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Results for "Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes"
In Our Thoughts and Prayers
Arriving home from work tonight, I was saddened to learn that saxophonist James Moody—one of the few remaining survivors of the Golden Age of Jazz—has been battling pancreatic cancer since February. He and wife Linda informed fans yesterday of the situation, as reported so poignantly in the San Diego Tribune. He has elected not to have ...
Is Music Helping Shred a Senseless Cold War Remnant?
After all these years, is there anything more senseless than the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba? I think not, but some are bound to disagree. But the arts are thawing the iceberg a bit—and jazz is at the forefront of that relaxation. Larry Blumenfeld had a riveting two-part coverage in the Wall Street Journal in early ...
CDs of Note - Short Takes...
Luciano Troja, At Home With Zindars (self-produced) This labor of love spotlights the composer, good friend and perhaps musical twin of Bill Evans. It is long overdue, because the late Earl Zindars had far more impact on Evans than he has generally been credited with. Their relationship dated to their Army days in the early1950s. Italian ...
Into the Spotlight and Moving Ahead
In less than a week, we saw significant attention spotlighting two jazz artists. There's one to watch for on the vocal scene. The other we saw recognized for his decade of moving the music forward while embracing contemporary influences. Ladies first as they say, no matter than the honors are chronologically skewed. On October 4 in ...
CDs of Note - Short Takes
Amina Figarova, Sketches (BMCD / Munich Records) Netherlands-based, Azerbaijan-born pianist and composer AminaFigerova had the early crowd in the palms of her hands last month at the CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival for good reason. She's a skilled player and musical conceptualist. This CD, her 12th since her 1994 debut, Attraction, is a gem. She uses her ...
2010 Is a Very Sonny Year
The Chinese Lunar Calendar considers 2010 as the Year of the Tiger, but in the jazz calendar this is the Year of the Colossus. Why? All of the deserved attention focused on tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, who turned 80 on September 7—still a vibrant musical force and restless explorer. (At right, Sonny Rollins at Newport, August ...
Short Takes - CDs of Note
Bands led by trumpeters are in the spotlight... Miles Davis, Bitches Brew: 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition (Columbia/Legacy) Two weeks after releasing its three-disc Legacy Edition of Miles Davis's genre-smashing Bitches Brew project that pulled jazz together with the commercial rock world, Columbia/Legacy is out with a Collector's Edition. The boxed set includes CDs containing the original ...
Giving Credit Where It is Due - And then Some...
When you've made an indelible imprint on an art form—people take notice. Particularly when that effort has helped fuel their own successes. Such is the case with George Wein, the producer of the first jazz festival as we know it today back in 1954 in Newport RI. In June 2009, as part of the Montreal International ...
It's Tanglewood Time - In Jazz Time
Every summer during my festival wanderings, I get one or more similar pitches. “You really need to go to X." or “You need to come here... It's a huge jazz event—and it's free!" Only problem, it's many hundreds of miles away, it is indeed a HUGE event, and at this point of my summer festival season, ...
Changing of the Guard - Or End of the Line?
What an amazing ride for Carol Stone and her husband, Woody Woodland, who founded the Cape May Jazz Festival 17 years ago to bring jazz fans to their quaint seacoast resort town--and help extend the length of the tourist season at New Jersey's southernmost point. Seventeen years--and 33 festivals so far, building a ...
