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Article: Interview

Don Was: The Music Is Paramount

by R.J. DeLuke
February 17, 2014

The president of the iconic Blue Note Records, the man who is stewarding the label as it marches into it's 75th anniversary year celebration, comes from the wrong side of the tracks, in a sense. He's not a gut in a suit. He came up through the trenches as a working musician. He liked jazz and ...

News: Festival

37th Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz Festival Announces Lineup

February 10, 2014

Saratoga Springs, NY: The 37th annual Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz Festival, one of the most celebrated and longest running jazz events in the world, will be held on Saturday, June 28 and Sunday, June 29 at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. This year's festival headliners include Earth, Wind & Fire, Trombone Shorty, Terence Blanchard, Dave Holland Prism, ...

Article: Year in Review

R.J. DeLuke's Best Releases of 2013

by R.J. DeLuke
December 31, 2013

Always a tricky thing is the selection of “best of" lists for the year. I don't get to hear everything that comes out, so a lot of fine music is missed. Also, the selection itself is subject to whims. An album may hit you right from the get-go. Another might take time to grow on you, ...

Article: Interview

Wayne Shorter: Portrait Of A Visionary

by R.J. DeLuke
December 27, 2013

To speak with Wayne Shorter can feel like an exercise in the mystical. At times, it's stream of consciousness, ideas flowing that can reach the profound; but the direction can switch suddenly. There are frequent references to films (Shorter is a lifelong movie buff), as well as books whose subject matter run from science to philosophy. ...

Article: Interview

Wallace Roney and His Mission to Record and Perform Wayne Shorter's Long-Lost "Universe"

by R.J. DeLuke
December 26, 2013

Wayne Shorter is universally acknowledged as one of the greatest composers in the history of jazz, which is the history of American music. His compositions are played by instrumentalists in cramped and crowded nightclubs wherever on earth jazz music is performed. It's hard to imagine a jazz festival where at least few of his works don't ...

Article: Interview

Michael Pedicin: Compassion Joins Creativity

by R.J. DeLuke
December 16, 2013

Saxophonist Michael Pedicin, he of the rich tone and fertile imagination, is on a tear lately. His last three albums are remarkable, exhibiting both his catchy improvisational skill and simple beauty. His 2011 album, Ballads... Searching for Peace (Jazz Hut Records) is that beauty on display and one of the best ballad albums to ...

Article: Catching Up With

Randy Brecker: A Fusion Legacy

by R.J. DeLuke
November 4, 2013

On stage at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland last July, the ubiquitous trumpeter Randy Brecker lowered his horn after playing two joyous and funky numbers on the stage that is one of the festivals largest venues, serving as a hockey arena during the appropriate season. There were throngs of people, sitting and standing, gleefully ...

Article: Interview

Ted Nash: The Goal Is Creativity

by R.J. DeLuke
October 2, 2013

A New York City morning often starts early, sometimes 6 a.m., for this musician who is trying to elongate the hours available in a day. There's a lot to get to. Practicing the saxophone or flute. Sitting down to go through the elusive and demanding task of writing music worthy of the plateau, which these days ...

Article: Interview

Ryan Keberle: Multicolored Tapestry

by R.J. DeLuke
September 16, 2013

Ryan Keberle is a musician with open ears, who listens to all kinds of music with the attitude that in most cases something can be learned from it. He listens as a fan and as a musician. It can be just to enjoy rock, alternative, pop, R&B or blues. But there might be a kernel of ...

Article: Live Review

North Sea Jazz Festival 2013

by R.J. DeLuke
July 30, 2013

North Sea Jazz FestivalAhoyRotterdam, the NetherlandsJuly 12-14, 2013The North Sea Jazz Festival is firmly entrenched as one of the best events anywhere for jazz lovers, and also for the music-makers themselves, who relish the atmosphere and the appreciative audiences that typically jam the thirteen venues running simultaneously in the mammoth Ahoy ...