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Medeski Martin and Wood Celebrate 20 Years of Groundbreaking Jazz
Jazz bands have their own kind of dynamic. Usually there is a band leader who writes all or most of the tunes, and the group size is listed after the name, hence the Miles Davis Quintet or the Bill Evans Trio. It's jazz shorthand that tells fans more or less what to expect when they are ...
Alex Skolnick Incorporates Thrash-Metal Origins Into His Jazz Work
People have their own path to becoming a jazz musician. Sometimes a parent or other family member who plays. Sometimes a musician starts off in one direction and then goes in another. Alex Skolnick has to be one of the most unique examples of the latter. The guitarist joined the thrash-metal band Testament when his was ...
Kurt Elling Puts Jazz Spin on Classic Rock With Producer Don Was
The first time we came across Kurt Elling was in June of 1997 during a guerilla campaign of gigs in the Northeast over a six-week stretch. It was towards the end of that run and the singer was walking with crutches after a hiking mishap. His iconoclast reputation as a divinity school dropout (one credit short ...
Gretchen Parlato Finds "Peace of Mind" as a New Breed of Jazz Diva
Gretchen Parlato is not your stereotypical jazz diva. You won't see this singer up on stage dressed in a prom dress, and her beautiful voice doesn't have the impressive range of other some singers out there. With a short asymmetrical haircut and a hip fashion sense, her look is her own. Nonetheless, it is Parlato's voice ...
Roy Haynes, Master Jazz Drummer, Still Going Strong at 86
I seem to be on a roll lately with getting bone fide living legends on the phone. This time around, I caught up with Roy Haynes on the eve of his 86th birthday—and just after he won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys— at his home on New York's Long Island. To study Haynes' résumé ...
David Binney's 'Graylen Epicenter' Marks Creative Breakthrough for Jazz Saxophonist
Alto saxophonist David Binney has been on the New York jazz scene for years now, collaborating regularly with fellow saxophonists Chris Potter or Donny McCaslin, or playing the hired gun for icons like Jim Hall, Bill Frisell and countless others. He's released several records as a leader on his own label and smaller European imprints, becoming ...
Sonny Rollins Strives for Perfection, Recalls Freezing on "The Bridge"
Born in 1930, Sonny Rollins grew up in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem and has been at the center of the jazz universe ever since. The saxophonist fell in love with the playing of Coleman Hawkins (who lived in his neighborhood) and Charlie Parker and came to be tutored by the great Thelonious Monk. He ...
Impulse! Records Celebrates 50 Years of Jazz Innovation With Reissues, Box Set
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of Impulse! Records. Of course, John Coltrane (pictured) was the leading light on this revered imprint, releasing much of his '60s material on the label, but Impulse! was actually founded and run early on by legendary record producer Creed Taylor, who brought the label to immediate prominence ...
Joe Lovano Soars on the Wings of Bird With His Jazz Sax Tribute
The legacy of Charlie Parker is something that every jazz musician has to contend with. As a co-creator of bebop up at Minton's with Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell and others, Parker has assured his legacy by the time he died at age 34 in 1956. He was more than just a landmark innovator, as ...
Charles Lloyd Quartet Take Jazz Eastward at Lincoln Center
Charles Lloyd first arrived on the scene back in the '50s and soon made a name for himself on the West Coast (and well beyond) playing saxophone in a Coltrane-influenced vein that made him something of a crossover success. In the late '60s and early '70s, he was one of the biggest names in jazz, leading ...
