Internationally acclaimed saxophonist and woodwindist Sharel Cassity’s new release, “Gratitude”, out March 28th on Sunnyside Records, shares with audiences and listeners a conversation of joy, hope, and celebration. Joining Cassity on the release are eight-time Grammy-award-winning bassist and composer Christian McBride, drummer Lewis Nash, and pianist Cyrus Chestnut as well …
This year marks a monumental milestone in jazz history as we celebrate what would have been the 100th birthday of the legendary James Moody. A true innovator, Moody left an enduring mark on the world of jazz with his exceptional skills as a saxophonist, flutist, and composer. From his iconic …
It’s not that regional big bands are making a comeback. Regional big bands—with top-notch musicians, imaginative compositions, and unique sounds—have never gone away. Many of them, like Count Basie’s Kansas City band or King Oliver’s New Orleans band, moved to bigger cities, where larger audiences and more lucrative opportunities existed. …
Chiaroscuro: illumination and darkness. Saxophonist Noah Preminger has always explored sonic contrasts of brightness and shadows to explore human emotions—not to the rigid extreme of tenebrism, but instead, through investigations of the shades in between. Ever since Preminger released his first album, Dry Bridge Road, soon after he graduated from …
THE WINDY CITY’S OLDEST CONTINUOUSLY OPERATING JAZZ ORCHESTRA — HELMED BY FOUNDER & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR JEFF LINDBERG — PAYS HOMAGE TO ONE OF THE GREATEST JAZZ GUITARISTS OF ALL TIME TO BE RELEASED MARCH 28 VIA CHICAGO JAZZ ORCHESTRA RECORDS The Chicago Jazz Orchestra (CJO), under the direction of Jeff …
In the booklet contained within Elemental Music’s package of Sun Ra’s recordings in Chicago, Marshall Allen, one of the musicians who succeeded Ra in leading his orchestra, states that “Rawas preparing the band for the 21st century.” Well, now is the 21st century. And a new generation of listeners is …
Unexpectedly, the pause in their plans to record Sanctuary was beneficial, as violinist Jason Anick and pianist Jason Yeager later realized. The hard stop that the COVID pandemic imposed upon the world allowed the two musicians to rethink the project and to observe the catastrophic ways that the first-in-a-century epidemic …
The mission of Resonance Records encompasses not only first-time releases of forgotten recorded performances by acknowledged jazz masters like Sonny Rollins or Wes Montgomery. It also provides opportunities for the current generation to discover jazz greats who didn’t attain comparable levels of public awareness. Guitarist Emily Remler eminently deserves appreciation …
One would expect a jazz master like Delfeayo Marsalis to spread his influence beyond the borders of his hometown, New Orleans, to capture the world’s attention, as have his brothers Branford, Wynton, and Jason. As has had jazz itself. When in the nineteenth century Louis Armstrong and other New Orleans …
Appropriately released during the college football season, the Visions Jazz Ensemble’s Across the Field re-imagines 13 college fight songs traditionally performed by college and university marching bands. No doubt, many of the members of these marching bands—and members of many many others throughout the country who take to the fields …
