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For the Grand Prize: April Is . . . ?
by Jack Bowers
Did you know that April is Jazz Appreciation Month? Neither did I until I chanced upon a press release to that effect. According to the Smithsonian Institution's Smithsonian Jazz website, there are “celebrations in all 50 states and 40 countries." If I'm not mistaken, New Mexico is one of those 50 states, and no one here ...
Resonance Records: Non-Profit Jazz Label with a Mission
by Samuel Chell
It's a story often heard before: musically, these are the best and worst of times. Only this time, in 2010, it seems different. Even as the pool of fresh talent expands, jazz continues to witness a dearth of venues along with the slump in CD sales. Uncounted numbers of talented musicians, young and otherwise, are reduced ...
Ralph Lalama Quartet: The Audience
by C. Michael Bailey
Dexter Gordon achieved a post-bebop tenor saxophone sound that was Somewhere between the sleepy, vibrato-less tone of Lester Young and the falling-off- the-edge wail of John Coltrane. Yonkers native Ralph Lalama comes It is out of this tradition. On his fifth recording as a leader and his first release since 2008's successful Energy Fields (Mighty Quinn), ...
Keith Pray's Big Soul Ensemble: Live at the Lark Tavern
by Nicholas F. Mondello
There's something marvelously intimate and involving about hearing a swinging big band live in a smaller venue. It can be let-inhibitions-go dark, bump-elbow tight and, with food and drink circling about, noisy. Perhaps the big concert (big bucks?) format of the Radio Cities, Symphony Halls or Lincoln Centers--the stuff seen on PBS (American Public Television)--slightly diminishes ...
Peter Nero: The Laughter and The Challenges
by Victor L. Schermer
Part 1 | Part 2 In July 2009, All About Jazz published an interview with legendary pianist and Philly Pops maestro Peter Nero. That interview jumped between his early musical development and his current 30-year tenure as founder and music director of the Philly Pops. There wasn't time then to ask him about what ...
RG Royal Sound Orchestra: Impact
by Robert J. Robbins
Take a group of A-List Miami-based musicians--many of whom are alumni of the big bands of Woody Herman,Maynard Ferguson, and Stan Kenton)--combine them with guitarists and percussionists from Madrid,Spain, and the result is the RG Royal Sound Orchestra, making its debut withexactly what the title promises. The arrangements integrate Afro-Cuban rhythms, Iberian romanticism, and North American ...
Larry McKenna: Profile
by Victor L. Schermer
Tenor saxophonist Larry McKenna could well deserve a place among giants like Lester Young, Stan Getz, and Zoot Sims as a lyrical player whose artistry, precision, and interpretive capacities almost always exceed expectation. As Philadelphia DJ Bob Perkins states, in his liner notes to McKenna's Profile, “With Larry, the quality goes in before the McKenna name ...
The Four Freshmen: The Four Freshmen and Live Trombones
by Robert J. Robbins
Over six decades ago, four undergraduates at Indiana's Butler University first joined their voices in song as The Four Freshmen and, in 1950, the quartet was heard by Stan Kenton, on whose trombone section the “Frosh" had modeled their sound. Kenton immediately demanded that the group be signed by his label, Capitol, and began an association ...
Holiday Gift Guide 2009
by Jeff Fitzgerald, Genius
For many years, Your Own Personal Genius earned his drinking money by working retail. I've sold computers, appliances, furniture, mattresses, and kitchen cabinets; and in the process, became somewhat of a Grinch when it came to the material aspects of the holidays. Spending 14 hours a day in a store dealing with surly shoppers, an endless ...
Jazz Icons, Series 4
by Ken Dryden
Jazz Icons Series 4 Naxos 2009 The fourth volume of the Jazz Icons DVD series, available individually or in a boxed set, compiles live videos by seven jazz greats never issued commercially, all with detailed liner notes and a bumper crop of period photographs. The performances are in black and ...
