Results for "Curtis Mayfield"

Curtis Mayfield

With a distinctive, highly recognizable tenor voice, an unparalleled catalog of enduring pop and soul classics and an honored place in the pantheon of American music, Curtis Mayfield is without question one of the most influential and beloved artist/songwriters of his time. Born in Chicago in 1942, Mayfield absorbed the city's rich heritage of blues and gospel music and even before reaching his teen years he had formed his first group, The Alphatones. Later, renewing a childhood friendship with Jerry Butler, he formed a group with three others, brothers Arthur and Richard Brooks and Sam Gooden, all from Tennessee

Mark Ruffin: Bebop Fairy Tales

By SETON HAWKINS

Celebrating 40 years as a jazz broadcaster, music producer, and writer this year, Mark Ruffin--perhaps best known as the program director for the Real Jazz channel on SiriusXM --stands as one of jazz's unsung heroes. Countless artists owe their career successes and prominence to his tireless efforts, boundless enthusiasm and advocacy, and encyclopedic knowledge of the ...

Steph Richards, Dwight Trible, Roberto Ottaviano, Craig Taborn & More New Releases

By LUDOVICO GRANVASSU

This week our playlist is bursting at the seams with great projects, several of which explore the renewed interest in what many like to call 'spiritual jazz,' from Roberto Ottaviano to Dwight Trible's Cosmic Vibrations and Matthew Halsall out of the increasingly interesting Manchester jazz scene. The rest of the playlist alternates forward looking projects like ...

Lift Every Voice And Sing: Twenty #BlackLives Albums That Matter

By CHRIS MAY

Jazz has been inextricably linked with social and political protest since at least the late 1930s, when Billie Holiday made famous the leftist songwriter and poet Abel Meeropol's “Strange Fruit." The song, which has a power to move that is undiminished by familiarity, likens the bodies of lynched African Americans to fruit hanging in trees.

Fire Music: When Jazz Speaks Out - Part 4

By LUDOVICO GRANVASSU

As our series dedicated to the amazing music that has come out of the struggle for the advancement of African-Americans, we span from tunes inspired by the march on Selma, or dedicated to the many victims of racially motivated brutality. Listen to deep set featuring old masters like Grant Green, Blue Mitchell, current giants like Dr. ...

New Jazz From London: Top 20 Paradigm Shifting Albums

By CHRIS MAY

After a lifetime trying to get on an equal footing with its American parent, British jazz has finally come of age. Since around 2015, a community of young, London-based musicians has forged a style which, while anchored in the American tradition, reflects the Caribbean and African cultural heritages of many of its vanguard players. The scene ...

Jonathan Goldman: Bump and Let It Slide

By CHRIS M. SLAWECKI

On Saturday February 29, Spanglish Fly will celebrate completing their tenth full year as America's leading producer and exporter of the wicked hot musical sauce known as Latin boogaloo with a special anniversary performance hosted by the legendary Brooklyn hotspot Barbes. The quintessential musical melting pot Spanglish Fly features musicians with roots in Puerto ...

David Sanborn: The Curtain Rises on Sanborn Sessions

By JIM WORSLEY

Listed alphabetically, as opposed to first, second, and third place, Cannonball Adderley, Charlie Parker, and David Sanborn are as good as it gets when discussing the best and most influential alto saxophone players of all-time. Now before you say what about Phil Woods or Kenny Garrett or any number of others, let me qualify that this ...

Marc Jordan: Both Sides

By EDWARD BLANCO

American-born Canadian singer and songwriter Marc Jordan, who covers a wide range of genres, including jazz, unveils his first album since 2013 with one of his finest recordings to date on the soft and breezy balladic Both Sides. Containing lush romantic jazz arrangements of contemporary standards and recorded with the Prague Symphony Orchestra featuring trumpeter Randy ...

We Out Here: The Fast-Forward Evolution of British Jazz

By CHRIS MAY

After a lifetime in the shadow of its American parent, British jazz is finally coming of age. A community of young, London-based musicians is forging a style which, while anchored in the American tradition, reflects the modern Caribbean and African cultural heritages of the majority of its vanguard players. The music also addresses the race, class ...