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Featured Jazz Articles
Yielding to Practice
I was talking to a musician friend of mine the other day, asking her how her move from Brooklyn to Forrest Hills was going. She said, “I love it! I love the neighborhood and best of all, musically, I'm not running any more jam sessions at the moment, just doing gigs--and practicing! It's great." And practicing is a high for me as well. I miss it when I don't do it. I usually practice in the ...
read moreGalway Jazz Festival 2019
Galway Jazz Festival 2019 Various venues Galway, Ireland October 2-6, 2019 Bat song may be a first at a jazz festival, but then they do things differently here in Galway. Bats were in and plastic was out. No plastic laminates or cable ties, no plastic on outdoor advertising, no plastic wrapping on backstage food, and no plastic bottles were permitted by the organizers of GJF19. With carbon footprint awareness the name of the ...
read moreHow To Bring Millennials to Jazz
Fifty-two Augusts ago this year, Your Own Personal Genius was born to a pair of West Virginia hillbillies squarely at the onset of what would become known several decades later as Generation X. True to form, I have long embodied that curious mix of ennui and incredulity for which we Gen Xers are known. I have a deep-seated distrust of authority figures, an occasional lack of direction, and an abiding crush on Winona Ryder. I'm a card-carrying member of the ...
read moreStanley Nelson: How Do You Make A Film Do Justice To Miles Davis And His Music?
Miles Davis is far more than a legendary jazz great. He was and is a cultural and musical icon whose life was largely compelled by five driving forces: 1) his groundbreaking innovations in cool jazz, modal music, fusion, and beyond; 2) his “cool" persona, which has influenced and inspired several generations; 3) his tempestuous love life; 4) his struggles with and opposition to racism; and 5) his drug and alcohol addiction. To make a film documentary about him which encompasses ...
read moreMonterey Jazz Festival 2019
Monterey Jazz Festival Monterey County Fairgrounds Monterey, CA September 27-19, 2019 It sometimes happens at the historic Monterey Jazz festival that the “main" and most memorable takeaways of a program occur away from the main arena stage. And so it went at the 62nd annual festival in September--at least to these ears, belonging to a Monterey festival veteran. While the arena roster banked on the high profile and varying artistic merits of Diana ...
read moreAt A Korean Jazz Picnic, No Need To Know The Music
That jazz appeals to younger audiences, is fun, and not so serious, is more than a mere notion, materializing in, of all places, South Korea. The Jarasum Jazz Festival created there by promoter In Jae Jin has become one of the largest in Asia by hosting a multi-day event which features camping, western and Korean performers, and is intended to be so user-friendly he says it is “like a picnic where you do not need to know the music."
read moreThe New Golden Age of Jazz Radio
There was the Jazz Age, and later, the Golden Age of Radio. There was no golden age of jazz radio unless one considers the brief, ten-year reign of devolution when swing music dominated the airwaves. Think about this: New York City has not had a twenty-four-hour commercial jazz radio station in over ten years; decades longer depending on a listener's position on genre. CD 101.9 (WQCD FM), a long-running smooth jazz station, did not nourish serious jazz aficionados. Their lineup ...
read moreEuropean Jazz Conference 2019
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 European Jazz Conference 2019 Various Venues jny: Novara, Italy September 12-15, 2019 For its sixth edition the European Jazz Conference dropped anchor in sunny Italy. Where Rome or Milan might have been more obvious locations for such a high-powered international gathering, the baton instead passed to Novara, in the Piedmont region of Italy's North-West. Novara, however, has jazz pedigree of its own, being home ...
read moreIstanbul Jazz: So Close to the Music, So Far From New York
That any musician, old cat, young lion, or apprentice anywhere, endeavors in jazz is amazing enough, given the elusiveness of “success." That is even more true in jny: Istanbul, Turkey: not a conventional jazz capitol, far from the African-American roots of jazz, and even beyond the music's major continental domiciles. Yet the tilting cobblestoned streets of the city echo with the music. There is indigenous Turkish music re-interpreted; progressive, experimental, and avant-garde to varying results. However, most dependably ...
read moreCelebrating John Coltrane with Cultural Documentarian Steve Rowland
Steve Rowland is a documentarian, educator, lover of music and humanity. Discussing his journey for this article was enjoyable, thought-provoking and informative. Steve is a humble man, and he wanted the focus of this article to be on the music, but I hope also to shed light on what goes into the development of a good man who lives a life of integrity. Our initial discussion for the interview took place last year and the discussions grew with a lasting ...
read moreMiles Davis: Birth of the Cool
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool Firelight Films Director: Stanley Nelson Run Time: 115 minutes 2019 In addition to his place as a legendary jazz musician, Miles Davis has long been a cultural hero for the African American community and for so many others of varied backgrounds and ethnicity around the world. We all continue to marvel at his creativity, personal independence, and passionate willingness to go to the wall ...
read moreAbdullah Ibrahim: The Sound of the Universe
Abdullah Ibrahim's cosmology informs his art. While some might look upon him as an overseer at the crossroads between new and old, the tempered pianist stands as a sage, painting swirling rhythms that resemble the spheres of the universe with his compositions. He continues to combine ancient wisdom with the tones of the future; formation and reformation are one and the same for him. He roots his musical practice within tradition, composing with an ethos based on cycles.
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