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The Music of Hoagy Carmichael, Part 1
by Larry Slater
Hoagy Carmichael's career as one of America's great songwriters is unlike any of his peers. Carmichael, like George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Irving Berlin, was born at the tail end of the 19th century, but he was never a Broadway composer, and he wasn't from New York. He was a midwesterner from Indiana, drawn more to ...
Miles Davis, Ben Sidran, Max Roach & Isaiah J. Thompson
by Joe Dimino
Episode 909 of Neon Jazz ignites with brilliance--and it starts with a rising star lighting up the modern jazz sky: Isaiah J. Thompson. We dive into fresh, soul-stirring tracks from his powerful 2025 release, The Book of Isaiah--Modern Jazz Ministry, where faith, groove, and virtuosity collide. From there, it's a rich journey through the past and ...
Duke Ellington's Concert of Sacred Music
by Chuck Lenatti
In 1964, Dean D.J. Bartlett and the Reverend John S. Yaryan invited Duke Ellington and his orchestra to present a concert to consecrate the renovated Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill in San Francisco during a year-long festival of Grace. At first, Duke demurred. In his autobiography, Music Is My Mistress (Da Capo, 1976), Ellington ...
Jack Chambers: Rethinking Duke Ellington
by Jack Kenny
Jack Chambers is professor at the University of Toronto and teacher of music and language. His jazz writings include the prize winning biography Milestones: The Music and Times of Miles Davis (Da Capo Press, 1998) and Bouncin' with Bartok: The Incomplete Works of Richard Twardzik (Mercury PR, 2008). Sweet Thunder: Duke Ellington's Music In Nine Themes ...
Jordan VanHemert: Survival of the Fittest
by Gary Fukushima
For most of his life, Jordan VanHemert has been on a quest of growth and mastery as a saxophonist, composer and musician. But equally important have been his efforts to contextualize some of the difficulties of his life experiences within the deeper themes of his DNA, discovering in the process resilience, optimism and joy. Jordan's music ...
Dave Monsch: Struttin' at the Winedale
by Dean Nardi
Dallas-based saxophonist and flautist Dave Monsch wants his debut album to catch listeners' attention. “I don't feel that it is a predictable album," he stated through an email exchange with AAJ. “There are so many different types of songs and styles, I would hope that something will grab them, if not all of it."
Don Byas: Sax Expat
by Richard J Salvucci
Don Byas: Sax Expat Con Chapman 233 Pages ISBN: 9781496856081 University Press of Mississippi2025 Don Byas, a tenor saxophonist, who was regarded with great respect in his day, is, unfortunately, now not much more than a name. In part, it is because he has been gone for half a ...
Noah Preminger: Ballads
by Pierre Giroux
Noah Preminger has long been an artist who thrives at the intersection of tradition and innovation. On Ballads, the tenor saxophonist delves into the depths of lyricism with a quartet that exudes understated intensity: pianist Julian Shore, bassist Kim Cass, and drummer Allan Mednard. This release communicates in whispers rather than shouts, yet it never loses ...
Ten Terrific Sax Plus Organ Combinations
by Artur Moral
OK, maybe the electric guitar was its first and most celebrated love affair, but the organ's alliances with the saxophone's family members are undoubtedly among the richest musical combinations, both in terms of sound and the intense interrelationships that typically develop in such encounters. Whether it be a tenor with a Hammond, a soprano with an ...
Gravity and Resurgence: The Many Dimensions of Dexter Gordon
by Arthur R George
Long Tall Dexter; swinger, bebopper, saxophone balladeer; acting the dissipated genius expatriate who was not unlike himself in the movie Round Midnight; his dressed-up persona “Society Red;" the laconic elder statesman of his later years. Dexter Gordon is all those things, but more than a kaleidoscope of caricatures. Those who trace their lineages through ...
