Home » Search Center » Results: AAJ Staff

Results for "AAJ Staff"

News: Education

Frank Vignola to Present Guitar Workshop Saturday, May 19 at City Music

May 2, 2012

Guitarist Frank Vignola will present a workshop at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, May 19 at City Music and Education Center, 9299 Watson Rd. in Crestwood. Vignola (pictured) will be in St. Louis that week to perform Friday, May 18 and Saturday, May 19 at Jazz at the Bistro. According to the news release from City Music, the ...

News: Interview

Interview: Van Alexander (Part 1)

May 2, 2012

Today is Van Alexander's birthday (Happy Birthday Van!). He's 97 years old. Van is probably best known for arranging Ella Fitzgerald's career-launching hit A-Tisket, A-Tasket, which she recorded with Chick Webb's band in 1938—on this very day, in fact, 74 years ago. Van wrote the words, including her interchange with the band, and Ella tweaked them ...

News: Advocacy

Jazz Music/World Music

May 2, 2012

International Jazz Day concert at the United Nations Provides Uplifting Moments The first—of many we trust—International Jazz Day shined brightly with a concert at the United Nations in New York City. There were other concerts the world over. But in New York, a star-studded event also included poignant and uplifting words about the music from Quincy ...

News: Interview

Sacha Distel: Guitarist-Singer

May 1, 2012

French and Belgian jazz musicians from the 1950s aren't given nearly as much credit in the U.S. as they deserve. The same is true for British jazz musicians. Ask most Americans to name their favorite European jazz artists from the period and they'll likely run dry after a handful—usually Toots Thielemans, Tubby Hayes, Bobby Jaspar, Martial ...

News: Recording

Eddie Gomez - Per Sempre (2012)

May 1, 2012

Always an impressive technician, Gomez has an identifiably soulful sound—sometimes from the very first plucking of his bass. That has carried him through an impressive array of settings, from traditional trios and fusion-infused amalgams all the way over into the delicate lyricisms of chamber jazz. The forthcoming Per Sempre fits squarely into the latter category, as ...

News: Radio

STLJN Audio Archive: Black Artists Group - Ofamfa: Children of the Sun

April 30, 2012

For this week's Audio Archive post, we delve into the history St. Louis' Black Artists Group and revisit Ofamfa: Children of the Sun, BAG's first-ever LP release issued in 1971 on their own Universal Justice imprint. Preserved online thanks to the music sharing blog Nothing Is II, Ofamfa largely features the poetry of BAG co-founder Bruce ...

News: Interview

Artie Shaw: The Money Band

April 30, 2012

In 1949, Artie Shaw needed money. He would later claim the cash infusion was sought to help settle back taxes owed. But alimony payments to novelist Kathleen Winsor, whom he had just divorced, were certainly a financial drain. Just a year earlier, Shaw had vowed never again to front a dance band, carping about having to ...

News: Video / DVD

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: The Song Stylings of Sara Gazarek

April 29, 2012

Today, we're going to look at some video clips featuring singer Sara Gazarek, who's coming to St. Louis to perform next Saturday, May 5 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Born in Seattle, Washington, Gazarek studied music at the University of Southern California, winning the Downbeat Student Music Award for ...

News: Career

Musician Website Quick Fix #6: Host Your Own Blog

April 28, 2012

The “Website Quick Fix" blog posts are written by musician website and marketing platform Bandzoogle. When we do website evaluations here at Bandzoogle, there are two broad categories we look at: Design and Content. With poor design, it will be hard to find interesting content on the site. With great design and poor content, there is ...

News: Video / DVD

Shelly Manne: Checkmate

April 27, 2012

The previous item about the Blackhawk triggered thoughts of Shelly Manne (1920-1984) and the quintet he led in the late 1950s and early ‘60s. As chance would have it, this morning I encountered videos of a superb edition of that band. The pieces are from Manne’s 1961 album Checkmate. The drummer’s group had pianist Russ Freeman, ...