Home » Search Center » Results: Victor L. Schermer
Results for "Victor L. Schermer"
Greg Osby: Saxophone “Griot”
by Victor L. Schermer
The griot is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet and/or musician, a repository of oral tradition who is often seen as a societal leader. Saxophonist Greg Osby recently was excited to meet some griots on his travels. While he is originally from St. Louis, he himself is a griot in many senses of the ...
Jazz: The Sacred and the Profane
by Victor L. Schermer
“As above, so below" --Hermes Trismegistus A warning: this article is worth reading only if you believe, as I do, that jazz is not just a form of entertainment, but an art form that has deep significance for our lives and contributes to our search for meaning. I fully appreciate the value of “digging ...
Jackie Ryan and the Larry McKenna Quartet at Chris’ Jazz Café
by Victor L. Schermer
Jackie Ryan and the Larry McKenna Quartet Chris' Jazz Café Philadelphia, PA April 23, 2016 Jackie Ryan is acquiring a reputation as a “must hear" vocalist. When this reviewer heard DJ Bob Perkins ("BP with the GM") praise her singing on WRTI, he decided to attend her show at Chris' ...
Miles Ahead: A Powerhouse Film, But is it the Truth?
by Victor L. Schermer
Don Cheadle Miles Ahead Sony Pictures Classics 2015 Miles Davis happens to have been actor Don Cheadle's long-time hero, and he mulled over the idea of a film about him for several years. In contemplating his directorial and screenwriting debut based on Davis' life, Cheadle could have chosen among several formats: ...
Drummer Stan Levey Improvised His Life with a Steady Beat
by Victor L. Schermer
Stan Levey: Jazz Heavyweight Frank R. Hayde 224 Pages ISBN: # 13-978-1595800862 Santa Monica Press 2016 The word “Heavyweight" in the title of this fast-paced biography of the late great jazz drummer Stan Levey is not just a metaphor for his reputation as a musician. Levey, in addition ...
Jazz Cosmos: Music and Modern Physics
by Victor L. Schermer
To the memory of Leonard Bernstein, the greatest musical educator of all time, a great conductor and composer who loved jazz and whose televised lectures brought a whole generation of listeners into insightful contact with the music. Maybe you remember how astrophysicist Carl Sagan's vision of “billions and billions of stars" captured the awesome ...
The Pat Martino Quintet at Chris’ Jazz Café
by Victor L. Schermer
The Pat Martino Quintet Chris' Jazz Cafe Philadelphia, PA March 26, 2016 Legendary guitarist Pat Martino has traversed several musical landscapes in a career spanning more than five decades. He went from being a mind-blowing newcomer in the Harlem and soul blues jazz scene in the sixties to a major ...
Vocalist Sinne Eeg at Chris’ Jazz Cafe
by Victor L. Schermer
Sinne Eeg Trio Chris' Jazz Cafe Philadelphia, PA March 23, 2016 Sincerity, authenticity, and fidelity to tradition are qualities seriously lacking in what's left of jazz in America today. Computers, unbridled capitalistic exploitation, and a massive field of competing talent have led too many musicians to seek audiences through entertainment, ...
Philadelphia Orchestra: Mahler's "Symphony of a Thousand"
by Victor L. Schermer
Philadelphia Orchestra Mahler Symphony No. 8 ("Symphony of a Thousand") Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Verizon Hall Philadelphia, PA March 13, 2016 Gustav Mahler wasn't shy. The massive number of singers and musicians required for this Symphony (over four hundred for this performance) and its approximately hour and ...
Dave Liebman Expansions at Chris’ Jazz Café
by Victor L. Schermer
Dave Liebman Expansions Chris' Jazz Cafe Philadelphia, PA March 11, 2016 The pleasure of hearing Dave Liebman with his personally honed groups is that despite or because of personnel changes, they never stop transforming and expanding in scope and depth. In this incarnation of Liebman's now legendary groups, in addition to ...
