Concert Reviews (851)
Nothing beats experiencing live jazz music as its being created right in front of you. Stop here for reviews of your favorite jazz artists live and in concert.
Goa Chitra members demanded and got back the Beat Root Blues Band for an encore concert on the 15th of January. In a new avataar this time the band featured a completely local lineup made up of some of the hottest musicians on Goa's live music circuit. The concert began with UK 'Goan' Dave Kelly doing a soulful solo spot singing while accompanying himself on an acoustic guitar. This triggered off the over enthusiastic full house eagerly anticipating another electrifying performance from a phenomenal band that they either heard or heard of. And they were not disappointed The pivot around which the band revolves singer/harp player Prati...
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Sunday nights are not known for attracting crowds for a 9 PM show. However, a show by Los Van Van, the songo group dubbed the “Rolling Stones of Salsa”, proved to be an exception. During four nights at Yoshi’s, a jazz and contemporary music club in San Francisco’s Fillmore District, the Cuban band drew packed crowds. On this particular Sunday evening, the dance floor was packed with a coterie of enthusiastic dancers. Los Van Van was founded in December 1969 by bassist Juan Formell (who did not make the tour: see below) along with fellow conservatory-educated musicians. Amalgamating the sounds of soul, disco, rock, and funk,with the rhythms...
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People came in with great expectations and they were not disappointed by the band that's billed for one of the world's biggest blues festival slated for February 2011 in Mumbai. The Beat Root Blues Band featuring Pratish Motwane on harp and vocals, Dave Kelly on guitar, Colin D'Cruz on bass and Claude Abranches on drums took off from the word go. Goa Chitra's amazing amphitheatre was set ablaze by some smoking blues from four musicians all fired up for their first gig in India. Every track they
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29 Jan
New Orleans Ladies of Jazz Holiday Concert with Stephanie Jordan, Germaine Bazzle, and Leah Chase p
A full house at the University of New Orleans Performing Arts Center Recital Hall reveled in the performance of special holiday concert by the New Orleans Ladies of Jazz; Stephanie Jordan, Germaine Bazzle, and Leah Chase in collaboration with the Music Alive Ensemble String Octet and Jazz Quintet this past Sunday, November 28, 2010. Primarily sponsored by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation and under the direction of violinist Rachel Jordan,
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With her powerful voice, amazing feeling, beautiful smile and sense of humor Buika captivated the public in her first concert in Puerto Rico. Buika is a unique artist that blends in her music a diversity of influences. In her voice and music one might hear the voices of Africa, the phrasing of the Spanish Flamenco, Jazz, Soul and the rhythms and feelings of latin america and the caribbean. The concert setting was simple and intimate, a great artist like Buika doesn't need anymore, just her vo
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At last years Guelph Jazz Festival I did a lot of driving. Toronto to Guelph. It’s not a long drive but it's long enough to make a late night show discouraging. This year I decided to take advantage of Guelph's offer of a deal on a hotel close to the action. An accommodating room and allowing for a more relaxed festival experience. Late night shows, early morning shows and concerts on top of each other. A busy schedule entailed. The beauty of the Guelph jazz festival, other than the music, i
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It was an outstanding night of blues, R&B and soul at the Delta Chelsea Monarchs Pub in Toronto, Ontario, on Thursday night, September 23, 2010. Soul man #1, George Olliver, sang up a storm with blues harp player/vocalist Jerome Godboo and his band onstage -- rippin' it up for the huge crowd that attended! It was a great night of high-energy entertainment! Glen James Singleton-Wood was very impressive as usual on ten
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Billed as the "greatest free jazz festival in America", the 32nd Annual Chicago Jazz Festival, produced by the Mayor’s Office of Special Events, is the centerpiece of the Chicago jazz community. There are three distinct reasons why this event can be declared a success. First is the programming. The second thing is the opportunity it gives to young jazz musicians coming up in the Chicago jazz scene. The third and most o
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Friday the 13th is not generally looked upon as an auspicious day. However this particular Friday the 13th proved both felicitous and fortuitous for those salseros and salseras fortunate enough to attend the 70th anniversary performance by the legendary Cuban conjunto band Orquesta Aragon. For fans of this legendary ensemble, also known as La Madre de las Charangas Cubanas (The Mother of The Cuban Charangas) as well as La Charanga Eterna, this was a special evening, one those in attendance will
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Toumani Diabate, the great Malian kora player, rarely makes it to these shores, so his recent performance at Yoshis in Oakland was a stellar occasion. Known for his virtuosity, Diabate is a living master of the kora, the 21-string West African harp made of wood,metal, and a large calabash gourd. The kora has a characteristic sound, one that is hard to categorize. As he illustrated during the portion of the show when he talked to the audience about his instrument, he plays it with his thumbs a
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Salif Keita, 58, a 40-year veteran of the music scene, numbers among Africa's top musical stars. A man in motion, Salif is constantly touring and preaching his humanitarian message. Born into a royal family, Salif found himself barred by social custom from becoming a musician and as an albino, Salif was an outcast who found his means of expression through music. Fleeing a Malian dictatorship to take refuge in the Ivory Coast, he later moved to Paris but has since returned to Mali. Here, he has b
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(West Bend, WI) The Kettle Moraine Jazz Festival is the brain-child of a handful of West Bend Sunrise Rotarians. On September 10th and 11th they held the thirteenth annual event to benefit this community in the Milwaukee area of Wisconsin. To date the event has raised over $300,000 in funds to benefit local and global charitable causes. West Bend is situated in one of Wisconsin’s most scenic areas, and located conveniently to Milwaukee. Lying in the heart of the Northern
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The 13th annual Markham jazz festival featured the best in jazz. Some traditional, some contemporary and a mix of everything in between. The big draw for me at this summer’s festival had to be the opening night gala featuring Cameron Brown’s Hear & Now Quartet and John Pizzarelli with his regular working group. The two quartets represented a fine balance and a compliment to each others style. Cameron Brown’s sound, care of the Bebop goddess Sheila Jordan is immersed in the tradition of impro
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The TD Toronto Jazz Festival and the Association of Improvising Musicians came together and formed a Next Wave Series. The concerts were performed at the Music Gallery in downtown Toronto, an intimate setting with spiritual overtones. The Music Gallery is a small church St. George The Martyr Church with seating for about 150 people. Artists performing as part of the series included Kyle Benders Quartet, Eric Boeren Quartet, Random Access Unplugged, The Swyves, Element Choir, Octopus, Fred Fri
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Ever since 1995, when he first came to prominence with the CD ‘First Wish’, Chris Botti has gradually differentiated himself from other contemporary jazz trumpeters by ever increasing diversions down avenues of standards, classical music and opera. With a stage presence that is both articulate and magnetic, he has the ability to command an audience of any size and at Humphreys open air concert venue on the rim of the San Diego Bay he did just that. In the company of some of the fines
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In the city it was just another sizzling summer night and, at the upscale Anthology, guitarist Lee Ritenour was playing his part in keeping the temperature high. His appearance at San Diego’s pre-eminent music hotspot was ostensibly in support of his latest CD ‘6 String Theory’ and although for the most part he majored on this interesting and eclectic collection he also found time for some old favorites along the way. Jazz Review caught the first of his two ‘back to back’ shows
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As the rain of early afternoon subsided into the warming sunshine of evening it was the sparkling on stage presence of keyboard player Keiko Matsui that really brightened a Southern California day. She was in town to play her part in the latest chapter of the summer long Champagne Jazz Series and, with a glorious selection of her most memorable tunes, instantly confirmed her credentials as one of the most influential contemporary jazz musicians of the last twenty years. Despite her ex
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The 2010 TD Toronto Jazz Festival came and went like a comet. It came with smoke and broken glass, riot police and anarchists. As the normally sedate streets of Toronto became a caged security zone. Some 10,000 protesters marched on the G20 summit of world leaders. Amid the chaos the main stage concerts at Nathan Phillips Square carried on. An oasis in a sea of troubled times. Maceo Parker played on Day 1 of the festival, coinciding with the start of the G8 and G20 summits. Herbie Hancock Im
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The famous poet James Russell Lowell wrote in his most enduring poem: "What is so rare as a day in June, then if ever, come perfect days." Well some nights in June can also approach perfection. One such energized evening was the much anticipated Las Vegas return by R & R (Richard Elliot and Rick Braun), two of the most expressive and explosive stage presences that Contemporary Jazz can offer. The celebrated duo made a visit to The Access Showroom located inside the beaut
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The 2nd Annual Waterfront Blues Fest took place at Woodbine Park, in Toronto’s trendy Beach area of east Toronto, for three glorious days of blues, Friday June 4th to Sunday June 6th, 2010. Many times throughout this very bluesy weekend, rain clouds did their thing, raining on the sometimes sparse and other times quite well-attended crowds who came out to this show. Despite the bad weather which prevailed throughout most of this weekend, there w
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As any regular reader of this site knows, there are many super-fine musicians that soar beneath the discerning radar of even the jazz world. Perhaps they don’t want to move to NYC, Los Angeles, London, or Paris; they’ve no feeling for the "business" side of the music biz, don’t tour much (or at all), or in some cases, a player has a parallel career. Take Denny Zeitlin-not only is he an aces-back-to-back jazz pianist but also a practicing psychiatrist. Zeitlin also did the electronics-l
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Dee Dee Bridgewater has been always unbounded in all things she does. Like the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, she has an imposing chronicle. The 15th annual Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival, celebrating the centenary of Mary Lou William’s Birth, hosted the All-Star Quintet composed by Dee Dee on vocal, Grace Kelly on saxophone, Geri Allen on piano, Esperanza Spalding on bass and Terri Lyne Carrington on drums. The addition of these musicians says a lot about the lead
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Mingling in the lobby of the Glenn Gould Theatre, chatting with the local stars, including Canadian jazz icon Phil Nimmons and enjoying coffee, cakes, crackers, fruit and cheese, a token of appreciation from JPEC for supporting their inaugural season of jazz. There were many of influence on hand to witness the final concert of the 2009/2010 season of the Jazz Performance and Education Centers concert featuring the Canadian pianist Renee Rosnes and her husband and piano partner for the evening, B
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Kronos Quartet Any performance by Kronos Quartet is a special occasion. Three of the ensemble’s four woodwind performers have been playing together for more than three decades and have released more than 45 recordings. No run-of-the-mill chamber quartet, Kronos have collaborated with the a diversity of performers including Chinese pipa player Wu Man, a Romanian Roma band, and an Inuit throat singer named Tanya Tagaq. They have performed on stage with performers as diverse as Betty Carter, the Mo
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Larry Green, local jazz radio host made the announcement - welcome Karrin Allyson - the audience cheered. Ms. Allyson came on stage and thanked the audience for coming out on a Thursday evening. For most this was the March break, our pleasure to have some time off with delightful entertainment. Karrin Allyson has a commanding stage presence. She has a way with words and phrases like no other singer, she takes chances in her song selection, seemingly with no fear. Her delivery is strong, and c
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