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The Rippingtons: Built to Last

by Ernest Barteldes
Bandleader, guitarists and songwriter Russ Freeman pulls no stops on the Rippingtons' 25th anniversary release, Built to Last, featuring a full orchestra to complement the sound of his compositions, has he runs the gamut of the sounds that have influenced him throughout the years, moving from movie score-like tunes to heavy metal, country & western and ...
Bob Baldwin: Betcha By Golly Wow - The Music of Thom Bell

by Jeff Winbush
Bob BaldwinBetcha By Golly Wow: The Songs Of Thom BelleOne2012New urban jazz keyboardist Bob Baldwin disdains the smooth jazz" moniker, but that doesn't necessarily mean he isn't familiar with the conventions of the genre. He's got ideas that don't have a thing to do with cranking out infinite ...
Heiner Stadler: Brains on Fire

by Hrayr Attarian
Heiner StadlerBrains on FireLabor Records2012One of the most exciting reissues of the first quarter of 2012 is composer and pianist Heiner Stadler's pioneering Brains on Fire, originally released in 1973. The two-CD reissue adds three lengthy, previously unreleased tracks and informative and well-researched liner notes by critic Howard ...
"Modern Sounds," or: Running a Marathon in Full Body Armor
by Jack Bowers
From October 19-25 Betty and I were at the Los Angeles Marriott Airport Hotel to attend Modern Sounds, the L.A. Jazz Institute's four-day salute to West Coast jazz, followed by a day-long tribute to Stan Kenton on the hundredth anniversary of the legendary bandleader's birth. We arrived a day early to be primed and ready for ...
BuJazzO: That's German for Swinging Big Band Jazz
by Jack Bowers
On August 8, my friend Wes Pfarner and I drove to Santa Fe for a once-in-a lifetime event: a performance by the German Federal Youth Jazz Orchestra, better known to big band enthusiasts by its more condensed and colorful name, BuJazzO. The twenty-piece ensemble, directed by Jiggs Whigham, an American trombonist and educator from Cleveland, Ohio, ...
Jazz Masters To Teach Career-Altering Workshops For Aspiring Guitar Students At New Whistler Jazz Festival

The inaugural Jazz On The Mountain At Whistler invites aspiring guitar students from across North America to apply for 70 coveted spots within the Master Class Series, taking place September 2 to 4, 2011 in Whistler, BC. Over the course of six workshops, students will learn from some of jazz music's most well-known guitar virtuosos Kevin ...
Let's Give Thanks for the DVD
by Jack Bowers
As there isn't much to report--well, nothing, actually--about big bands this month, I'll use the space to say a few words in praise of the DVD. Yes, I know there aren't a whole lot of jazz DVDs on the market, especially big band videos, but there are a few, and I'm grateful for every one of ...
John McNeil and Bill McHenry: Chill Morn He Climb Jenny

by Raul d'Gama Rose
Navigating the wide avenue of American Song can be boring, because the same charts appear on album after album; but when musicians either pick little-known charts of the celebrated composers of the American Songbook, or add little-known composers to that musical tome, things get quirky, but utterly refreshing. This is exactly the case in point regarding ...
Lorraine Feather: The Girl With the Lazy Eye

by Carl L. Hager
While writing the tune Scrabble" for her recently released CD Ages (Jazzed Media, 2010), lyricist and singer Lorraine Feather's songwriting partner, Dick Hyman, had an unusual request that bordered on a dare: could she work the name of the venerable pianist/composer's family friend Dushka into the lyrics? After all, the middle section of his stride composition ...
My Best Jazz Experiences Through the Decades

by Larry Taylor
I've been a jazz fan since I was a teenager in the late forties, growing up in Southern California. From grammar school on, I listened to pop tunes of the day--the hit parade songs and big band music that were in the air on the radio. As I entered junior high, I became ...