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Vanguard Jazz Orchestra: A Band in the Vanguard
by George Kanzler
Not only is this the 75th anniversary of the Village Vanguard, this month also marks the 44th anniversary of the Monday night residency of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra (VJO), begun in 1966 as the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. Those Monday nights are a very significant part of the Vanguard's legacy as THE premier jazz club ...
Harris Eisenstadt
by Clifford Allen
One normally thinks of the drummer-bandleader chair in this music as easily given to a mentality that embraces “more is more." Whether bombastic or just plain full, drummers' bands often focus on mass, rhythm and time. In the post-free arena, leaders like Gerry Hemingway, John Hollenbeck and Harris Eisenstadt have learned not only that every instrument ...
Svend Asmussen
by Ken Dryden
Svend Asmussen is the last of the great swing violinists who emerged during the '30s. The “Fiddling Viking" turns 94 on Feb. 28th, splitting time between his native Denmark and Sarasota, Florida. Recently the violinist performed at the Second Annual Arbors Records Invitational Jazz Party and released new CDs, one a compilation on Storyville (Rhythm Is ...
The Late Great Phil Seamen
by Michael Baird
INTRODUCTION Phillip William Seamen was born in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, on August 28th 1926 and died on Friday 13th October 1972--he fell asleep in a chair in his abode on Old Paradise Street in Lambeth, south London, and didn't wake up any more. The police were called in quite quickly and their pathologist began by ...
Matana Roberts
by Martin Longley
John Zorn has invited the Chicagoan alto saxophonist Matana Roberts to curate at The Stone. The most common practice is for a month to be shared by two artists, but Roberts has all of January to herself. It's a sign of an omnivorous musical appetite that she's struggled to cram all of her dream-choices into a ...
Charlie Banacos: Recollections of a Legend
by Mike Brannon
"You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone" --Joni Mitchell “There are a dozen ways to hit a key." --Charlie Banacos How do you say goodbye to someone who truly changed you; someone who you know caused you to be a better person just for having known them? How do you say goodbye ...
Matthew Shipp: Traversing The Regions of the Mind
by Lyn Horton
On May 17, 2009, at 6 pm, Matthew Shipp walked through the front door of Roulette, a performance venue on the Lower East Side in New York City. His face appeared no more or less expressive than it normally does. He is wont to demonstrate his feelings facially, except through laughter and an occasional smile. On ...
Django at 100
by Stuart Broomer
Call it Django or Gypsy jazz, Hot Club, swing or Manouche (another name for gypsy), it's a style that hits you immediately--blazing, hard-picked runs played on a hyper-resonant, flat-top guitar (sound-holes are oval or D-shaped, never round), its intense momentum propelled by bass and rhythm guitar(s), often in tandem with violin, clarinet or accordion and working ...
Bill Holman
by Marcia Hillman
Bill Holman is a man with many milestones. Known primarily for years of unique and complex arrangements, Holman's continuing and long-running career as a composer and saxophonist reaches another milestone this month when he will be awarded the title of NEA Jazz Master. A California native, Holman took up clarinet in junior high school and tenor ...
A Modest Proposal: Joe Henry's Letter-Writing Campaign Results in Mose Allison's First Record in 12 years
by Jeff Vrabel
Joe Henry's strategy for coaxing Mose Allison back to the studio for the first time in twelve years was simple enough: All he had to do was quietly and thoughtfully stalk the jazz icon for a year. “He kept at it, and kept calling me and emailing and so forth," the 82-year-old Allison said of the ...
