, his multimedia live work Patterns from Nature and album Stars and Constellations (Adyhâropa ...

17
Live Review

The Jazz Cruise 2024

Read "The Jazz Cruise 2024" reviewed by Katchie Cartwright


Celebrity Summit The Jazz Cruise Miami, Labadee, Puerto Plata, St. Thomas January 18-25, 2024 Founded by Anita E. Berry in 2001, The Jazz Cruise has been offering patrons a yearly action-packed weeklong jazz experience at sea with some 100 world-class musicians in 200 hours of programming for over two decades (with a hiatus during the COVID pandemic). The ambience of the cruise encompasses house concert, nightclub theatre, urban bar, rooftop ...

44
The Big Question

Why Is Jazz A Big Deal Everywhere… Except In The US?

Read "Why Is Jazz A Big Deal Everywhere… Except In The US?" reviewed by Chris May


Dateline: London, February 20, 2024. A bewildered friend in Los Angeles asks: Why is jazz so under-appreciated in the United States when it is revered everywhere else? Lest we forget, jazz was born and spent its formative years in the US and is arguably the country's most valuable contribution to world culture. But the stats show its home-turf profile dimming. Here in Britain, by contrast, jazz grows ever more popular; it is still niche but less ...

8
Chats with Cats

The Jazz Photographer: Philip Arneill

Read "The Jazz Photographer: Philip Arneill" reviewed by B.D. Lenz


I always find it fascinating when art forms collide. In this case, photography and music. Of course, each has their commonalities but they also have their differences. And, when an artist of one medium can intersect with another medium, their perspective is going to be very interesting. In this case, not only is there a crossing of art forms but also of cultures. Philip Arneill is from Northern Ireland but, through his photography, has documented a dying Japanese institution known ...

22
Touchstone Album Picks

Eddie Henderson: Everything Changes

Read "Eddie Henderson: Everything Changes" reviewed by Ian Patterson


Eddie Henderson made his name in Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi band in the early 1970s, at the dawn of jazz-fusion--a new frontier. It was undoubtedly a launching pad that saw the New York-born trumpeter go on to play with Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers, Elvin Jones, Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders and McCoy Tyner. Yet Henderson has always been his own man. From Realization (Capricorn, 1973) to Witness To History (Smoke Sessions, 2023), Henderson has built an impressive career ...

26
Jazz Raconteurs

Muriel Grossmann Explores A Musical Universe of Boundless Possibility

Read "Muriel Grossmann Explores A Musical Universe of Boundless Possibility" reviewed by Dave Kaufman


Muriel Grossmann, a talented alto, tenor, soprano saxophonist and composer, was born in France and grew up in jny: Vienna. She has lived in jny: Ibiza, Spain, since 2004. Devotion, her 15th album, was released on December 1, 2023, on Third Man Records. I stumbled across this gem on the Tidal streaming service in early January. Grossman was unknown to me, but the album's captivating cover drew me in and I listened without any preconceptions. I was immediately ...

9
Highly Opinionated

Give Your Regards to Broadway—and Hollywood

Read "Give Your Regards to Broadway—and Hollywood" reviewed by Con Chapman


Those who recognized the complexity and beauty of jazz early on--such as twentieth century French critic Hugues Panassié--rightly characterized it as American's unacknowledged classical music. Their sentiment came to fruition in the wrong way by the end of the century when the genre had fallen from its peak to its current lowly status, tied for last with European classical music in terms of popularity. This downward plunge has been blamed on everything from Elvis Presley and the coming ...


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