Home » Search Center » Results: Interview
Results for "Interview"
Marvin Sewell: Stepping Up to the Plate
by George Colligan
[ Editor's Note: The following interview is reprinted from George Colligan's blog, Jazztruth]Marvin Sewell might be the greatest guitarist you've never heard of. I first met Sewell at a recording session in 1995. (Sewell, saxophonist Gary Thomas, and I improvised over hip-hop tracks for two days; these sessions were edited into what become Thomas' ...
Mara Rosenbloom, Darius Jones, Brian Drye: Brooklyn Artist Snapshot
by Seton Hawkins
To even the casual observer, Brooklyn has incubated an extraordinary new generation of talented jazz artists. While the Borough is certainly renowned for a vibrant jazz community, and indeed has been since the mid-twentieth century, this latest cohort of artists is nevertheless worthy of a particular spotlight, not only for being a gathering of tremendous performers ...
Billy Childs: Pushing Past Preconceptions
by George Colligan
[ Editor's Note: The following interview is reprinted from George Colligan's blog, Jazztruth]Billy Childs is simply one of the baddest musicians on the planet. He's a brilliant jazz pianist, having received much acclaim as a sideman with legends as well as from being a bandleader. His Windham Hill recordings--Take For Example, This....., His April ...
Interview: Bev Kelly (Part 2)
Few singers curl up on a song's lap like Bev Kelly. In the '50s she worked clubs and recorded several albums with pianist Pat Moran. She also recorded her first solo album in 1957. But just as she had attracted the attention of personal manager John Levy, Bev had a choice to make—her career or her ...
Interview: Bev Kelly (Part 1)
With the proliferation of travel in the 1950s, Chicago became a hotbed for jazz-pop singers and singing groups. The city was a national railroad hub, and passengers arriving from the East, West and South needed places to stay. As the number of hotels in Chicago grew, so did the number of hotel lounges and clubs and ...
Aakash Mittal: From Denver to Kolkata, Jazz Crosses Continents and a Big "Ocean"
I first encountered Aakash Mittal when he invited me to review his debut recording in 2009. The young saxophonist from Denver gave that disc the rather hesitant title, Possible Beginnings. Such humility is characteristic of Mittal. Now, at the ripe age of 28, he's releasing his third full-length recording, Ocean,as he prepares for a ten-month “sabbatical" ...
Thollem McDonas: The Beauty of Never Going Back Home
by Dave Wayne
What is often forgotten about improvised music is that it can come from anywhere. Though its history is inextricably intertwined with jazz, improvisation is part and parcel of a myriad of musical cultures. Pianist and composer Thollem McDonas is not just aware of this fact, it is part of his daily existence. About 10 years ago, ...
In Praise of Steve Allen
Despite living with television sets for nearly 65 years, most of us dread being in front of a camera. We love criticizing people on TV but wouldn't dream of switching places with them. Those who have been interviewed on national TV know what a jarring experience it is. Much prep work is required to keep from ...
Buster Williams: Take No Prisoners
by George Colligan
[ Editor's Note: The following interview is reprinted from George Colligan's blog, Jazztruth]I first heard bassist Buster Williams on a Herbie Hancock recording called VSOP Live (Columbia, 1976). I remember thinking that their version of Hancock's “Toys" was pretty wild stuff. In addition to hearing him on some other recordings like Hancock's Sextant (Columbia, ...
Etienne Charles: Trumpet's First Chantwell
by DanMichael Reyes
Trinidadian-born trumpeter Etienne Charles has made it a point to share the culture of his native homeland with the world through music, whether it is writing songs on cuatro or steel pan, incorporating Kweyol chants on the opening track to his latest album Creole Soul (Culture Shock, 2013), or playing with an undeniable Caribbean bounce that ...
