In the jazz community, innumerable legendary bandleaders are familiar to jazz fans, yet often, it’s the sidemen at the core of that bandleader’s trio, quartet, or orchestra. At 83, Kenny Barron, pianist, composer, educator, and NEA jazz master, is the current statesman of piano accompaniment in jazz and a...
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Gregory Porter: Delivers humanity with resounding depth of emotion and range of tone
In the music world, particularly in the R&B and Soul genres, the foundation of church gospel in the early lives of African-American vocalists is widespread. Aretha Franklin, Toni Braxton, Diana Ross, Whitney Houston, and Sam Cooke all had their musical beginnings in local neighborhood churches that served their communities,...
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Billie Holiday: ‘Lady Sings the Blues, She Tells Her Side, Nothing to Hide’
Often in jazz, when identifying the soaring range or virtuosity or power of a vocalist, these gifts are accepted as a skill set that is necessary to impart the depth and complication of song material. Through 1930s to her death in 1959, Billie Holiday, singing within a vocal range...
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The persona of Chet Baker is in his moody trumpet melodies and sorrow-ridden crooning.
Common in the jazz world–and the wider music industry, to be sure–there are personal story arcs that are dramatically tragic, until the musician manages to rebound and reestablish their career. But if any one musician could carry a legacy that contradicted his early youthful Hollywood-handsome visage that hid a...
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Count Basie: Taking Big Band to Swing with the Blues on the Dance Floor
“Swing” in jazz, for the audience on a dance floor, is often described as an emotional response, with foot-tapping, dancing to a rhythm and a propulsive “feel” to the beat. There is no greater contributor or bandleader for this big-band sound than the legendary Count Basie – jazz pianist,...
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Julian Lage : Avoiding labels and channeling jazz muse on the fretboard
When a younger, established guitar phenomenon has a wide band of inclusion with other varied guitarists, including Jim Hall, Nels Cline, and Leo Kottke, it is a recognition that their ear has an expansive and deep listening range. Julian Lage (rhymes with beige), as a child prodigy on guitar,...
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The Newport Jazz Festival again delivers range of genre and beyond!!! – along with(as always) exceptional musicianship
The 2023 Newport Jazz Festival was a thriving demonstration of the stewardship of artistic director Christian McBride. In keeping with the vein of the late founder and director George Wein, McBride continues to pick a broad range of new talent, rising stars, and legends, providing the variety and excellence...
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Ahmad Jamal: A Genius of his instrument
In the 1940s, at a time when Bebop was ascending in popularity as the new direction in modern jazz, with its flurry of notes, frantically fast tempo and extended solos, a distinctive and original artist and pianist was turning in another direction. Ahmad Jamal, with his stately, economic, and...
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Burt Bacharach: Famous songsmith for chart-topping pop songs, also “dug” jazz
In the 1960s, the word “songsmith” was a definition often given to folk music artists such as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, or Neil Young, tied with their overt political and social critiques. Burt Bacharach would easily capture that title in the era of pop songs made famous for their...
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Jazz Pianist Danilo Pérez Reflects On His Mentor- The Late Wayne Shorter (INTERVIEW)
The voice, tone, and phrasing—in effect, the signature sound of the saxophone have distinguished a number of artists. The late Wayne Shorter, having recently passed away at the age of 89 on March 2nd, has been a profound force of interpretation on the tenor, and later, the soprano saxophone,...
