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Results for "Michael Brecker"
Take Five with Saxophonist Anthony Bruno
by AAJ Staff
Meet Anthony Bruno Anthony Bruno Chicago-based saxophonist has dedicated his life to music as a performer, educator, and creator. Born into a musical family, playing music has been a hallmark of his existence. Rooted in jazz but drawn to pop, rock and R&B, Anthony writes and plays unapologetically from the soul. Since 2020, he has had ...
Geoff Stradling: Nimble Digits
by Jack Bowers
Remember the good old days when bandleaders would give a downbeat and their bands would start swinging and keep on doing so until their audiences literally begged for more? Welcome to the past--present tense--courtesy of pianist Geoff Stradling's superb Los Angeles-based StradBand, which swings heartily and with seldom a pause on its radiant and power-laden introductory ...
Steps Ahead: Trains
by Scott Lichtman
"Trains" by Steps Ahead, represents an apex of a certain era of jazz-rock fusion. The band was a supergroup, featuring Michael Brecker on saxophone, Mike Mainieri on vibraphone and rotating top names filling out guitar, drums, bass and keys. By the mid-'80s, the band had evolved from an acoustic sound to one based more on synthesized ...
George Colligan Quartet At Magy's Farm
by Ian Patterson
George Colligan Quartet Magy's Farm Dromara, N. Ireland May 8, 2024 Ordinarily the words George Colligan and Dromara would not belong in the same sentence. Colligan is one of the world's great modern jazz pianists. Dromara is a small village and sparsely populated townland in the County Down hills that ...
Meg Okura & Kevin Hays: Lingering
by Neil Duggan
Jazz albums that feature violin-piano duets are uncommon. With two instruments, the musicians need to synchronise at a deep level and if successful, they can elevate their performance and the listening experience from good to great. To achieve this they need to be receptive to every move the other makes. Each musician needs to be adept ...
Take Five with Meg Okura
by AAJ Staff
Meet Meg Okura Hailed as “the queen of chamber jazz (All About Jazz)," Tokyo-native Meg Okura is a Grammy-nominated jazz composer and violinist based in New York, known for her music praised by The New York Times as “grandiloquent beauty that transitions easily from grooves to big cascades to buoyant swing." Ms. Okura leads her 10-piece ...
Lionel Hampton, Michel Camilo, Marta Sanchez and more
by David Brown
Tonight, a pair of tunes from Philly's Brecker Bros.; a Latin jazz set with Michel Camilo, Rachel Therrin, Juan Tizol, Tito Puente and more; all followed by works form James Brandon Lewis' three most recent releases. We'll continue with a birthday set for Lionel Hampton and more. Welcome friends and neighbors to The Jazz Continuum. Old, ...
Wonderful now
by Scott Lichtman
What do you get when you combine the high-velocity beats of electronica with the virtuosic proficiency of fusion, the pristine sound quality of an ECM label record and the “goes down easy" catchiness of smooth jazz? When composed and performed at the highest level, it sounds like Anatole Muster's album, Wonderful now. This album gets better ...
Take Five with Pianist Shereen Cheong
by AAJ Staff
Meet Shereen Cheong Shereen Cheong is a New York-based Malaysian pianist, composer, arranger, producer and educator who developed a sense of music from the tender age of three. Pursuant to her classical training, she studied jazz piano with Malaysia's jazz veteran, Michael Veerapen. She is a graduate from Berklee College of Music, holding a dual degree ...
John Basile: Heatin' Up
by Bill Milkowski
John Basile's warm tone and impeccable articulation on Heatin' Up at first may trigger memories of the late, great Pat Martino, an iconic guitarist whom Basile obviously admires. But listen closer to the elegant phrasing, the confident use of space and “less is more" approach he applies to tunes like Cy Coleman's “See Saw," the oft-covered ...
