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Content by tag "J.J. Johnson"
38th Annual Detroit Jazz Festival
38th Annual Detroit Jazz Festival
Hart Plaza
Detroit, Michigan
September 1-4, 2017
Those of us who have been following jazz music for a long time know that there are definite changes in the landscape these days that are having a major impact on the music scene. For starters, we recently have ...
The University of the Arts “Z” Big Band: Monterey, Here We Come!
UArts “Z" Big Band
Reception and Kickoff Concert
Kaplan Auditorium
University of the Arts
Philadelphia, PA
September 7, 2017
They were underdogs, but they gave it their best shot. Then they shocked themselves and everyone else by tying for first place with the UNLV ...
A Conversation with Mike Mainieri
The following is an excerpt from the chapter “A Conversation with Mike Mainieri" of Masters of the Vibes by Anthony Smith (Marimba Productions, 2017).
So you've been working on a new project this week?
Yes, just finishing some overdubs... it's a project I'm involved in with some friends, but I really can't ...
Larry Newcomb Quartet with Bucky Pizzarelli: Living Tribute
New York-based guitarist Larry Newcomb's latest album, Living Tribute, isn't directed toward a single honoree but several, some of whom are living and some of whom are not. One of them, fellow guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, even bolsters Newcomb's regular quartet, playing with the sort of bounteous energy that makes it hard to believe he would be ...
read moreThe Politics of Dancing: Jazz and Protest, Part 2
Part 1 of Jazz and Protest took an in-depth look at two landmark artists and the songs that laid the groundwork for protest within the jazz community. Billie Holiday's “Strange Fruit" took a circuitous route from its origins as a poem to its successful recording on a small label that was not afraid to lend a ...
read moreMalcolm Griffiths: A Man For All Seasons
We talk often of the stars, like 'Trane and Miles. We remember the bandleaders, such as Basie and Duke. We even recall the composers and arrangers, Ellington again, Gil Evans and Monk. And we never forget those star soloists like Johnny Hodges or Lester Young. But the guys in the machine room, the guys who make ...
read moreBilly Childs: Rebirth
It's been a while since we've heard pianist Billy Childs really dig in. While he certainly hasn't been dormant, reaching tremendous artistic heights in semi-recent times with a pair of highly refined chamber jazz explorations and a much-lauded tribute to Laura Nyro, the Childs of yore--the man that would throw down the gauntlet night after night ...
read moreNick Finzer: Hear & Now
New York-based trombonist Nick Finzer has benefited from mentorships under trombone masters Wycliffe Gordon and Steve Turre; but his third CD release, Hear And Now also brings the original trombones master, J.J. Johnson to mind. One of Johnson's last CDs, the minor masterpiece, Heroes (Verve Records, 1995), featured a sextet configuration with an enormously-talented pianist, Rene ...
read moreJazz Musician of the Day: J.J. Johnson
All About Jazz is celebrating J.J. Johnson's birthday today!
Considered by many to be the finest jazz trombonist of all time, J.J. Johnson somehow transferred the innovations of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie to his more awkward instrument, playing with such speed and deceptive ease that at one time some listeners assumed he was playing ...
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Jay Thomas / Gary Smulyan: Lowdown Hoedown
Sometimes the most joyous and satisfying things in life occur in the light of pure happenstance. Such was the case when New York based baritone saxophone master Gary Smulyan ventured west in the 90's to perform and teach at the Jazz Port Townsend Festival in Washington state, in those days directed by veteran saxman, Bud Shank. ...
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