This time, the Resonance Records producers, dedicated and fastidious as is their wont, worked against a deadline to release yet another one of their always-significant albums of previously recorded, but until-now unknown to the public, masterful jazz performances. The deadline? April 22, 2022. The performer? Charles Mingus. The occasion? Mingus’s …
With a career spanning two continents before he was 20, arrangements that received awards from both Downbeat (2021) and the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers (2021) while still a student, and compositions described as “on a scale with Everglades by Terence Blanchard,” (Gary Lowe, WUNH), composer, bandleader, and saxophonist Simeon Nathanael Davis makes a profound compositional debut with “Of Narratives & Nocturnes.”
New York saxophonist Daniel Bennett has been hailed as one of the most original and unpredictable musical voices of his generation. The Daniel Bennett Group will headline a series of ‘Jazz Appreciation Month’ concerts in Wisconsin. The trio will perform a masterclass and concert at the Hedberg Library (Janesville, WI) on …
Ira Sullivan was inimitable in many ways. One of those ways was that he knew who he was and what was important in his life, and he made his lifelong decisions based upon his steadfast values. Without a doubt having been deserving of the National Endowment of the Arts’ Jazz …
“A powerful voice has arrived on the jazz scene, and he’s a bad dude.” –Jimmy Heath Called “an old spirit in a young man’s body,” Jazz saxophonist, educator, composer and arranger Tim Mayer has dedicated his life’s work to mastering the language of Jazz as a saxophonist. This becomes evident …
Los Angeles-based jazz collective TRITONE ASYLUM’s newest album, THE HIDEAWAY SESSIONS, comprises an eclectic mix of original jazz compositions penned by the group’s founders, EVI player PHIL TOPPING and bassist PETER SEPSIS. Topping and Sepsis wanted to create an album that is both accessible for the average listener and appealing …
Juan Escovedo has released his first solo CD, THE J, on November 8, 2021, at his official record release party with two sold-out shows in Oakland. This CD elevates your soul with a masterfully crafted sound and rhythm meticulously created with an orchestra of seasoned sound that promises to take …
One of the most versatile and accomplished drummers you may not have heard of is releasing his first album in 22 years. But you no doubt have heard him during his musical career. On albums or during concerts with Joni Mitchell, Aretha Franklin, Bill Cunliffe, Thad Jones, and many others. …
Cairn University presents “An Evening of Jazz and Gospel Music” on March 13 at 6pm at GraceWay Bible Church (1934 Klockner Rd, Hamilton Township, NJ). The concert is organized by New York saxophonist Daniel Bennett and gospel choir director Deion Payton. Cairn University recently enlisted Daniel Bennett to lead the jazz program at the …
Always unpredictable and free thinking, who else but Mostly Other People Do the Killing would produce with precisely matched tempos a note-by-note re-recording of one of jazz tradition’s most hallowed albums of all time, Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue? Who else would challenge the accepted groupthink of jazz wisdom that …
Even though they constitute the bulwark of most jazz groups, grounding them in rhythm and atmosphere, bass players appear to be the most modest of musicians, rarely attaining the recognition of guitar, horn and keyboard players, not to mention drummers, except for outsized personalities like Jaco Pastorius or Charles Mingus. …
Virtuoso trombonist ERIC GOLETZ is releasing A NEW LIGHT, his second CD as a leader. After a 30-year career as a studio musician and first-call horn player in New York City, Goletz released his debut CD, Into the Night, in March of 2021. Brimming with ideas and unstoppable energy, Goletz …
Personal responses to music assume numerous forms based on individual experiences or the spirit of the music. Celebratory music inspires dancing; spiritual music, prayer; blues, relief from pain; crooning, romance; dirges, grief; percussiveness, acoustic communication, sometimes coded; Muzak, manufactured calming relief from uncomfortable silence; rock, energy; free music, freedom; marches, …
Is that Jack McDuff playing? No, it’s Alberto Marsico. Marsico, a native of Turin, Italy, has been deeply influenced by McDuff’s sound, so much so that he attended one of McDuff’s week-long workshops in 1994. Marsico’s passion for jazz was the cause for his recent friendship with fellow musician, Jeremy …
Amid an abundance of first-rate young jazz guitarists, Graham Dechter’s third album, Major Influence, with its swinging irresistibility, provides another reason for his broader recognition. Influenced by a previous generation’s straight-ahead guitarists like Herb Ellis, Barney Kessel, Wes Montgomery and Grant Green, Dechter’s performance on Major Influence projects not only …
A lot of people say that music is their life; for trombonist and vocalist Ron Wilkins, it’s the absolute truth. In 2020, Ron came down with COVID while traveling and went into a medically induced coma. Doctors predicted the worst, and much to everyone’s delight and amazement, he woke up …
