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Article: Interview

Billy Childs: Pushing Past Preconceptions

by George Colligan
August 13, 2013

[ 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 ...

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Interview: Bev Kelly (Part 2)

August 13, 2013

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 ...

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Interview: Bev Kelly (Part 1)

August 12, 2013

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 ...

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Aakash Mittal: From Denver to Kolkata, Jazz Crosses Continents and a Big "Ocean"

August 10, 2013

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" ...

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Thollem McDonas: The Beauty of Never Going Back Home

by Dave Wayne
August 7, 2013

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, ...

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In Praise of Steve Allen

August 7, 2013

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 ...

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Buster Williams: Take No Prisoners

by George Colligan
August 6, 2013

[ 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, ...

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Etienne Charles: Trumpet's First Chantwell

by DanMichael Reyes
July 29, 2013

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 ...

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Interview: Denny Zeitlin on Both/And

July 29, 2013

Pianist Denny Zeitlin's earliest recordings date back to the early and mid-1960s, when he recorded with Jeremy Steig (Flute Fever in 1963) and led his own trio (Cathexis, Carnival, Shining Hour and Zeitgeist). Denny's approach has always been a masterful synthesis of technique and “brain freedom"—the suspension of pragmatism so that his spirit and hands can ...

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An Interview With Jude Gwynaire

July 27, 2013

Q: Where did the interest in music originate from? A: I guess I’ve always had a natural interest in music from an early age. I started playing keyboards when I was about 12 (a home organ), and this led onto an electric piano and guitars when I was about 17. I’m also an aspiring author and ...