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Multi-Reedman Dan Willis Interviewed at All About Jazz...and More!
For the past several years, multi-reedman Dan Willis—as prone to play Armenian duduk as he is a saxophone or clarinet—has been exploring the music of renegade classical composer Erik Satie, first with his 2006 Omni-Tone release, Velvet Gentlemen, and now, with his 2010 Daywood Drive follow-up, The Satie Project. In both cases he finds the perfect ...
Pianist Kenny Werner Interviewed at All About Jazz...and More!
Inspiration behind art is a curious thing. It takes many forms, from personal to universal perspectives. Many times it's unexpected. It is intertwined with one's life and the vicissitudes therein. As Charlie Parker famously said, “If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." For pianist/composer/arranger Kenny Werner, music has evolved, over time, ...
Rita Reys and the Jazz Messengers
As far as I can tell, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers recorded behind a singer only once. That session took place in May and June 1956 in New York and was released on Columbia and the Netherlands' Philips label, which makes perfect sense since the vocalist was Rita Reys, a Dutch jazz singer. Interestingly, the ...
"Giving Frank Foster a Hand"
Tenor saxophonist Frank Foster is best known for his monumental work in the reed section of Count Basie's “New Testament" band starting in 1953. Over the decades that followed, Foster composed and arranged many songs for the Basie orchestra, including Shiny Stockings. Today, Foster, 82, lives with his wife Cecilia in Virginia. Brian Grady is a ...
YolanDa Brown: A Jazz Saxophonist with Affiliation in Academia
Jazz has a preponderance of musicians of high academic achievements who have PhDs, Masters, Bachelors degree behind their names. Maybe the converse holds that high academic achievers, who are musicians, are invariably attracted to this great and wonderful music. A recent addition to the list of A-Graders is YolanDa Brown, British born jazz saxophonist, 2008 MOBO ...
Interview: Clark Terry (Part 2)
What makes Clark Terry more special than dozens of other trumpet and flugelhorn players? Many newcomers to jazz ask that question when listening to Clark's recordings. Rather than provide the answer, I decided to call saxophone legend Hal McKusick last evening for an insider's perspective. Hal first recorded with Clark in 1956 in a big band ...
Happy Birthday, Jimmy Blanton!
Bassist Jimmy Blanton was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on this date in 1918. He was the first great innovative jazz double bassist, known mainly for his recordings with Duke Ellington from 1939 to 1941. Before Blanton, the bass was used primarily to lay down the beat and provide the harmonic underpinnings for a tune. Blanton played ...
Happy Birthday Bill Dixon, Wherever You Are.
Image courtesy of Stephen Haynes. “If you are you, 24 hours a day, then you do not have to remember who you are supposed to be in different situations—something that I imagine could be troublesome.“ —Bill Dixon. The Grand Old Man didn't make it to today and in the period that has followed his passing in ...
Local Space and a Firm Cloud: Bill Dixon, Oct. 5, 2010
Right now I'm listening to Berlin Abbozzi, a disc recorded in 1999 for FMP by Bill Dixon, who would have turned 85 today (or yesterday, depending on what time zone you're in). Here he plays trumpet and flugelhorn along with utilizing electronic delay, and he's joined by then-regular collaborator, English percussionist Tony Oxley, and the German ...
"It Isn't a Great Reset, Just an Evolution," Says Lee Parsons, Ceo of Ditto Music; Interview Part 2
Last week I posted part one of my interview with Lee Parsons, the CEO of Ditto Music. In the second half of this segment Parsons talks about the different types of artists, the economic reset in the record industry, and how the laptop generation is changing digital music. Why must artists embrace 'as much chaos as ...
