Jazz’s best journalists ask questions and jazz’s best artists answer them.
Aaron Diehl may speak softly but carry a big stick when it comes to elegantly merging classical sounds and minimalist new music, traditional stride piano … Read More “Pianist and Curator Aaron Diehl Does Miles Davis Centennial Right with Jazz in July, at 92NY”
Near the close of a recent interview with composer-bassist Melvin Gibbs, he and I talked about a concert intended to showcase the sounds evoked in … Read More “One Man’s “Jolene” is Another Man’s Jazz”
Across the 40 minutes and nine long yet whimsically contagious songs of their debut collaborative work, Feathered Creatures (GroundUP Music), legendarily modernist sitar player (and … Read More “Feathered Creatures of Fusion Guitar and Sitar Flock Together”
T he sound of South African pianist-composer-sangoma Nduduzo Makhathini goes far beyond any music in any single moment. It is eternal, part of a continuum, … Read More “Pianist Nduduzo Makhathini on Sons, Fathers, the Power of Myth and a New Blue Note Album”
S ince the twin tribute to John and Alice Coltrane that was Pursuance: The Coltranes (Ropeadope, 2020), New York–based alto saxophonist, composer and bandleader Lakecia … Read More “Saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin’s Dream: Better and Bolder Than Our Reality”
M usic has a magical way of setting the vibe. The right playlist gets people talking and rejoicing, food and beverage near at hand. But … Read More “Virtuoso Jazz Vocal Trio Duchess Plans a Marvelous Party, In Charismatic Fashion”
When it comes to jazz, the drum and its compositional largesse, Phil Haynes has forever been an exploratory presence, a rhythmatist moving freely — often … Read More “Drummer-Composer Phil Haynes’s Earthen Improvisational Journey”
Before we move too far from the calendar of the Miles Davis centennial and related events, it’s important to make his personal style a part … Read More “Miles Styles: Talking Avant-Garde Fashion with Artist Mikel Elam, Stylist and PA to Davis in His Final Years”
Donna and Mark Isham are long-respected artists, outstanding in their fields. Yet while Donna is acclaimed as a Hollywood costume designer and stylist-turned-painter and sculptor, … Read More “Artist-Sculptor Donna Isham, Trumpeter-Composer Mark Isham: Immersive Art with a Soundtrack”
Since COVID, there has been a steady trickle of jazz musicians emigrating from the United States to Portugal. Alto saxophonist John O’Gallagher was one of … Read More “Michael Formanek Thriving in his New Digs”
