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Jazz Under the Stars
by Jack Bowers
As mentioned before in this column, the 28th annual Jazz Under the Stars series is under way here in Albuquerque. I’ve attended two of the open-air concerts at the Albuquerque Museum, on opening night, June 5, to see and hear the splendid Albuquerque Jazz Orchesta and four other groups (three of which showcased musicians of high-school ...
Jazz Festival Puts Wigan (Almost) on the Map
by Jack Bowers
There’s not much to write about this month but I must let you know about the Wigan International Jazz Festival, which keeps getting bigger and better with each passing year. Wigan, which as near as I can figure is somewhere in the neighborhood of Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester or perhaps all three in Merrie Olde England, is ...
Summertime Is Jazz Time
by Jack Bowers
There’s actually more to living here in Albuquerque than blue, sunny skies, lovely views in every direction and a drought that won’t go away. Each summer the New Mexico Jazz Workshop presents (as it has for the past twenty-eight years) “Jazz Under the Stars” and “Salsa Under the Stars” through June and July in the Sculpture ...
Jazz Appreciation Month
by Jack Bowers
You probably know this already, but April is Jazz Appreciation Month. Given the state of Jazz today, especially here in the land of its birth, it is quite appropriate that JAM should have begun on April Fool’s Day. Be that as it may, a number of events are (were) planned in various places including telecasts on ...
This Is an Orchestra?
by Jack Bowers
As the great Stan Kenton, pointing with pride to his superlative ensemble, once declared: “This is an orchestra!” But was it? Or was it in fact a big band masquerading as an orchestra? What is an orchestra, anyway? Webster defines an orchestra as “a group of musicians including especially string players (emphasis mine) organized to perform ...
Wait Till Next Year...
by Jack Bowers
Things being as they are, I skipped this year’s conference of the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) in New York City, and was later informed by my friend Jerry Swanberg, who was there, that I missed one of the best of these events ever, at least in terms of the number and quality of big ...
Back in the Saddle Again...
by Jack Bowers
January 9, 2004. Back in harness after three months of “hibernation” and what better way to christen the new computer than by resuming the monthly big-band column at AAJ. It has been a frustrating ninety days (or more) but we are ready now to start living again, even though the data that was lost when the ...
I'm OK, But My Hard Drive Ain't What It Used to Be
by Jack Bowers
As a number of readers (well, at least two or three) have noticed the absence of a big-band column in this space for the past two months and asked if I’m still upright and breathing, the answer is yes. But it has been a rather difficult and frustrating time. Briefly stated, the reason there has been ...
Rendezvous in Balboa
by Jack Bowers
Although it’s probably too late in the game to mention, I received a brochure in mid-September from the Los Angeles Jazz Institute promoting the “Balboa Rendezvous,” to be held October 23-26 at the Hyatt Newport Resort in Newport Beach, CA, to celebrate “the musicians and the music that created the Stan Kenton Orchestra legacy.” The Rendezvous ...
After You've Gone . . .
by Jack Bowers
How would you like to be remembered? I mean, after you’re gone. Yes, you are going, my friend. I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you that, but sooner or later we’re all going. And when we’re gone, we’ll continue to live on -- for a while, anyway -- in the memories of ...
