Now in its 45th season, Boston Lyric Opera is the largest and longest-lived opera company in New England. Standing away from popular themes, BLO’s programming has remained faithful to the tradition of trailblazing new ground and offering new ways to enhance the opera-going experience. Always pursuing productions on the...
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Doug Hall’s review of the 2022 Newport Jazz Festival
As the first performers took to the stages (Fort, Harbor and Quad) artistic director of the Newport Jazz Festival, Christian McBride made his rounds to welcome the return of a sold-out several days of top tier jazz at Fort Adams in Newport. Having been hand-selected, in 2017, by founder,...
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Jazz/Pop Cross-over Sax artist Grace Kelly – Using Social Media to Connect with fans around the globe
Watching live performances of featured artists in jazz, certain musicians command your attention with their physical presence, effortlessly able to exude enormous energy. Grace Kelly, saxophonist, singer, and bandleader, has been sharing that sustained personal intensity on stage since her teens. Kelly has a unique combination of passionate energy...
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Iconic Jazz Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis Talks Current State of Jazz, Improv & Role As Agent For Change (INTERVIEW)
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,...
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Cécile McLorin Salvant: A Sublime Vocal Exploration, Not seeking definition – But Change
Looking at the substantially self-guided career of a young performer, with as many upper-tier awards, recognition and accolades to her credit as she’s earned, Cécile McLorin Salvant, at 32, has a critical reputation beyond her years. Aside from her vocal gift for phrasing and an unmatched richness, quality, and...
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Joey DeFrancesco: Philly funk and soul master on the Hammond B3 organ
The music world abounds with references to Philly soul or Philly funk and its heritage of legendary musicians. Philly jazz musicians have also earned such iconic references. But there is one contemporary recording artist, constantly touring with top-shelf talent and held by most jazz musicians as a virtuoso on...
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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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Charles Mingus: Jazz’s Underdog and Compositional Giant
If a compositional work of music such as a 500-page score was discovered in our current era, that when arranged and performed would be 2.5 hours long and require 30 musicians to perform, you’d assume this was a classical piece for a symphony. Yet Epitaph is a composition by...
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Stan Getz: The melodic phrase master – the “Sound” never out of style
Known for his lyrical and relaxed style on the tenor saxophone, exceptional improvisor and seminal influence on his instrument, Lester Young, “The Prez,” was interviewed in a Paris hotel room just two months before he died. In response to a question about big bands like Count Basie’s Orchestra, where...
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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...
