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Results for "The Independent Ear by Willard Jenkins"
The Best in Jazz Radio
Count me as one who still believes firmly in the sanctity of jazz radio. What constitutes an effective weekly jazz radio program? How do those charged with that responsibility make it happen? We'd like to hear from others around the jazz radio dial who'd like to weigh in on the subject. Either weigh in at the ...
Summer 2010 Taking a Toll on Jazz Ranks
he summer of 2010 has been a melancholy one in terms of friends and jazz warriors passing on to ancestry. Last weekend's loss of Abbey Lincoln, and prior to that her compadre Hank Jones were well-noted. Good friend and longtime Randy Weston African Rhythms and Basie band trombonist Benny Powell's passing, though at the ripe age ...
Jazz Venue Chronicles: Jazz is Alive in Alabama
There's a tendency among some to view the presentation of live jazz as purely an urban, major-market phenomenon. I've had the privilege of experiencing jazz in seemingly unlikely places since developing the first regional jazz service program, at Arts Midwest in the mid-80s. Since then one of the great pleasures of this work has been hearing ...
Staying the Course of Creativity: Esperanza Spalding
Bassist Esperanza Spalding has led a bit of a whirlwind artistic life for one so young and fresh off their second release as a leader. Esperanza, the singing bassist's sophomore release on Heads Up was rather promising, if a bit all over the map--as freshman label releases often are. It proved to be a good calling ...
A Portal to Jazz in New York City
Plain and simple folks, as I've been preaching for many moons, the biggest issue facing jazz music is not a matter of lack of gigs or venues, dying record companies or jazz masters checking out for ancestry, or the lack of widespread 24/7 jazz radio; the biggest issue is audience, and our collective ability to grow ...
Jazz Venue Chronicles: Monday Nights in Silver Spring
Continuing our investigation of folks who are endeavoring to present jazz in non-traditional ways and non-traditional venues (ala Search and Restore), our series of conversations with what has become a seemingly rare breed over the last 40 years -- African Americans who present jazz on their stages--this installment is our chat with emerging young vocalist Chad ...
Advance Praise for African Rhythms...
COMING IN OCTOBER on Duke University Press: An as-told-to autobiography Composed by Randy Weston; Arranged by Willard Jenkins “Randy Weston is a magical, spiritual, ebullient, and generous soul who just happens to be one of the most original composers and pianists of the last sixty years. African Rhythms is his fascinating story in his own voice--a ...
He Just Keeps Gettin' Up: Pianist/Composer/Bandleader Orrin Evans
Last Tuesday evening at the Jazz Standard, fortified by a plate of succulent ribs and amidst an appreciative audience, sonic rewards were plentiful from pianist Orrin Evans once again offering ample evidence that his arc continues on the rise. That evening and the next at the agreeable East Side joint, Evans piloted a rough & ready ...
The Case for Hubert Laws
The 2011 class of National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters, the highest honor this country bestows on living jazz artists and advocates, is not without controversy. There's been much conversation about the unprecedented elevation of the entire Marsalis Family; and just the other day while doing some research at the Institute of Jazz Studies at ...
Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne
Though still in progress with James Gavin's thick new volume on the life & times of the recently departed ancestor Lena Horne, several in-progress observations give high marks to the writer's thorough, detailed efforts. Gavin, who penned the equally-rewarding Chet Baker bio The Long Night of Chet Baker, details La Horne's vivid and often troubling life, ...
