Jazz News (3312)
Find out what's going on in the world of jazz through industry press releases, news stories, and staff viewpoints.
In 2001, a duet CD hit the European shelves. Each CD was sold with a small pack of tissues. Its title, "Hard to Say Goodbye, the Very Best of Toots Thielemans and Kenny Werner." Verve Music Group, North Sea Jazz. With the concurrent release in the United States on March 5, 2002, Americans will now understand what the European community has known for a very long time; the album is one of the most emotionally breathtaking CDs ever recorded, and the pairing of the beloved Toots Thielemans and K …
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Sirius Satellite Radio features seven channels of jazz and blues music. One of them is called "Cafe Jazz," which caters to the smooth jazz enthusiast. I have had a chance to hear both "Cafe Jazz" and its competetor, XM Satellite Radio's "Watercolors," and I was very impressed with the diversity of "Cafe Jazz." If I was to program a smooth jazz station, "Cafe Jazz is the way I would program it. It is a great mixture of instrumental and vocal jazz that goes beyond the normal music range of smooth …
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First, I would like to thank you for taking the courage to bring the smooth jazz format to your station. With other radio stations in the area sounding alike, I like the fact that your station knows there is an audience for music above what is being played on the radio. It seems that radio statons either play rock, country or contemporary and not realize that there are people older than 30 who don't want to hear news and talk all day and can't relate to music that was done before the 1950's. You …
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The polls are open for the public to choose the best smooth jazz artists of the year. 2002 marks the 3rd time for The National Smooth Jazz Awards Show. This year’s event will take place at the Golden Hall in San Diego California on March 2, 2002 at 7 PM (Pacific Time). Hosted by Mr. Personality himself, saxman Dave Koz and broadcast nationally on all participating smooth jazz radio stations, this show should be an event to remember.Stay tuned to your local smooth jazz radio station where …
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In 1983, Jazz pianist-composer G. Francis Mlely was on a solo piano concert tour of Europe, when midway along he received information that caused him to suddenly abandon the tour and, because of subsequent events, to leave off playing professionally for nearly two decades. Mlely's 3rd album, "Trio," according to a "Jazz Times" survey, was among the Top 10 most-played record albums in U.S. radio airplay at the time. He had just come from performing before an SRO crowd at BIM-House in Amsterdam, t …
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Butler University is located in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1948, the university lay witness to a harmonic rendezvous--a renaissance of harmonies untold to the human ear. What was to become of four freshmen who never stuck around long enough to become sophomores? They became, "THE FOUR FRESHMEN," and sent the nation into a harmonic rhapsody--trembling with the new vocal sonorities they gave birth too. Lurking behind the shadows of the ivory walls, the four young men met, as freshmen, at Arthur …
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Ja zz can be recognized by its openness to and utilization of harmonies outside the common scope of popular music. There are those in the American popular music industry, many among them musicians, critics, teachers, et al, who speak of how "jazz" has been influential in recent and current popular music, some claiming to have incorporated it into the music they perform, teach, or write reviews of. I wonder what jazz they are referring to. Let's take one of the quintessential jazz albums of al …
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I once had the opportunity to do a few gigs in a quartet featuring the great keyboardist/composer Rob Mullins. Nate Phillips, who had worked with Rob in the Jazz Crusaders, and Jeff Suttles, who had just come off tour with Janet Jackson, held down the bass and drums, respectively. The basic concept was to play instrumental arrangements of funky R&B tunes, sort of like a funk version of Paul Shaffers' "Worlds Most Dangerous Band" (the David Letterman Show band). The project was put together with …
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Vancouver International Jazz Festival. The very words stir something in the soul and excite the senses for what is to come in those most special 10 days of the year: All the unheard sounds to fall in love with and familiar ones to revel in, running into friends old and new, racing from one incredible gig to the next, full of anticipation and hope for another uplifting musical experience. Oh, that all the days of the year could be so action-packed with incredible music from around the world and r …
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Whether you are planning your annual Christmas party or just want some cool jazz to set the holiday mood when friends or family drop by, Jazz Review is here to guide you with some great holiday CD suggestions for your listening and gift-giving pleasure. The holidays have always been a time for folks to celebrate their blessings, and nothing creates that holiday feeling better than music. Warmest wishes to you and yours, for a happy holiday season THE CHARLIE BYRD CHRISTMAS ALBUM, Conc …
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I am listening to Anthony Braxton’s 1971 recording FOR ALTO. This recording was the first of its kind; that is, of a musician making a totally solo recording on one instrument. I do not care that I know this. What I do care about is the fact that I can listen and basically understand how Braxton is coming up with the music. It is more spontaneous, for instance, than my writing these words. Unless he edited his recording later, which is not the case, Braxton improvised on the alto sax only wit …
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It’s been several years now since Blue Note’s Japanese counterpart Toshiba-EMI enlisted the services of master recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder in order to reissue classic items from the catalog in new 24-bit remasters handled by the man himself. Albeit with more modest aspirations in terms of mere quantity, it wasn’t long before the folks at Blue Note here in the United States decided to launch their own series of Van Gelder mastered reissues. At summer’s end, we saw another half dozen titles …
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On a very chilly Wednesday evening at Manhattan Jazz, Manhattan Beach, California, jazz was in the air. On stage with me were three of the finest jazz musicians I have ever had the pleasure of working with: Tom Owens-piano, Richard Simon-bass, and Mike Whited-drums. This gig took place in December 1987. We played many charts that night so I will highlight just a few, in that it was a tribute to Dexter Gordon, I’ll mention the charts he had recorded. In the first set we kicked off with Dexter …
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There once was a time when the big bands accounted for a surge in jazz music’s popularity, the likes of which we will never see again. The economical landscape of the ’30, ‘40s and ‘50s was quite different from the current era of high inflation and diminishing returns. It is only on rare occasions then that today’s jazz musician finds himself (or herself, in the case of Maria Schneider) able to wield large ensembles and when it does occur it’s usually in the form of a special one-shot offering o …
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Berkley, California-based Fantasy records has been in the music business for more than half a century. Formed in 1949, the first artist they recorded was pianist Dave Brubeck. In short order they had Chet Baker and Cal Tjader on board. That they’ve developed one of the most impressive jazz rosters in the business is an understatement. The label is umbrella to Prestige, Riverside, Milestone, Contemporary and Pablo, as well as R&B and blues labels Stax, Takoma, Kicking Mule and Specialty. They are …
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Though hardly a household name along the lines of Julie London or The Manhattan Transfer, this New York singer Barbara Sfraga is how do the kids say it somethin’ else. But Not For Her are the codependent "my man’s a real creep but, gosh, I’m glad he’s mine" clichés that have historically defined/plagued female jazz singers since the advent of the record. This lady blazes her own path. On her thus-far lone CD Oh What A Thrill (Naxos Jazz) she reinvents Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls Of Fire …
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Delmark Records was founded in 1953 and claims to be the oldest independent record label in the country. Owner Bob Koester also owns and operates what he claims to be the biggest jazz and blues record store in the country, The Jazz Record Mart, also in Chicago. Mr. Koester’s claims are, of course, quiet probably true. The jazz catalog includes everything from straight-ahead to traditional to avant-garde. The AACM (Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell, Joseph Jarman, Muhal Richards Abrams, et. al.) m …
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America says Jazz is its gift to the world, the truth however is the other way round. If Jazz is the art of musical improvisation, then it has been around for far longer than the two hundred odd years since America was born out of captain Christopher Columbus' navigational error. Indian classical music for example, is all about improvised music and has a history of over two thousand years. Likewise, almost every country in the world has a tradition of improvised music in various forms. Credit …
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Anouar Brahem (b. 1957, Tunisia) is a virtuoso player of the oud (or ud, depending on you and/or where one asks), a North African/Middle Eastern stringed instrument of the lute/guitar family with a deep, amber sound. While well-versed in Arabic music, Brahem was and is decidedly influenced by jazz and improvised music, and he’s become a truly "internationalist" composer and improviser - fellow travelers Jan Garberek, John Surman, Richard Galliano and Dave Holland have recorded with him on his fi …
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Polskie Nagrania MUZA PNCD 620 April 2002 JAZZ BAND BALL ORCHESTRA 40 YEARS * BLUE LOU 1.Blue Lou (M Sampson - Mills), 2.St. Louis Blues (W.C. Handy), 3.Fascinating Rhythm (Gershwin), 4.I'm beginning to see the light (Ellington - Hodges - George), 5.Rockin Rhythm (Ellington - Carney - Mills), 6.Ballad Medley: You've changed (Cary Fisher), In a sentimental mood (Ellington - Mills - Kurtz), Tenderly (Lawrence - Gross ), 7.S' Wonderful (Gershwin), 8.A foggy day (In London town) (Gershwin), …
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