Home » Search Center » Results: Profiles
Results for "Profiles"
Tommy Gumina
by Elliott Simon
It is the rare jazz instrumentalist who gains such a total understanding of their instrument that by technical innovation they change the way the instrument is played to achieve that elusive 'sound in their head.' Jazz accordionist Tommy Gumina is such an artist. When it comes to the accordion, Gumina's modifications and amplification development are on ...
Wadada Leo Smith: A Vital Life Force
by Lyn Horton
“To teach and create and not expect or demand anything in return."--Wadada Leo Smith, quoted in an article printed in The Houston Chronicle, November 4, 2006 On the nine-by-eleven inch cover of the February, 2010, issue of Wire magazine is a full-page photo of trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith. Only the upper half of his body is ...
Jeff Robinson: Rare Bird Sighting
by Timothy J. O'Keefe
April is Jazz Appreciation Month. It's also National Poetry Month, and every Sunday night, the Jeff Robinson Trio accompanies poets at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The trio provides collective jazz improvisation based on the rhythmic cadence of each poet, creating music that is truly unique to each performance. Jeff Robinson hails from St. Louis ...
Donny McCaslin
by Laurel Gross
If saxophonist Donny McCaslin's life were made into a movie, the following 'scene' could be a natural start: A young boy perched on a stool on the bandstand at a California mall. Too young to be let loose to wander, it's an efficient way his working father could keep an eye on the boy and still ...
Bunky Green
by Marcia Hillman
Vernice “Bunky" Green (born Apr. 23rd, 1935) is a product of Wisconsin, where he was raised and learned to play the alto saxophone. His first big break came when Charles Mingus briefly hired him in the '60s--an association that left a lasting influence on Green's own style. Green left Mingus to relocate in ...
George Coleman: Close to Home
by Martin Longley
George Coleman's enfolding tenor saxophone tone is the embodiment of the endangered old school sound. His warm organically bluesy embrace invites the listener to sit closer, whether this Memphis man is picking spontaneously from the standards book or maybe selecting one of his own compositions. Actually, Coleman grew up down south, getting his first big break ...
Larry Coryell: Making the Changes
by Tom Greenland
“This is all Coltrane, from his early/middle/late period, whatever that means!" laughs guitarist Larry Coryell. He is sitting backstage in the green room at Iridium in 2009, describing a chart he is about to try out with organist Joey DeFrancesco. “And then this part here is very much like 'All Blues,' like Miles," he says, humming ...
Introducing Assaf Kehati
by Timothy J. O'Keefe
Boston's local jazz scene draws from a fertile ground of musicians attending the Berklee College of Music and New England Conservatory. Within the city's various clubs, it's possible to frequently catch young musicians while they're still establishing their careers. One such musician presently on the Boston scene is Israeli guitarist Assaf Kehati. Kehati's ...
Adam Rudolph
by Rex Butters
Watching Adam Rudolph conduct the Go: Organic Orchestra is witnessing the embodiment of music. Rudolph takes on the role of sound sculptor, leading the specially-trained musicians through channels of sound as they occur to him in the course of performance, mixing and editing with hand signals, facial expressions and bodily torque. The only constant in the ...
Hadley Caliman
by Thomas Conrad
If you have followed jazz long enough, you probably know the name Hadley Caliman. He was around in the '60s and '70s, on albums by people like Gerald Wilson, Don Ellis, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson and Bobby Hutcherson. He made four records of his own for Mainstream and Catalyst, collectors' items now. Rock fans of a ...
