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Results for "The Independent Ear by Willard Jenkins"
Who Shot Miles?
From 1965-1985 one of the New York metro area's hotspots for live jazz was the Blue Coronet in Brooklyn—the Bedford-Stuyvesant community to be exact. Sometimes I wonder if perhaps Brooklyn should be labeled the Second City instead of Chicago, given the backseat that storied borough so often takes to its little sister Manhattan (Brooklyn being by ...
DC Jazz Festival Closes with an Absolute Blast!
The 7th annual DC Jazz Festival, under the prescient guidance of Charlie Fishman and Sunny Sumter (who though still a young woman, insists she has “retired" as a jazz vocalist, but we still hold out hope...) closed last Monday evening with the DC tour appearance of “A Night in Treme." Assembled to take a good chunk ...
"Africa's Grandest Gathering!"
Striving to live up to its boast as “Africa's grandest gathering" the 2011 edition of the Cape Town International Jazz Festival presented a rich cornucopia of sounds—including jazz, jazz extensions and jazz cousins in a colorful melange. Being an inveterate crowd watcher comes with the territory for those who present jazz, and particularly jazz festivals, and ...
Canadian Chanteuse Does Nina Proud
Nina Simone was one of the more thoroughly unique and singular artists of the 20th century. Her legacy lives on in many corners; radio programmers such as WPFW's Miyuki Williams ("A Sunday Kind of Love") steadfastly and earnestly uphold and celebrate that legacy. The stories from those who knew her are legendary. There was no one ...
PT. 2 Fab 5 Freddy: Jazz Upbringing @ The Roots of Hip Hop
In part one (scroll down or check the archives) of our lively conversation with Fab 5 Freddy, the graffiti artist who was one of the pioneers of what has become the global pop phenomenon known as hip hop we discussed the heavy jazz influence on young Fred’s Brooklyn upbringing, which included the significant influence of his ...
2011 Lost Jazz Shrines Series Features the World of Matt Wilson
Lost Jazz Shrines㬉th Season 52nd Street in the Modern Mode BMCC Tribeca PAC's Lost Jazz Shrines series pays homage to the legendary jazz haunts, musicians, and influences of the 52nd Street jazz scene in its heyday from the 1930's through the early 1950's. Artistic Director: Willard Jenkins. Musical Director: Matt Wilson. Part One: MULTIMONK Friday, May ...
New Honor for Randy Weston
NEA JAZZ MASTER RANDY WESTON TO RECEIVE HIS MAJESTY KING MOHAMMED VI'S HONOR FOR HIS LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO MOROCCO'S GNAOUA MUSIC TRADITION ON MAY 11 The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF), New York's premiere French cultural center, welcomes leading Moroccan cultural and intellectual figures for a series of talks from May 1-21 on the occasion of ...
Jazz Influence @ The Roots of Hip Hop
Back in the early 80s, when hip hop was in its nascent stage, a young man who grew up in Brooklyn—definitely one of the root beds of the form—named Fred Brathwaite, Jr. was making his moves that cutting edge. Originally an aspiring graffitti artist, young Fred immersed himself in those early experiments, basment-rapping with an aspiring ...
Randy Weston Captures Prestigious Guggenheim
NEA Jazz Master Randy Weston has been announced as a 2011 recipient of the prestigious Guggenheim fellowship award. This particular award is a purpose-driven honorarium and Randy does indeed have big plans for his Guggenheim. I spoke with Weston recently on this subject after he'd surprised me with the great news in the midst of a ...
Last Weekend in DC... Delights of the Garden
Last weekend was a great one to be in DC! Friday evening at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History's Baird Auditorium, it was Bay Area percussionist John Santos (see his earlier Independent Ear Q&A feature on his recent folkloric exploration “La Esperanza”) speaking the truth about Afro-Caribbean music and it’s multi- hued expressions as filtered through ...
