aaj

aaj, 29 days ago to jazz

Album Review » Alice Coltrane: The Carnegie Hall Concert

The most perfect of time machines, with no errant destinations and no abrupt landings, The Carnegie Hall Concert transports one to a time when artists took their art seriously, when it was sacrosanct. Alice Coltrane's harp comes on like the siren lure of angels, like a missionary, calling all to stop their labor. It seems to say, "Come to listen, come to wonder, come to rest, don't be afraid." #jazz

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-carnegie-hall-concert-alice-coltrane-impulse-records

aaj, 1 month ago to jazz

Live Review: Bob Weir And Others At The Jazz Foundation Of America Gala Concert At The Apollo Theater

(Steve) Jordan was also in the drum seat for the unlikely closing set by Bob Weir the longtime #GratefulDead guitarist. The spoken introduction of Weir put into context his #jazz influences, saying—accurately—that his singular rhythm guitar style was shaped as much by the harmonic sophistication of pianist Bill Evans ...

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/bob-weir-and-others-at-the-jazz-foundation-of-america-gala-concert-at-the-apollo-theater

aaj, 2 months ago to jazz

Late-Period Art Pepper Box Sets

It is fitting that Art Pepper’s late and most productive period enjoyed this degree of documentation. Marginalized during the majority of his haphazard career, Pepper rose above the resistance to be recognized as a true #jazz original.

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/late-period-art-pepper-box-sets-art-pepper

aaj, 3 months ago to jazz

Album Review » London Afrobeat Collective: Esengo

Back in the day, when Fela Kuti invented Afrobeat—and yes, unlike practically every other music to emerge in the 20th century, Afrobeat was indeed the creation of one person—the music served two functions: to champion the rights and aspirations of post-colonial Black Africans, particularly those at the bottom of the pyramid, and to provide a soundtrack enabling any and everyone to have a good time. #jazz #afrobeat

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/esengo-london-afrobeat-collective-canopy-records

aaj, 7 months ago to jazz

Album Review
Charles Mingus: At Antibes 1960 Revisited

This live recording from 1960 at the Antibes Jazz Festival in Juan-les-Pins, France, has a power unique unto itself. One can almost feel the quintet on the verge of combustion, held together only by the force of nature that is bandleader Charles Mingus. The excellent restored sound returns the tracks to their original order, which allows the listener to enjoy the concert in the correct sequence. #jazz #Mingus

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/at-antibes-1960-revisited-charles-mingus-ezz-thetics__4489

aaj, 7 months ago to jazz

Born Today: Art Blakey
Instrument: Drums
Born: October 11, 1919
Died: October 16, 1990

Art’s driving rhythms and his incessant two and four beat on the high hat cymbals were readily identifiable from the outset and remained a constant throughout 35 years of Jazz Messengers bands. What changed constantly was a seeming unending supply of talented sidemen, many of whom went on to become band leaders in their own right. #jazz #drums

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/art-blakey

aaj, 7 months ago to jazz

Album Review
BlankFor.Ms - Jason Moran - Marcus Gilmore: Refract

Electroacoustic music gains a new modern perspective with the sonic marvel that is Refract, a collaborative effort between degraded tapes artist Tyler Gilmore, aka BlankFor.ms, pianist Jason Moran and Marcus Gilmore on drums. An experimental series of sketched shapes featuring hovering loops turned sound- blankets, drum-set turned beat-machine and piano... #jazz

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/refract-blankforms-jason-moran-marcus-gilmore-self-produced

aaj, 7 months ago to jazz

Live Review

Snarky Puppy At The Ogden Theater

Originality seems to be a guiding force for Snarky Puppy. That applies not just to the type of music they play in general, but it goes all the way down to preparation of set lists. Saturday night at the Ogden Theater, band leader, bassist and spokesman for the group, Michael League went out of his way to review with the audience past gigs in Denver... #jazz

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/snarky-puppy-at-the-ogden-theater

aaj, 7 months ago to Toronto

Album Review
Teri Parker: Shaping The Invisible

Here is how to take an artistic vision to the next level: Find a room with a lock on the door. Step inside. Engage the lock. Examine the work of those who came before you. Then begin the process of your own creativity.

This worked for pianist/composer Parker—so says her sophomore recording, Shaping The Invisible.

#toronto #jazz

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/shaping-the-invisible-teri-parker-self-produced

aaj, 8 months ago to jazz

History of Jazz
Shut Up, He Explained: On Talking Heads In Jazz Flicks

From #Jazz by Ken Burns and Geoffrey Ward to Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity, the recently-released documentary directed by Dorsay Alavi, one squirms on the sofa as a succession of talking heads—self-professed lovers of the art form and its practitioners—continually interrupt the music to talk.

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/shut-up-he-explained-on-talking-heads-in-jazz-flicks-wayne-shorter

aaj, 8 months ago to jazz

Album Review: Pharoah Sanders: Pharoah (Box Set)

With the passing of Pharoah Sanders in September 2022, almost a year ago at the time of writing, and bearing in mind advances in sound-restoration technology, we can anticipate a stream of previously unissued Sanders recordings being released in the years ahead. If this outstanding 2-CD / 2-LP box set is anything to go by, bring it on. #jazz #saxophone

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/pharoah-box-set-pharoah-sanders-luaka-bop

aaj, 9 months ago to jazz

Book Review
The Gerry Mulligan 1950s Quartets

Several are the biographies of Gerry Mulligan, arguably jazz's most celebrated baritone saxophonist. None, however, have focused as specifically and as closely as this tome does on the quartets with which Mulligan made his name in the 1950s. Such focused, detailed analysis is the bread and butter of author Alyn Shipton and Oxford University Press. #jazz #baritone #books

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-gerry-mulligan-1950s-quartets

aaj, 9 months ago to jazz

Busting Myths In #Jazz History: Focus On The Music
In the tradition of providing the basis of a liberal arts education, it is common for institutions of higher education in the United States to offer some type of music appreciation course in the undergraduate curriculum. In some instances, this may be an elective towards fulfilling a required number of credits within a larger category, such as the humanities or fine arts.

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/busting-myths-in-jazz-history-focus-on-the-music

aaj, 9 months ago to jazz

Live Review
Sun Ra Arkestra At SFJAZZ Center

Though on the surface, Dead & Company and the Sun Ra Arkestra—the first a Grateful Dead offshoot focusing on rock tunes featuring extended jams, the other an #avant-garde #jazz ensemble that remains ahead of its time—might seem really different, in fact they share surprising similarities.

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/sun-ra-arkestra-at-sfjazz-center

aaj, 9 months ago to jazz

Album Review
Tim Ray Trio: Fire & Rain

Boston-based pianist Tim Ray and his rhythm mates, bassist John Lockwood and drummer Mark Walker, have been performing together since 2013, and Fire & Rain is their second recording as a trio. Their years working arm-in-arm and side-by-side have spawned a symbiotic relationship, and it shows. #jazz

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/fire-and-rain-tim-ray-whaling-city-sound

aaj, 9 months ago to jazz

Album Review: Manuel Valera Quintet: Vessel

Valera's career as a leader moved up a notch when his band The New Cuban Express received a Grammy nomination in 2013 for Best Latin Jazz Album for their eponymous debut. Since then, Valera has continued to explore Latin and in particular Cuban-informed #jazz with small and large ensembles, while also recording in non-Latin situations.

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/vessel-manuel-valera-criss-cross

aaj, 9 months ago to jazz

Album Review: Chuck Owen And The WDR Big Band: Renderings

Anyone who uses YouTube to search for contemporary jazz must surely be familiar with Germany's blue-ribbon WDR Big Band. Bearing that in mind, it may come as no surprise to those seekers (and others) that the WDR's latest recording, on which it is paired with the esteemed Florida-based composer and arranger Chuck Owen, offers another master class in big-band artistry... #jazz #BigBand

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/renderings-chuck-owen-and-the-wdr-big-band-mama-records

aaj, 9 months ago to jazz

Album Review: Jacques Schwarz-Bart: The Harlem Suite

Tenor saxophonist Jacques Schwarz-Bart has lived in Paris, Senegal, and Switzerland as well as his native island of Guadeloupe, but his 18 years in Harlem were crucial to his life and career. It was there that he found himself at an inflection point in the dynamic music scene of the late '90s, playing with such transformative visionaries as Roy Hargrove, D'Angelo and MeShell NdegeOcello. #jazz

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-harlem-suite-jacques-schwarz-bart-ropeadope

aaj, 9 months ago to jazz

Album Review: Senri Oe: Class Of '88

Imagine a superstar musician, someone along the lines of Ed Sheeran perhaps. Then imagine him giving up his lifestyle and commercial success just to re-awaken his love for the #jazz musicians of his youth. You may think that was a difficult story to believe, but with #J-Pop superstar, Senri Oe, that is exactly what happened.

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/class-of-88-senri-oe-sony-music

aaj, 9 months ago to jazz

Album Review: Count Basie: Late Night Basie

Late Night Basie: great idea. Three tracks by the Basie Orchestra and four by other assorted groups: not-so-great idea. Enlisting Jazzmeia Horn to scat on the Basie classic "One O'Clock Jump": rather pointless. Compressing seven numbers (eight, actually) into a meager twenty-four—or perhaps more like twenty-eight—minutes (including a "bonus" track): head-scratching. #jazz

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/late-night-basie-count-basie-virgin-records

aaj, 9 months ago to jazz

Interview: A Fireside Chat With Tony Bennett

This interview was first published on All About Jazz in September 2001.

Tony Bennett hails from a period in Americana where style loomed larger than sustenance and men were less than men without a martini or scotch in one hand and a cigar or cigarette burning from the other. Those were the days. And although Tony was never a member of the "Rat Pack," he still had that swagger. #jazz

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/a-fireside-chat-with-tony-bennett

aaj, 9 months ago to jazz

Album Review: Mike Melito: To Swing Is The Thing

A sense of discovery, exhilaration, and depth are not qualities often induced by recent jazz recordings that showcase some of the once innovative, now commonplace styles from the mid-to-late twentieth century. There is no shortage of less-than-stellar releases that land squarely inside the bop/hard bop continuum. One notable exception is the body of work of drummer Mike Melito.
#jazz #drums

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/to-swing-is-the-thing-mike-melito-cellar-music-group__16343

aaj, 9 months ago to jazz

Play This! Luke Sellick And Andrew Renfroe: Wichita Lineman

While Jimmy Webb's classic is particularly eloquent as crooning tunes go, it makes a pretty and expressive piece of work even without the words. Luke Sellick and Andrew Renfroe fit it to their smooth-flowing down-home style (and vice versa), galloping at a brisk clip yet still keeping sight of the earnest wistfulness underneath. #jazz

ed. note: listen to this tune, and it will stick in your head for days!

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/luke-sellick-and-andrew-renfroe-wichita-lineman

aaj, 9 months ago to jazz

Album Review: Nina Simone: You've Got To Learn

The release of this magnificent album, recorded live at the Newport #Jazz Festival in 1966, is headline news for fans of Nina Simone. None of the material, all of it high grade, has been made available before. Newport promoter George Wein donated the tapes of Simone's performance to the US Library of Congress, where they lay forgotten until, following Wein's passing in 2021, Simone historian Nadine Cohodas unearthed them.

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/youve-got-to-learn-nina-simone-verve-records

aaj, 9 months ago to jazz

Live Review: Festival International De Jazz De Montréal 2023

The 2023 festival continued the broad offering of free shows that was so prominent last year. They were frequently strong enough to vie with the ticketed concerts (which were also quite diverse and featured marquee artists from #jazz and adjacent fields, as always). The festival is proud to boast that two-thirds of the concerts are free. They are certainly not all "free jazz," but they are accessible to all.

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/festival-international-de-jazz-de-montreal-2023-john-scofield