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"Music and Politics = Oil and Water?" JJA Jazz Matters panel discussion at the New School, 10/13/04, 6PM
The Jazz Journalists Association's Jazz Matters panel discussions for fall '04 begin Wednesday, October 13, asking: Can/does music reflect politics? Affect political decisions? Change anyone's mind? Is ALL music political -- and if so, left or right? How have the big musical/political tours been launched, and what has been the audience's reaction? Do they suggest the ...
They're Still Here: How to Honor Maturing Singers
by Vincent Stephens
Ernestine Anderson, Etta James, and Johnny Mathis have been recording for five decades and still release albums. More importantly they still sing well and sound good. Can you imagine the horror if in a few years these singers, feeling compelled by ego, record company suggestion or just bad judgment, released a “duet" album where they revisited ...
Glenn Miller: The Godfather Of Bop?
by Richard Jessen
The idea of Glenn Miller being the godfather of bop at first sounds like the most outlandish of ideas. Yet this is just what he became. In 1939, Glenn Miller recorded the first evidence we have of what would become known as be-bop (later known as bop). Webster's Ninth Collegiate Dictionary tells us that ...
Circling Om: An Exploration of John Coltrane's Later Works
by Simon Weil
Prologue Elvin Jones left John Coltrane's group in January 1966. A couple of months afterwards he declared: “At times I couldn't hear what I was doing--matter of fact, I couldn't hear what anybody was doing. All I could hear was a lot of noise."1 But, shortly after Coltrane's death in July 1967, Jones ...
Bluffers Guide to Playing Jazz
by John Winkler
Notes about playing jazz; a fun guide to this inventive music.Yup, notes are the problem. How many to play, which ones, and at what time.Guitars Guitarists are known by their desire to play one or two extra notes on their instrument after the song has ended. This works well in ...
Good-bye, Elvin
by Ronald B. Weber, MD
On May 18, 2004 the world lost perhaps the most influential drummer of all time, Elvin Jones . He happened to be one of my heroes. Incredibly muscular and robust most of his life, Elvin succumbed to chronic heart failure. For those of us who knew him, it seemed inconceivable that he could become as frail ...
Jazz Journalist Association (JJA) Gathering at the Montreal International Jazz Festival
If you're headed to the 25th anniversary edition of the Montreal International Jazz Festival you're invited to join your JJA colleagues, musicians and others from the jazz community at a cocktail-hour get-together. The location is Montreal's leading jazz venue, just a 10-minute walk west from the festival's media centre. Here are the details: When: Tuesday, July ...
Underwhelming Understatement: A Plea for Persona in Jazz Vocals
by Vincent Stephens
Are “subtlety” and “understatement” toxic characteristics? Such critics’ buzzwords are overshadowing the centrality of persona among jazz singers. Critics often use these terms to compliment and contrast thus it is critical gospel to contrast vocal say Diana Krall’s restraint with Diane Schuur’s vocal pyrotechnics. In jazz singing this is particularly pertinent in an era where reserve, ...
JJA Jazz Awards at B.B. King's NYC Tuesday June 15
The Jazz Journalists Association is holding its eighth annual Jazz Awards celebration event at B.B. King's Blues Club and Grill, 237 W. 42nd St. from 4 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 15. Last year it was a great party, as it promises to be again, with music by the Dewey Redman Trio, Doug Wamble, the ...
