Tuesday, May 31, 2016

At the Jazzinstitut

31 May 2016
Sunny Jain / Sonny Rollins
Nate Rabe talks to the Indian-American drummer Sunny Jain about his musical background firmly rooted in Punjabi Jain Indian traditions, about his initiation to jazz, about using his heritage in his music "to make up for my perceived shortcomings; of not being able to speak Hindi, for example", about multiplicity of identities, about the current visibility of South Asian musicians in the USA being a result of America's 1960s immigration policy, about his main instrument, the dhol, about his band Red Baarat, as well as about political responsibility of making music ( Scroll In). --- Ethan Iverson transcribes Sonny Rollins' solos on "Bouncing with Bud" and "Wail" from the first-ever recording session of the then 19-year old saxophonist with Bud Powell ( Do the Math).

01 June 2016
... what else ...

Wayne Bledsoe talks to the saxophonist Greg Tardy ( Know News). --- Peter Margasak reports about the German saxophonist Angelika Niescier and her latest album "NYC Five" ( Chicago Reader). --- Ginia Bellafante reports about the sculptor Aaron Bell, son of the bassist Aaron Bell who played with Duke Ellington ( New York Times). --- Ted Gioia asks whether pop might be the future of jazz ( The Daily Beast) while Stefan Künzli argues that jazz might be the future of pop ( Schweiz am Sonntag). --- The Max Roach papers at the Library of Congress have been index with a finding aid to all materials ( Library of Congress). --- Otmar Klammer talks to the British saxophonist Julian Argüelles ( Kleine Zeitung).

Obituaries
We learned of the passing of the band manager Carol Scherick as well as the saxophonist Marco Eneidi at the age of 59.

Bury St Edmunds Festival is hailed as ‘best ever’

Bury Festival - Three little pigs family concert ANL-160530-192336009

by Paul Derrick
11:07Tuesday 31 May 2016

Thousands of the people have enjoyed the drama, music and other artistic delights of the Bury St Edmunds Festival - with many praising it as the ‘best ever’.


The festival, which began on a high note with maverick violinist Nigel Kennedy, ended at the weekend with a community and family focus as West Suffolk Youth Jazz Orchestra took to the stage at The Apex where audiences of all ages also enjoyed a new interactive retelling of Rumpelstiltskin with The Rattler.


Read more: http://www.buryfreepress.co.uk/news/local/latest-news/bury-st-edmunds-festival-is-hailed-as-best-ever-1-7408392#ixzz4AHH5J17s

Doc: History of British Jazz

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com
May 30, 2016
Ronnie_Scott_colour_no2_9c96cd86-cbfe-4c64-a0ec-bc24ef930bad
In the late 1940s and early '50s, European jazz musicians looked to American jazz artists and their recordings for jazz's secret formulas and a road map forward. Then countries and individual artists developed their own sounds based on cultural experiences and personal aesthetics. [Pictured above, the late British tenor saxophonist and London jazz club owner Ronnie Scott]
How did jazz unfold in the U.K.? Here's a terrific BBC documentary on the evolution of British jazz:
A special thanks to Jimi Mentis.
Used with permission by Marc Myers

SEA Women in Jazz

Jassek Manzano, Kitty LaRoar ....

David Newton

JAZZ FM 91

Monday, May 30, 2016

Harry Arnold: Live, c. 1966

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com
Screen Shot 2016-05-26 at 9.57.07 PM
Following my post earlier in the week on Swedish arranger-conductor Harry Arnold, I figure you might want a see him in action. In the following clip, he's leading the Danish Radio Big Band on a TV show from around 1966. Joining him was vocalist Anni-Frid Lyngstad, who in 1972 would become a founding member of ABBA, and Carli Tornehave, who looked and sounded eerily like a Tony Bennett cover act.

Here'sthe clip...
A special thanks to David C.
Used with permission by Marc Myers

A ‘good messy’ mix of jazz and soul

(Rumy Doo/The Korea Herald)

Published : 2016-05-30 17:27
Updated : 2016-05-30 17:27

In the world of digitalized everything, soul singer Kandace Springs is drawn to music that is “stripped bare” and natural.

“It’s kind of a crossover between jazz and soul. It’s really organic, all live instruments,” the Nashville, Tennessee native said of her music when she met with The Korea Herald in southern Seoul last Monday. Springs was in town to perform at the Audi Lounge stage at Club Octagon that night.

Springs debuted in 2014 with a self-titled EP that had a contemporary, hip-hop bent to it. Her new album “Soul Eyes,” the artist’s first full-length LP set for release on July 1, is soft, piano-based and closer to the kind of music she has “always wanted to make.”

“Voice-wise, I’m not a screamer type,” she said. “I’ve never been that type of singer. ... I’m more of a quiet storm, I guess you could say.

“Norah Jones is my idol,” Springs added, referring to the American jazz pop singer. Like Jones, Springs boasts breathy but passionate vocals that fill the gaps between sparse instrumentals.

Springs is an avid admirer of old-time soul artists such as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. The main track of her album, also titled “Soul Eyes,” is a remake of jazz saxophonist John Coltrane’s song. Four of the 11 tracks listed -- “Novocaine Heart,” “Fall Guy,” “Rain Falling” and “Too Good to Last” -- are written by Springs herself.

read more: http://news360.com/digestarticle/JF8pn7r4HkSVQF4D_AHxPg

Simona Parrinello

Barb Jungr

Erminia Yardley

Dad Rock podcast, still crazy for Paul Simon

(Photo: GARY HEERY, WARNER BROS. RECORDS)

Patrick Foster and Jim Lenahan, USA TODAY
8:07 a.m. EDT May 28, 2016

As great as Simon & Garfunkel were, Paul Simon's solo work is in many ways more impressive. That's because without Art Garfunkel's soaringly beautiful voice to carry the songs, Simon had to find inventive ways to make his music compelling.


As a songwriter, Simon continued to display rare wordsmith skills, commenting on the human condition through vivid stories populated by memorable characters. (Who could forget Julio, going against the law down by the schoolyard? Good thing for the radical priest — and Newsweek.) Every detail in every line was precisely crafted, down to the syllable.

read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2016/05/27/dad-rock-podcast-still-crazy-paul-simon/85057332/

A Tribute To Artie Shaw On Piano Jazz

Michael Ochs Archives / Stringer / Getty Images

May 27, 2016
Cornetist and jazz historian Richard "Dick" Sudhalter (1938 – 2008) joined Marian McPartland on several occasions to provide historical perspective on great performers and songs from the golden era of jazz. In 2002, Sudhalter sat down with McPartland to talk about clarinetist Artie Shaw (1910 – 2004). Shaw was known for his unparalleled virtuosity and as a successful bandleader with a limitless imagination.

Piano Jazz honors Shaw with selections including "Love of My Life" and "Any Old Time." - Originally broadcast Spring 2002.

SET LIST
"Nightmare" (Shaw)
"Streamline" (Shaw)
"Begin The Beguine" (Porter)
"Any Old Time" (Shaw)
"Frenesi" (Dominguez)
"Stardust" (Carmichael, Parish)
"Love Of My Life" (Shaw, Mercer)
"Nocturne" (Griselle)
"Valse" (Poulenc)
"Innuendo" (Mandel)
"The One And Only One" (Shaw)
"These Foolish Things" (Link, Strachey)

"Don't Take Your Love From Me" (Shaw)

read more: http://www.npr.org/event/music/478858076/a-tribute-to-artie-shaw-on-piano-jazz?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr

Billie Holiday to Take the Stage – As a Hologram

Hilton-Deutsch Collection / CORBIS
TECH
Sep 10, 2015 10:20 AM ET

Legendary singer Billie Holiday will return to the New York stage posthumously this year as the Apollo Theater launches hologram performances.


The Apollo, the iconic cradle of jazz located in Harlem, announced it would be the first theater in the United States to feature regular programming by hologram.

3-D Projected Holograms That Shine

The first performance will take place later in the year -- a show by Holiday, one of the greatest influences on generations of jazz and pop singers, who died destitute in 1959.

"The possibilities inherent in this initiative are very exciting, allowing us the ability to show the enduring impact and relevance of artists across time periods and geographic locations," said Jonelle Procope, president and CEO of the Apollo Theater.

Procope said that the Holiday show, made in consultation with her estate, and subsequent performances would also accommodate the growing number of daytime tourists looking to visit the famous theater.

Holiday, who would have turned 100 last April, sang frequently at the Apollo -- one of the few racially integrated theaters at the time -- including an early performance of the seminal protest song "Strange Fruit" about lynchings of African Americans in the US South.

"To be able to bring back epic artists on the historic stage that gave them their debuts is mind-boggling," said Alki David, the Greek-British entrepreneur behind Hologram USA, the company that is partnering with the Apollo.

Holograms record light fields, rather than standard camera images of objects, allowing a three-dimensional presentation.


As the technology has become increasingly sophisticated, holograms have been in growing demand in the concert industry.

read more: http://www.seeker.com/billie-holiday-to-take-the-stage-as-a-hologram-1770231645.html?slide=BuzCSU

Friday, May 27, 2016

Abiding in the jazz festivals coming to Colorado in summer 2016

Dick Gibson, the mastermind of the 1960s and ’70s jazz parties in Aspen, looks over an album by Ralph Sutton, one of guest musicians at the festival, in this Aug. 12,1964 file photo. George Crouter, Denver Post file

By BRET SAUNDERS
May 26, 2016 / UPDATED: 1 day ago

There are numerous returning jazz-focused mountain festivals scheduled for the summer season. The tradition and energy of the beloved Dick Gibson high-altitude jazz parties of the ‘60s abide.

27th Annual Estes Park Jazz Festival, June 4-5: It’s impressive how this small town has managed to stage a weekend-long series of concerts for more than a quarter of a century while keeping to admission price down to zero. Plenty of Colorado talent returns to Performance Park Amphitheater, including Max Wagner and Greg Gisbert, and they always manage to bring in a nationally known act. This year it’s vocalist Vanessa Rubin. The following weekend, on June 11, there will be a “Big Band Bash” at the same location. Get the lineup at visitestespark.com.

2016 Jazz Aspen Snowmass June Experience, June 24-July 2: At perhaps the Colorado mountain jazz festival with the highest profile, the headliners at Aspen’s Benedict Music Tent include bassist Marcus Miller and keyboard legend Booker T. on the instrumental side, and soulful pop vocalists Diana Ross and Smokey Robinson will help bring in the crowds. Singer Gregory Porter will appear at the JAS Café on June 23. Tickets and lodging packages are available at jazzaspensnowmass.com.

read more: http://www.denverpost.com/2016/05/26/abiding-in-the-jazz-festivals-coming-to-colorado-in-summer-2016/

Tim Berne/Steve Byram

Tim Berne/Steve Byram: Spare review – torrential collision of music and images
 They wrote the book … Steve Byram, left, and Tim Berne Photograph: Wes Orshoski

im Berne’s avant-jazz – a sound like a roomful of simultaneous conversations – fuses a funky rootsiness, the speediness of postbop and intricate compositional designs that often have more in common with contemporary-classical music. The New York saxophonist/composer has wryly described his aesthetic as “crude elegance” – which is a pretty apt term for this limited-edition book. Between its frugal, brown-card covers, the book unites illustrator Steve Byram’s jagged drawings, Berne’s photography of hazy faces and lowering skies, and a live recording by the latter’s formidable Snakeoil group.

The torrential, free-jazzy urgency of this recording presents a different Snakeoil from its more restrained sessions for ECM, with Berne on alto sax mixing gliding lyricism with raw-nerve howls and dry-hinge squeals, and pianist Matt Mitchell delivering some enthralling unaccompanied freebop. For the influential Berne’s many fans worldwide, this will be a real collector’s item.

from: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/28/tim-bernesteve-byram-spare-review-torrential-collision-of-music-and-images

Marcus Strickland's Twi-Life

A bit jazz-lite … Marcus Strickland

Marcus Strickland's Twi-Life: Nihil Novi review – shrewd grooves thanks to Meshell Ndegeocello

Florida-born saxophonist Marcus Strickland’s Twi-Life projects go back to a 2006 collaboration with his like-minded associate Robert Glasper on piano, the starting point for his natural-sounding fusions of classic horn-driven hard bop with the grooves and vocal phrasing of modern R&B and hip-hop. Telling ingredients here include Keyon Harrold’s expressive, 1980s-Miles trumpet sound, producer Meshell Ndegeocello’s shrewd use of overdubs, synths and cross-idiom mashups, eloquent sometime Yellowjackets singer Jean Baylor, and trenchant guest contributions from Glasper and the drums phenomenon Chris Dave. The synthed horn harmonies and vocal chants of Tic Toc have a sensuous hipness, Strickland’s rich tone and taut phrasing energise the street-sharp The Chant and the brief Mingus neatly mingles funk and a languid jazz swing. But the song lyrics are unremarkable and the confiding spoken-word declarations veer to the cheesy. It’s a bit jazz-lite, but may be an attractive mix from the R&B angle.

from: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/may/26/marcus-stricklands-twi-life-nihil-novi-review

Cuong Vu Trio Meets Pat Metheny

 Cuong Vu Trio. Photograph: William Poor

Vietnamese-American trumpeter and singer Cuong Vu was a key figure in Pat Metheny’s noughties groups, and he credits the guitarist’s Travels album with turning him on to a musical career in the first place. On the second of Nonesuch’s two May releases featuring Metheny the star reverses the roles, guesting with Vu’s long-running trio of Stomu Takeishi on bass and Ted Poor on drums, on five Vu originals plus his own brooding then exultant Telescope and the melodically foxy Tune Blues.

Vu’s group can play like a free-rhythmic avant-rock trio, explore pensive improv worlds in which trumpet lines of a Dave Douglas-like flexibility roll and tumble amid battering drumming and bass-guitar throbs and growls (as in Acid Kiss), adopt an Ornette Coleman-like melodic skip, a warmly brassy tenderness, or build anthemic harmonies to huge, wailing thrashes like the 10-minute Tiny Little Pieces. Metheny enters completely into the exploratory spirit, and gives Vu’s intriguing music a fresh dimension and creative support.

from: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/may/26/cuong-vu-trio-meets-pat-metheny-review-nonesuch

Thursday, May 26, 2016

DownBeat - Classic Interviews

Phil Is Now: Out Of The Woods - Published 1/23/1957
Phillip Wells Woods is a lean 25, with the appearance of an Alan Ladd, and an alto that talks more like a cross between Bogart and Gérard Philipe. Woods, who won a 1955 DownBeat Jazz Critics Poll New Star award, recently left Dizzy Gillespie’s …  
More…
Ornette Coleman: The First Beginning - Published 7/21/1960
In the recent fuss and furor over Ornette Coleman, a good many persons have been making hasty leaps for the tailgate of what might turn out to be a bandwagon. But as Ralph Gleason pointed out recently in the San Francisco Chronicle, Coleman, at the e …  
More…
Bob Belden’s Spanish Key - Published 3/1/2011
It’s a sunny, spring day in May in midtown Manhattan that begins a week of recording. And everybody’s waiting for Rabih. 
From the podium, the leader croons, ““I’m in the oud for love.” 
With these words of wit that typically …  
More…
Jazz On Television In 1965 - Published 5/6/1965
For the record—and in the interest of enlightening posterity and giving credit that is seldom acknowledged—it should be said that the last few weeks of 1964 and the first couple of months of 1965 were a fruitful period of television jazz.…  
More…

Eli Degibri

Standard Bank Arts

Happy Birthday Miles Davis!

SWING46 Jazz & Supper Club

Located in the heart of New York City, right off Times Square on Restaurant Row,  SWING46 Jazz & Supper Club is preparing to celebrate nearly two decades of live swing jazz music nightly for listening and dancing!  Established in 1997, SWING46 continues to feature a program of some of the city’s top swing jazz artists, with an emphasis on the BIG BAND!

Beginning in June 2016, the club will feature an expanded entertainment schedule to include NYC’s only Sunday Big Band Brunch (12noon to 3pm) plus Happy Hour Jazz on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays (5pm to 7:30pm).  This is in addition to the following already jam-packed music schedule:

  • Every Monday:  SWINGADELIC
  • Every Tuesday GEORGE GEE SWING ORCHESTRA
  • Every Wednesday:  STAN RUBIN SWING ERA BIG BAND
  • Every Thursday:  HARLEM RENAISSANCE ORCHESTRA
  • Every Friday:  alternates between GEORGE GEE SWING ORCHESTRA  &  RON SUNSHINE ORCHESTRA
  • Every Saturday:  Top NYC Swing & Jump Blues Bands
  • Every Sunday 17pc. Big Band Brunch:  alternates between GEORGE GEE SWING ORCHESTRA & BILLY STRAYHORN ORCHESTRA (w/director Michael Hashim)
  • Every Sunday eve:  Vanessa Trouble & The Red Hot Swing
Sun/Mon/Tues/Wed/Thur show times are 8:30pm to 11:30pm with Fri/Sat being 9:30pm to 1:00am with daily complimentary dance lessons provided by You Should Be Dancing – the exclusive dance studio of SWING46.

Along with LIVE MUSIC daily for listening and dancing, SWING46 also complements their retro-chic fashion with fine American cuisine and a mixologist’s dream drink menu!

“Yes!  It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that SWING!”

SWING46 Jazz & Supper Club
349 West 46th Street (Between 8th and 9th Avenues, on Restaurant Row), New York, NY 10036

www.SWING46.com
swing46jazz@gmail.com

New iTunes Jazz

Hendrik Meurkens - Harmonicus Rex featuring Jimmy Cobb


Published on Mar 11, 2016
Hendrik Muerkens returns to straight ahead or mainstream Jazz on Harmonicus Rex, featuring a menu of delicious swinging Jazz, along with more lyrical compositions. In addition to piano legend Dado Moroni, master drummer Jimmy Cobb is featured. For more: http://hendrikmeurkens.com

Jazzing

EFG London Jazz Fest

Community Arts Program (CAP) 2016 Summer Concert Series

Community Arts Program (CAP) 2016 Summer Concert Series Starts June 9 w/ Doc Severinsen
The Community Arts Program (CAP) 2016 Summer Concert Series (31st season) begins 8:00 p.m. Thursday, June 9 with GRAMMY® Award winner Doc Severinsen! Doc still blows hard and hits the high notes, a result of his continued commitment to the refinement of his craft. In a program titled “Trumpet Kings,” Doc is joined by trumpet virtuoso Byron Stripling and the Byron Stripling Quartet. This unforgettable evening of beloved, memorable tunes and musical enjoyment will open with the CAP Miami Jazz Institute ALL-STAR Jazz Ensemble!

2016 Beacon Jazz Festival scheduled has been cancelled

2016 Beacon Jazz Festival

Scheduled For June 25 Has Been Cancelled.

"Due to circumstances beyond our control, the 2016 Beacon Jazz Festival scheduled for June 25 has been cancelled. We hope to be back in 2017".

Thank you for your support and understanding.

Sincerely,

Beacon Jazz Festival Directors

E Mail is being sent by:
Jim Eigo Jazz Promo Services
E-Mail: jim@jazzpromoservices.com
http://www.jazzpromoservices.com

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Marcus Miller

Healdsburg Jazz

Cleveland Watkiss

NY Hot Jazz Festival

This Is Harry: The Mystery Band

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com
May 24, 2016

Screen Shot 2016-05-23 at 8.16.43 PM
Harry, in the case of this post's title, is Harry Arnold. Drawing a blank? Arnold was among the finest big-band arrangers and tenor saxophonists in Sweden during the 1950s and '60s. From 1956 to 1965, Arnold led the Swedish Radio Studio Orchestra that featured many of the country's leading Swedish jazz musicians. They recorded quite a few albums, including their first, This Is Harry and the Mystery Band. It's easily one of the finest big band recordings of 1957.
R-6175884-1412963545-7006.jpeg
Arnold began recording in Sweden in 1945, and his major arranging influences during the 1950s were Benny Carter, Sy Oliver and Quincy Jones, who collaborated with Arnold on several recordings in Sweden in 1958 during his multi-year stay abroad in Paris. In 1957, before teaming with Jones, Arnold recorded Mystery Band, his radio orchestra's first album. If I were to give you a blindfold test, you'd never guess the arranger or the band. But you'd be blown away.
R-2109635-1458899070-6596.jpeg
In fact, getting experts to guess the band is exactly what Down Beat did when the album came out in the fall of '58. American critics and arrangers were asked who's playing. None of them guessed right, including Ernie Wilkins, Elliot Lawrence, Sy Oliver and radio announcer Willis Conover. All picked leading American bands and arrangers. When the album was released in the States, critics raved and Conover devoted an hour-long show to him.
Quincy+Jones+Count+Em+EP+563133
Recorded in February 1957, the band included Sixten Eriksson, Weine Renliden, Bengt-Arne Wallin (tp); Arnold Johansson (tp,v-tb); Ake Persson, Andreas Skjold, George Vernon, Goran Ohlsson (tb); Arne Domnerus, Rolf Lindell (as); Carl-Henrik Norin, Bjarne Nerem (ts); Lennart Jansson (bar); Bengt Hallberg (p); Bengt Hogberg (g); Simon Brehm (b) and Egil Johansen (d).
Screen Shot 2016-05-23 at 8.40.10 PM
The music is deceptively great. Sweden had and still has its fair share of superb jazz artists, but no Swedish band ever could swing as American as this one when it came to a bright, slam-bang sound. Harry Arnold died in 1971 at age 50.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find the swinging This Is Harry and the Mystery Band combined with tracks from assorted Arnold dates and sessions led by Quincy Jones in '58 here.
In some ways, Arnold's orchestra was Quincy Jones's garage band, a test lab before he formed his own famous Birth of a Band orchestra in the States in 1959.
The pre-Jones tracks include Stand By, Blue Lou, Crazy Rhythm, Stand By, Six-ten, I've Found a New Baby, Jersey Bounce, Laura, Dedicated to George, Indian Summer and Annie Laurie.
JazzWax clips: Here's Arnold's Stand By...
Here's Cuban Trombones...
And here's Crazy Rhythm...
A special thanks for David Langner.
Used with permission by Marc Myers

DownBeat Magazine


Daniela Schächter

Daniela Schächter and her Trio will be at:
 
The Beehive, Boston ~ Friday June 10th
Daniela Schächter vocals/keys
Greg Ryan bass
Brooke Sofferman drums


The Beat Brasserie, Boston ~  Saturday June 18th
Daniela Schächter vocals/keys
Greg Ryan bass
Bertram Lehmann drums

Bar Next Door, New York ~ Monday June 20th
Daniela Schächter vocals/keys
Marco Panascia bass
Scott Latzky drums


Thelonious Monkfish, Boston ~ Thursday June 23rd
www.theloniousmonkfish.com
Keala Kaumeheiwa bass
Mark Walker drums
Daniela Schächter piano/vocals


* Introducing tunes from her upcoming album "Vanheusenism" A Tribute to Jimmy Van Heusen
CD Release: October 27th Kitano Jazz, NY 
CD Release: October 22nd Chris Jazz Cafe, PA 

"Not since the plangent, at times mournful, at times strident piano artistry of Judy Roberts has one heard such strong, confident, yet softly sensitive piano/vocal combinations..." B. Gosh - Jazz ImprovNY 

For more information please visit her new webpage at www.danielaschachter.com

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

jazz@jazzinstitut.de

24 May 2016

Ellen Seeling / M.L. Millard
In an interview the trumpeter Ellen Seeling talks about her influences, about working with Laura Nyro, Sister Sledge and other bands, about discrimination against female musicians she met in Broadway pit bands, about the close collaboration with her wife, the saxophonist Jean Fineberg, about jazz being "a male chauvinist pig sty", as well as about the Montclair Women's Big Band she formed in the Bay area with which she wants to address gender discrimination in jazz ( San Francisco Bay Times ).
The author and trombonist Marie Millard writes about her experiences as a female trombonist with sexism, discouragement and gives suggestions as to how to overcome male chauvinism in jazz and show more respect for the female musicians ( M.L. Millard).

15 May 2016

... what else ... 
The German government funds a special club award, APPLAUS, for jazz, rock and pop clubs for which clubs, venues and concert series can apply until 28 June 2016 ( Initiative Musik).
--- The pianist Judy Carmichael devotes her radio show to the guitarist Freddie Green, talking with his son and biographer Al Green as well as having her regular guitarist James Chirillo demonstrate some of Green's techniques ( Jazz Inspired).
--- Discussions about the Moers Festival in Germany continue after its artistic director had offered to resign from his position, with most political parties supporting his work ( Rheinische Post, Der Westen [1], Der Westen [2], Junge Welt ).
--- Bob Karlovits talks to the trumpeter Sean Jones ( TribLive).
--- Samir H. Köck talks to the Austrian saxophonist Wolfgang Puschnig on the eve of his 60th birthday ( Die Presse).
--- Andreas Collet reports about the Modern Jazz Group Freiburg, a major modern jazz ensemble in 1950s Germany ( Badische Zeitung).
--- Ulrich Biermann talks to the German historian Marco Paysan about jazz and jazz-influenced music in Berlin from 1920 through 1950, the timeframe of a CD box Paysan curated and wrote a thick book about ( Deutschlandfunk).
--- Mia De Graaf reports about the auction of Duke Ellington memorabilia ( Daily Mail).
--- Diane Scharf reports about an exhibition of photos by Jack Bradley ( Cape News).
--- Eddino Abdul Hadi talks to the 12-year-old Indonesian piano Wunderkind Joey Alexander ( The Straits Times).
--- Karin Lipson reports about a privately established jazz memorabilia museum in Stony Brook, New York ( New York Times).
--- The German trumpeter Markus Stockhausen talks about jazz, improvisation and his duo with pianist Florian Weber ( Westfälische Nachrichten ).
--- Calvin Wilson talks to the singer and pianist Freddy Cole ( St. Louis Post-Dispatch ).
--- Rob Garrett talks to the French pianist Laurent De Wilde ( The National).
--- The tap dancer Savion Glover will star in the Broadway musical "Shuffle Along" while Audra McDonald has left the cast due to her being pregnant ( New York Times).
--- Dan England talks to the drummer Jim White who is recovering from rare cancer ( Greeley Tribune).
--- Damaso Reyes hears the pianist Arturo O'Farrill and the philosopher Cornel West in performance at the Apollo Theater ( The Root).

Lee Mergner

Paquito D'Rivera

Hetty Kate Quartet review


John Shand
May 23, 2016

Jazz singer Hetty Kate reminds me of a good champagne: simultaneously effervescent and restrained. She also has natural elegance, a pretty voice devoid of any harshness, excellent diction (notable on a fleet Love Me or Leave Me) and a breezy rhythmic sense in her phrasing. Yet often the net result was "jazz lite", as though she has never asked herself why she does what she does. Nonetheless, if she is never going to dazzle you with invention or slice your heart in two she is certainly good enough to engage, to bring something of her own to a program of standards and to employ a top-shelf band.

She was at her best on No More Blues, that effervescence and restraint a natural fit with this up-tempo bossa nova. Other stand outs were Why Don't You Do Right? sung against just bass and drums, with a little sassiness lending deeper colour to the prettiness and elegance, and Something Cool, where a certain detachment suited the lyric's world-weariness. Less successful was Stardust, which demanded a deeper excavation of the lyrics rather than idle beauty.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/hetty-kate-quartet-review-no-dazzle-or-heartbreak-but-still-plenty-to-engage-20160523-gp19ad.html#ixzz49aa5xQ5h 

Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Chris Potter

Carmela Rappazzo

Jazz Philarmonic Hall, Saint Petersburg

Gordon Goodwin

Michel Petrucciani ....

London Jazz News

A Salute to Drum Kits Featuring the Max Ionata Organ Trio


Published on May 20, 2016
Tenor saxophonist Max Ionata performing his original composition "The Black Hole" with Alberto Gurrisi on Hammond Organ and Frits Landesbergen on drums in this salute to Drum Kits.

NPR Music - JAZZ

Leroy Jones' New Orleans Strut

At the Dew Drop Jazz Hall across the lake from the city, music has been performed for more than a century. One of New Orleans' great trumpeters leads his sextet in concert.
Read this story
MUSIC NEWS

At 80, Carla Bley Keeps Looking Toward The Next Composition

The pianist and composer, a force on the jazz scene for 50 years, celebrated her 80th birthday with a gala concert and new album — and she has another album on the way.
JAZZ NIGHT IN AMERICA

Catherine Russell: Sunny Side Of The Street

More than 30 years ago, Sy Oliver arranged a book of music for female vocal trio, for one concert only. The singer Catherine Russell unearths those arrangements at Jazz At Lincoln Center.
MARIAN MCPARTLAND'S PIANO JAZZ

Tania Maria On Piano Jazz

The Brazilian pianist and singer mixes frenetic originals with Antônio Carlos Jobim interpretations.

Saturday, May 21, 2016

"Count Basie" performed by Clef Club Jazz Camp Big Band


Published on Jul 26, 2013
Henri McMillian leads the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz Summer Jazz Camp Big Band performing "Count Basie" by Count Basie - July 26, 2013.

ILKLEY CINEMA

All Jazz Radio ZA

Ronnie Scotts

Hadar Noiberg

2016 JJA Jazz Awards WINNERS

The Jazz Journalists Association has announced winners of its 20th annual Jazz Awards in 32 categories of musical excellence and has opened ticket sales for its 2016 Jazz Awards Media Party at the Blue Note in New York City, 3 pm to 5:30 on Wednesday, June 15.

Among Awards winners – all of whom are listed here (http://www.jjajazzawards.org/p/2016-jja-jazz-awards-winners.html) -- are Henry Threadgill (also this year's winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music and a Doris Duke Performing Artist award), celebrated with the JJA's Lifetime Achievement in Jazz Award, and composer-arranger-orchestra leader Maria Schneider, named Musician of the Year and given four other Awards, including Best Album of 2015 for The Thompson Fields. The JJA hails Los Angeles-based tenor saxophonist Kamasi Washington, who made his recording debut in 2015, as Up and Coming Musician of the Year.
The JJA is the non-profit professional organization of writers, photographers, videographers and broadcasters covering jazz. Winners of JJA Jazz Awards are selected by the organization's members in a two-stage voting process, and will receive their engraved statuettes at their performances in the U.S. this coming summer.

These Jazz Awards winners represent an impressive range of music. Threadgill, 71, is an exploratory composer, incisive reeds and winds player and leader of memorable ensembles who has been in the vanguard of creative innovation for more than 50 years. Schneider is known for her compositions awash in subtly detailed orchestrations that inspire deeply committed solos and ensemble harmonization from her 19-member orchestra. Washington's Award attests to his appeal as a live performer on tour following the May 2015 release of his three-volume album The Epic, which sets Coltrane-inspired modal blowing amid voices and strings; he also contributed significantly to Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly.

Other winners include Male Vocalist of the Year Gregory Porter and Female Vocalist Cecile McClorin Salvant. Historical Record of the Year is The Complete Concerts By The Sea (Columbia Legacy), a restoration of the 1956 album by pianist Erroll Garner.

Still to be come: Winners of the 2016 Jazz Awards for Media (Lifetime Achievement in Jazz Journalism, Best Book of the Year, Best Periodical, Blog of the Year, Photo of the Year, and awards for writing, broadcasting, photography and original album art) will be announced at the
JJA's Jazz Award Media Party at the Blue Note (http://members.jazzjournalists.org/event-2224985) , 131 3rd St. NYC, on Wednesday, June 15 from 3 to 5:30 pm.

Tickets for the Media Party are available to the general public, as well as JJA members and Jazz Awards nominees. Jazz Awards winners are invited as guests, but
must make advance reservations. (http://members.jazzjournalists.org/event-2224985) The Jazz Awards party will feature performances by the Herlin Riley Quintet, singer René Marie with her trio, and solo pianist John Beasley. Angelika Beener, the award-winning Improbable Aficionado blogging at Alternate Takes, and Simon Rentner, producer at WBGO, will host the Awards, where Brother Thelonious Belgian Style Abbey Ale will be served.