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Ellen Rowe Octet: Momentum
by Jerome Wilson
At a time when women are gaining more prominence in every field, it's no surprise there are more and more all-female jazz groups popping up. This particular octet, led by pianist Ellen Rowe, takes that a step farther with a CD that delves into women's history. They have recorded a set of Rowe compositions that honor ...
Mary Lou Williams, James Moody & More
by Joe Dimino
This week we start everything off with the talented veteran North Carolina jazz pianist Claire Ritter with the title track off her 2018 CD Eclipse Orange. Then we hear from her mentor Mary Lou Williams, a new one from Branford Marsalis and his Quartet and some solid groove with the great John Kirby leading The Biggest ...
Savannah Music Festival 2019
by Martin Longley
Savannah Music Festival Savannah, GA March 28-April 2, 2019 The opening day of this 30th edition of the Savannah Music Festival featured a pronounced bombardment of diverse artists, tearing apart the motor controls of the driven sonic obsessive. If a pair of ears lends equal attention to Louisiana zydeco, Saharan ...
Ten Artists: April 2019
by C. Michael Bailey
Claudia Vorbach Is There a Time? Phoneector 2018 Claudia Vorbach follows up Come Down Easy (Phoneector, 2016) with these 14 smart original compositions infused with the swagger of a confident composer/singer. At first blush, Vorbach sounds like a relaxed Nora Jones, playfully whimsical and vocally daring. Vorbach sings with an assured ...
Women in Jazz, Pt. 2: The Girls From Piney Woods
by Karl Ackermann
In Part 1 of Women in Jazz we looked at the historical position of women in early jazz. Despite their influence in shaping the art, their talent as composers, arrangers, instrumentalists, and band leaders, women have often been token additions; marginalized window dressing in a male-dominated world. One hundred years after Lil Hardin held ...
The Sound Of Progress: Lioness And Ellen Rowe
by Dan Bilawsky
The voices of women who've been marginalized, demeaned, abused, and overlooked will no longer be silenced. The #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have pulled the curtains back on deplorable actions and practices that have run rampant in all corners of society, the jazz world being no exception. With scandals airing out hidden truths at the Berklee College ...
Ran Blake / Claire Ritter: Eclipse Orange
by Dan McClenaghan
The concert that resulted in the CD Eclipse Orange was done in honor of pianist Thelonious Monk's 100th birthday, but there's so much more than a Monk showcase here. Pianists Claire Ritter and Ran Blake play in duets and solos, and Ritter shares the stage with Australian saxophonist Kent O'Doherty on five tunes, in an atmospheric ...
Women in Jazz, Part 1: Early Innovators
by Karl Ackermann
"Lil Hardin [Armstrong]...often imagined herself standing...at the bottom of a ladder, holding it steady for Louis as he rose to stardom." (Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound, 2012). “The all-female band is an anomaly in music, one that must constantly prove itself as a 'band,' and not just 'girls playing music together.'" (Mary Ann Clawson, 1999). Everything ...
Pittsburgh's Jazz Days of Winter Set for February 16-23, 2019
By Mackenzie Horne Dwindling attendance is perhaps the most serious threat to the well-being of today's regional jazz circles, and addressing this issue requires an approach that is as authentic as it is aggressive. Problems with attendance and participation seem to be amplified in a metropolitan area as small as Pittsburgh, and past history ...
Kansas City and the Territory Bands (1927 - 1940)
by Russell Perry
Outside of the Chicago—New York nexus, jazz thrived during the late 1920's and 1930's in Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas, with its center in Kansas City. Under the careful control of Boss Pendergast, Kansas City was a wide open town with a thriving night club music scene, nurturing musicians like Joe Turner, Mary Lou Williams, Count Basie, ...
