Results for "Count Basie"

Isrea Butler: Congo Lament

by Jack Bowers
October 13, 2024

After decades gigging as a sideman with some of the USA's most renowned big bands, trombonist Isrea Butler has finally recorded his debut album, Congo Lament, inviting tenor saxophonist and celebrated Count Basie Orchestra soloist Doug Lawrence to share the front line in his quintet. All but one of the album's seven numbers ...

Swing Bands

by Monk Rowe
September 20, 2024

Warren Wolf, Alexis Cole, Sonny Rollins and Leigh Pilzer

by Joe Dimino
September 1, 2024

From the mind of veteran musician Leigh Pilzer, we get right into the 869th Episode of Neon Jazz. With her Seven Pointed Star, we hear the title track off her 2024 album called Beatin' the Odds. From there, we journey around a stellar line up of veterans with new albums in 2024 with Julieta Eugenio, Natalie ...

Larry Goldings and Melinda Sullivan choose to groove on Big Foot

by Leo Sidran
August 21, 2024

Sometimes what seems at first to be a departure can turn out to be a new arrival. When Larry Goldings and Melinda Sullivan met shortly before the COVID pandemic, they had no way of knowing just how impactful it would become for both of them. By 2021, they had begun meeting in Goldings' backyard to play ...

Mose Allison, Lisa Rich, Harry Skoler & Jihee Heo

by Joe Dimino
July 28, 2024

We kick off the 864th Episode of Neon Jazz with new music from a Kansas City treasure, E.E Pointer with the song “Uprights" off his 2024 album Worm. From there, we go old school Kansas City with the great Andy Kirk. The rest of the show focuses on a host of veteran musicians with new work ...

How Ahmad Jamal Got His Groove Back

by Chuck Lenatti
July 26, 2024

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 Though he was well-versed in the musical vernacular of blues, big bands, bebop and hard bop, piano trios and singers, as well as European classical music, pianist Ahmad Jamal seemed out of step as jazz fused with rock and R&B in the 1970s. ...

Sweet Megg: Bluer Than Blue

by Nicholas F. Mondello
July 22, 2024

One of the more niche genres in the history of jazz is western swing. Primarily dance music and hugely popular in the Southwest, it originated as a jambalaya blending hot jazz, country, blues, pop and traditional fiddle playing, performed by combos such as the Light Crust Doughboys and Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. It incorporated ...

Mere Noisemakers

by Troy Hoffman
July 13, 2024

Drummers used to be predominantly known as mere noisemakers (not musicians) coming out of the Vaudeville-era, where percussionists were seen as background tools. They often carried out sound effect cues, sent from studios to theaters, for silent films. This left drummers with the responsible task of mimicking the sounds of hurricanes, car crashes and thunderstorms from ...

Festival International de Jazz de Montréal 2024

by Mark Sullivan
July 11, 2024

Various Venues Festival International de Jazz de Montréal Montréal, Canada June 30 to July 4, 2024 This year's official announcement of the headliners of the 44th edition of the festival included André 3000, Norah Jones, Hiatus Kaiyote, Laufey, Robert Glasper, and Orville Peck. This diverse group is notable for departing from ...

Cubana Be, Cubana Bop - Play Misty for Me

by David Brown
June 25, 2024

This week, we start things off with some Afro-Cuban sounds from Bud Powell, Zaccai Curtis and Dizzy Gillespie. Next, a celebration of the birth of pianist Erroll Garner who would have been 103 today. Large band orchestral works from Toshiko Akiyoshi, Jihye Lee and Count Basie will follow before we check out some African sounds from ...