As Wynton Marsalis approaches his 61st birthday, his career as an ambassador and curator of jazz history, its seminal importance and influence as an original American art form, has been both critical and essential. Beyond his accomplishments as a supremely gifted trumpeter and composer, stellar performer & veteran band,...
Conversations
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Interview with Mary Halvorson: Compositional adventures in modern experimental jazz & beyond
Experimental jazz guitarist, composer and ensemble bandleader Mary Halvorson has evolved her individual style and pushed an incredibly varied direction in musical expression over the course of numerous projects since 2005. Finding significant critical attention in 2017, 2018, and 2019, by virtue of consecutive wins in DownBeat’s International Critics...
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New England Conservatory’s Artist in Residence program sets example of excellence
New England Conservatory in Boston is recognized as one of the top music schools in the country, and at the forefront of leadership in educating and training musicians of all ages from around the world. NEC’s music students represent more than 40 countries, and per its mission statement, it...
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Randy Brecker Interview: Jazz-Funk master and shaping the sound of jazz for 4 Decades
Jazz trumpeter and composer, Randy Brecker, has been at the center of seminal jazz-funk groups with his late brother Michael (on saxophone) through the mid-‘70s and early ‘80s. Brecker has helped shape the sound of jazz, R&B, and rock for more than four decades. Playing both trumpet and flugelhorn,...
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Dewey Bunnell of America Talks 50 Years of Exceptional Harmonies (INTERVIEW)
A perfect match was found between the intimate setting of The Cabot theater, in Beverly, MA., and the distinctive mellow sound of the folk-rock band, America, on their 50th Anniversary tour. This newly renovated 850 seat theater, from the 1920’s art-deco period, offered an acoustically exceptional and cozy...
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“Free” Jazz saxophonist Jon Irabagon channels Charlie Parker in Black Hills
When I started playing fast out in the canyon it just didn’t make sense at first. I had to stop and say ‘this doesn’t feel right’—like this open ravine with river doesn’t give a crap about bebop. —Jon Irabagon An un-planned flight from peak Covid spread in New York...
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George Wein: A Life And Legend In Jazz
Last summer, in June of 2017, I had the privilege and opportunity to interview George Wein, founder and producer of the seminal Newport Jazz Festival. At 91, he was just in the process of supporting and transitioning the new artistic director Christian McBride into this demanding and critical role...
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Jazz with a mission: An Interview with Danilo Pérez
Where do gifted musicians go to become student leaders of a world community and affect positive social change? The Berklee Global Jazz Institute in Boston, founded by Grammy-award winning jazz pianist, composer, professor and educator Danilo Pérez, through a curriculum that includes world-music exploration from roots up, to arrangements...
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GALADRIELLE ALLMAN’S – “PLEASE BE WITH ME: A SONG FOR MY FATHER”
“He could play rhythm, acoustic, anything you want,”… “He couldn’t read a chart but he had this amazing talent. You hear this all the time but Duane really had it. He’d hear a song one time and you didn’t have to tell him – you play any chord in...
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Conversation with Carl Griffin
THE LAUNCH OF A NEW JAZZ LABEL: A CONVERSATION WITH LEGENDARY CARL GRIFFIN What’s it like to launch a new jazz recording label? A conversation with Legendary three-time Grammy award winning record producer Carl Griffin By Doug Hall In the Brave New World of digital music, streaming radio stations...
