Jazz Video of the Day

Ennui

TRi/O
Duration: 6:51

An All About Jazz premier! From the October 16th release of Try the Veal by TRi/O, a collaborative groove-based contemporary jazz & funk outing from three New York musicians (Steve Shapiro on vibraphone and mallet keyboards, virtuoso 5-string bassist Dave Anderson, and drummer Tyger MacNeal). “Ennui,” is an original track that utilizes loops along with spontaneous live playing. Listen and view this creative tribal jam that unfolds into an extended electric mallet solo!

Majel Connery Live from Berkeley

Majel Connery
Duration: 17:30

The songs on this set straddle different eras of composition for me. “This Kind of Love" and “Rebeam Me" come out of my 2019 album, Anything Chartreuse, featuring vocoder ballads with lyrics by Brad Balliett. These songs are floaty and atmospheric, and a bit melancholy. “He Had Had Gone" and “I Was Recognizing" are part of a later collaboration with poet Jeff Dolven, whose writing has often served as a muse to me. With these songs, I was beginning to write for drums and taking a more upbeat approach. “Euphoria," my most recent song, was born during quarantine, and helped me find a place of positivity during rough times. “Euphoria" also features buchla tracks (the buchla is a very, very early synthesizer) by my friend James Fowler. Finally, “The Umbrella Man" is a cover of a tune my grandma used to sing to me; it was first written in 1924.

Nada Será Como Antes

Ricardo Bacelar
Duration: 6:06

Ricardo Bacelar and Delia Fischer .

The audience is growing

Chris Abelen
Duration: 00:45

This project comes with a story. (I read somewhere stories are very 2020.)

It’s a story about why someone would pick the slide trombone. It’s a cool instrument, has a great sound, and it looks good on TV with the slide moving back and forth. But it also comes with built-in limitations, compared to, say, trumpet. You’ll never play as fast as a trumpet player can. Trumpet, it takes one push on a valve to change a note; on trombone you have to move the slide about four inches to get the same result, and you’ll still hear a glissando. If your goal is to play at the same speed as a trumpet player, buy a valve trombone, problem solved. Of course you can start to practice slide trombone like an idiot but it will never sound the same; you’ll have to fake the speed with a combination of (doodle) tonguing, ghost notes and playing softly. And when you do reach the point where you can play fast, no one will care except other trombonists: Wow, did you hear how up-tempo they played that? Give them a medal, or send them to a circus. So: either buy a valve trombone, or (better yet) accept the limitations and start making music. Tell a story. Nowadays everybody’s doing that. About the brief program: At first I’d intended to record more sessions, but after some extensive listening to these five tracks I decided that this is it—that more solo trombone would be a (boring) recap of what I’d played already, unless I try to play fast, wrecking my own story. Meanwhile I’ve been working on finishing my Bye bye Bloomingdale project for trombone and electronics. So if The audience is growing leaves you wanting more solo trombone, it’s on the way.

–Chris Abelen / July 2020

Paper Doll

Kathy Ingraham
Duration: 24:36

Jazz vocalist and composer, Kathy Ingraham's album Paper Doll is a smoldering and masterful production that reflects her vocal prowess and pays homage to the legacy of the legends in this genre while carving a space that is uniquely hers.

Stardust

Kathy Ingraham
Duration: 5:49

Jazz vocalist and composer, Kathy Ingraham's album Paper Doll is a smoldering and masterful production that reflects her vocal prowess and pays homage to the legacy of the legends in this genre while carving a space that is uniquely hers.

Joker

Sal La Rocca
Duration: 2:06

A sneak peek at bassist Sal La Rocca's new band, SLR 5, and their upcoming release Joker with Maayan Smith (tenor saxophone), Phil Abraham (trombone), Igor Gehenot (piano), Noam Israeli (drums) and Sal La Rocca (bass).