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Mark Masters Ensemble: Ellington Saxophone Encounters
by Greg Simmons
It could be argued that the core of bandleader Duke Ellington's wonderful textural sound was the way he harmonized his reed section, with great woody chords and lush polyphonic melodies. That reed section, with the great Johnny Hodges leading on alto, stalwarts like Paul Gonsalves on tenor and Harry Carney on baritone, as well as shorter-term ...
Perelman - Morris - Cleaver: Living Jelly
by Glenn Astarita
It may take some stamina to keep up with Brazilian avant-garde tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman, as he often releases several albums in unison. Living Jelly, featuring guitarist Joe Morris and drummer Gerald Cleaver, marks one of three concurrent albums produced for Leo Records. Offering ensemble and stylistic contrasts, Perelman garners the support of pianist Matthew Shipp ...
Dick Hyman, Topsy Chapman Celebrate Teddy Wilson This Week On Riverwalk Jazz
Teddy Wilson backed Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday—then became a star playing with Benny Goodman. He made history as one of the first black musicians to join a white band in public performances. Wilson’s understated, delicately-swinging piano style defined the Swing Era. This week on Riverwalk Jazz, pianist Dick Hyman (who took piano lessons from Wilson ...
Bob Mintzer: Amazing Reach
by Bob Kenselaar
For about half of his four decade-long career in jazz, Bob Mintzer has been a member of the Yellowjackets, one of the most enduring, distinctive and creative bands in contemporary jazz. But, oddly enough, this association is a relatively small slice of Mintzer's remarkably multifaceted life in music as a saxophonist, bass clarinetist, composer, arranger, educator ...
Eddie Durham: Genius in the Shadows
by Jim Gerard
On December 13, 1932, in the eye of the Great Depression that was devastating the record industry, the Bennie Moten Orchestra shuffled “on their uppers" into a converted church in Camden, N.J., and silently launched the Swing Era, three years before clarinetist Benny Goodman's formal inauguration as the “King of Swing" at the Palomar Ballroom in ...
Harry Allen / Scott Hamilton: ‘Round Midnight
by C. Michael Bailey
Johannes Brahms was called “the keeper of the flame" for Beethoven. Tenor saxophonist Harry Allen and Scott Hamilton are the same keepers for a tenor tradition that existed from the swing era through hard bop. The pair champions a sound and method established by Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Lester Young: a broad, dense tone, both ...
Stan Sulzmann: Neon Quartet
by Chris May
Stan Sulzmann is among the most singular saxophonists in the UK, with an instantly recognizable, lush but rough-edged sound, and a distinguished track record as a composer and arranger for large and small bands.Born in London in 1948, Sulzmann is approaching veteran status and is a source of inspiration to many of Britain's emerging ...
Talkin' Blues with Barbara Dennerlein
by Alan Bryson
If there were a Guinness World Records prize for jazz artist with the biggest organ, it could very well go to Barbara Dennerlein. No doubt, her Hammond B3 was a disc-crushing bane for countless roadies over the past three decades, but a B3 pales in comparison to what she's been playing lately. Imagine five organs with ...
Mark Masters Ensemble: Ellington Saxophone Encounters
by Edward Blanco
Longtime big band arranger/bandleader Mark Masters happens to be President of the Pasadena, CA-based non-profit American Jazz Institute (AJI), while baritone saxophonist great Gary Smulyan sits on its Advisory Board. Together, the two have often joined forces on musical projects intended to foster and promote jazz; Ellington Saxophone Encounters is another one of their AJI collaborations, ...
