Friday, April 27, 2018

Ladyva - Boogie Woogie @ the Philharmonic live


Ladyva performing Boogie Woogie at the Philharmonic live @ Jools Hollands annual Boogie Woogie Dinner at Boisdale Canary Wharf in London with special guest "Dr. House" alias Hugh Laurie enjoying himself in the front row. :) On the drums the great Gilson Lavis.
► Website: http://ladyva.com/ ► ITunes, Google Play, Amazon: https://ladyva.hearnow.com/ ► Instagram: http://instagram.com/ladyva01# ► Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/LADYVA... ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ladyva01

Friday, April 20, 2018

The Finest Smooth Jazz ...

The Finest Smooth Jazz is on the Menu at Charlie's Sushi in Clearwater w/ Jackiem Joyner April 25, 2018

World-renowned multi-time Billboards Contemporary Jazz Charting musician Jackiem Joyner is a saxophonist, producer, author, composer and a father. With six albums to his credit, a novel and his daughter, Trinity, (who inspired the recording of several songs on the artist’s latest release, Main Street Beat) it’s fair to say that he accomplished much in his young life. He will be bringing a great deal of energy and emotion to our venue. Adjectives on his website used to describe his music include dance, funk, upbeat, fiery, high-energy and more...

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

letter from Ben J. Michaels

Hi Claudio,

South American singing is not about showing off your instrument, your technique, it’s about singing the damn song,”  says Uruguayan-born singer-songwriter Valeria Matzner . “I don’t want to show I have a pretty voice. I want to tell a story.”

Matzner walked into the studio with a book full of ideas. But she had no idea what final shape they would take. “Twenty minutes before the recording session, I announced that I had an idea and want to work on it. Our engineer was so patient with me. I wanted it to be very soft and tender.

Matzner went in and nailed it, crafting the tender ballad “Amor y Soledad.” The track channels vulnerable sway and intimate appeal of Anima (release: May 16, 2018), Matzner’s first solo album and first recording after immigrating to Canada and diving into jazz. The Montevideo native explores the softer side of her musical soul, filtered through a firm commitment to songwriting and a new-found perspective on her South American past.

Check out the tracks and read her story on our full press release by clicking the link below. And please let me know if I can send you a CD for review or arrange an interview!

http://valeriamatzner.rockpaperscissors.biz/dispatch/pu/24235Thanks,
Benji


Ben J. Michaels, Publicist

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

http://www.jazzinstitut.de

17 April 2018

Jamie Baum / Karriem Riggins

Mike Holloway talks to the flutist Jamie Baum about her two ensembles, a septet and the band Short Stories, about the influence of Thelonious Monk and Wayne Shorter, about her musical background and her interest in Eastern music, as well as about her choice of the flute and enjoying teaching at flute clubs and clinics all over the country ( Wisconsin Gazette). --- William Ketchum III talks to the drummer Karriem Riggins about his second career as a hip-hop producer and how the two intersect, about the start of his career playing with the singer Betty Carter at the age of 17, about his first hip-hop experiences and his collaborations with pianist Robert Glasper, about the trio August Greene with Glasper and the hip-hop star Common, as well as about the film "13th" about the relationship between race and mass incarceration in the US to which August Greene provided the song "A Letter to the Free" which ended up winning an Emmy ( Detroit Free Press).

18 April 2018

... what else ... 

The critic Howard Reich selects some unforgettable performances he witnessed during his long career as a jazz journalist ( Chicago Tribune). --- James Karst finds a newspaper clipping about King Oliver's band in New Orleans from the year 1918 ( New Orleans Times-Picayune). — Daniel Kreps talks to Q-Tip who will teach a course on jazz’s influence on hip-hop ( Rolling Stone). --- Seth Colter Walls hears the American Composers Orchestra fusing jazz and classical at Zankel Hall ( New York Times). --- Bill Turque ( Kansas City Star), Laura Spencer ( KCUR) and Jenée Osterheldt ( Kansas City Star) report about organizational problems of the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City. --- Wolfgang Sandner talks to the German drummer Jean-Paul Hochstätter ( FAZ). --- The German pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach turns 80, and Roland Spiegel sends his regards ( BR-Klassik). --- Jakob Baekgaard talks to the drummer Chad Taylor (All About Jazz). --- Ludwig Reitz talks to the saxophonist Don Menza ( Oberpfalz-Netz). --- The Russian saxophonist Igor Butman complains that the JazzAhead trade fair in Bremen turned down his band for a showcase concert in favor of, as he argues, "much weaker" European acts ( TASS). --- Christoph Irrgeher talks to the British composer (and former bassist) Gavin Bryars ( Wiener Zeitung). --- The city of Neuss has produced a video introducing the Hungarian-German clarinetist Lajos Dudas both in music and conversation ( Vimeo). — Oliver Hochkeppel asks why there is just one full-scale jazzclub in Munich, Germany ( Süddeutsche Zeitung), but also sees a lively traditional amateur scene in that city ( Süddeutsche Zeitung ). — The rapper Kendrick Lamar will receive a Pulitzer Prize for music for his album “Damn” ( New York Times). — The German saxophonist Sebastian Gille will receive this year‘s SWR Jazz Award ( SWR).

Letter from Ben Michaels ....

Hi Claudio,

Cellist Catherine Bent tumbled off the bus, case in tow, and walked into a room full of guitar players at Rio de Janeiro’s main choro school. She had arrived the previous night in Rio for the first time and knew no Portuguese (yet). The guitarists spoke no English. Somehow, they asked her to play, and somehow, she understood. She sailed through a popular choro piece, and another, and then – her audience still attentive – she dived into Bach. A roomful of skeptics became a roomful of supporters, and she was whisked off to her first jam session over feijoada and caipirinhas.

“Doors opened for me,” Bent recalls. “I was warmly welcomed into the world of choro in Rio. I had been there less than a month and was invited to play twice with a famous choro band on national radio. It could have been the novelty of a woman from outside Brazil, a cellist, who played the music. But I had also taken the time to really learn the style and a decent body of repertoire. It made it very easy to grow as a performer of the music.”

The Berklee professor has kept the tense wonder of that first encounter in her playing and composing, as her engagement with Brazil’s century-old answer to the string band grows. OnIdeal (to be released 5/18/18), the first recording chronicling Bent’s choro-inspired work, she unites top-shelf Brazilian players to explore the elegant tradition and its expressive, experimental possibilities.

Check out the tracks and read our full press release at the link below. And please do let me know if I can get you a copy for review or arrange an interview!
http://catherinebent.rockpaperscissors.biz/dispatch/pu/24264

Thanks,


Ben Michaels, Publicist

Monday, April 16, 2018

Joe Donato Band ...

Joe Donato Band to Perform in Sunshine Jazz Org's Concert Series at Miami Shores Country Club April 22, 2018


The monthly Sunshine Jazz Concert Series continues with April’s featured artist, legendary Miami musician Joe Donato. The return of this beloved South Florida Jazz Hall of Fame 2012 Inductee will be accompanied by a superb outfit including Jamie Ousley on acoustic bass, Brian Murphy at the piano, Lenny Steinberg in the drum seat plus a “special surprise guest!”

Joe Donato is widely recognized not only as a saxophonist, but as a respected band leader, composer and lyricist. Born in Vineland, New Jersey, Joe’s parents fostered his musical interests from a very young age. He was encouraged to study sax at age 5 and by age 8 he was playing with adult musicians. At 12 years old Joe joined the American Federation of Musicians Union and at 15 dropped out of school and, with his parents’ blessing, went on tour for more than ten years with an assortment of bands. Joe was “discovered” by University of Miami’s then Dean, Bill Lee, in 1968 and was offered a scholarship to study music at U.M. Since arriving in Miami on New Year’s Day 1970, Joe has lived, studied, performed, and taught in South Florida.

Joe Donato is versatile in the entire woodwind family with a unique performance style and approach to improvisation reflecting a wide variety of musical influences. He has had an extraordinary life and career including tours throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia, and performances with luminaries such as Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Carmen McRae and Nina Simone. Joe has also served as an adjunct faculty member or lecturer at U.M., Miami-Dade College and F.I.U. His recordings, “For Friends” and “Live at the Tuscany”, were collaborations with gifted musicians and close friends, Randall Dollahon and Brian Murphy.

Be sure to reserve your seats soon for this very special concert with the great Joe Donato. Sunday, April 22nd, 2018, from 6pm-9pm at Miami Shores Country Club, 10000 Biscayne Blvd., Miami Shores, FL 33138. General Admission is $20 | SJO Members $15. Become an SJO member or renew at the door and your admission is FREE! MSCC features a Music Lounge/Cash Bar/Full Menu and Free Parking. Reservations & Info: Sunjazzorg@aol.com; (954)554-1800, (305)693-2594. Many thanks to our SJO members and sponsors!

Sunday, April 22, 2018 ~ 6-9pm Miami Shores Country Club 

Lauryn Hill, The Roots, More Celebrate Nina Simone


Lauryn Hill, The Roots, More Celebrate Nina Simone at Rock Hall Induction: Watch

Mary J. Blige officially inducted Simone
Nine Simone was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame tonight, and several artists took the stage to celebrate her legacy. Lauryn Hill, the Roots, and Andra Day performed a medley of her music, while Mary J. Blige officially inducted her.

read more at: https://pitchfork.com/news/lauryn-hill-the-roots-more-celebrate-nina-simone-at-rock-hall-induction-watch/

Sunday, April 15, 2018

Joe Armon-Jones “Starting Today”

Joe Armon-Jones - “Starting Today”

Britain’s verdant, cross-pollinating jazz scene is garnering more buzz and notice on this side of the Atlantic this year, thanks to breakout releases like Sons of Kemet’s Your Queen Is a Reptile and Gilles Peterson’s We Out Here. The latter introduced Yanks to the influential Ezra Collective, a roving ensemble that has long been a prime mover on the scene, yoking jazz to hip-hop, roots reggae, and Afrobeat grooves.

Now their keyboardist Joe Armon-Jones steps out with his first solo effort, dabbling in dub, deep groove, and neo-soul. The first single and title track from his upcoming record, Starting Today, is a slice of spiritual jazz that puts Jones along the axis of greats like Lonnie Liston Smith. But when a sinewy bassline drops and Jones’ Wurlitzer keys starts to swirl, the song suddenly reveals itself to have a deep house foundation, blurring the line between jazz and dance music.

read more: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/joe-armon-jones-starting-today/
 

Cleo Brown On Piano Jazz

HAPPY - Walk off the Earth Ft. Parachute



Thursday, April 12, 2018

Spyro Gyra, South Motors Jazz Series

Spyro Gyra SOLD OUT for South Motors Jazz Series at Pinecrest Gardens Season Finale


Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Kiran Ahluwalia Launches ...


One in Seven Billion: Kiran Ahluwalia Launches LOVEFest, an Ecstatic Evening of Sikh and Islam-Inspired Art Designed to Spark Cross-Cultural Connection

Kiran Ahluwalia sat down one day and wrote a song, “Saat.” Its title, the number seven, reflected the seven billion quirky, distinct individuals on our shared planet. It tackled the nature of our widespread intolerance of one another. “The earth now holds seven billion people; for me this means there are seven billion unique ways of interpreting things,” she explains.

The song resonated. It was powerful. (It appears on her upcoming album.) But the two-time Juno-winning...

read more at: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storyamp_production/artist/13003/medium/59796-Kiran_20Ahluwalia_207_20cover_20HR.jpg

Sunday, April 8, 2018

Jazz at Lincoln Center shared Wynton Marsalis's post.

Sankofa Jazz Fest

Sankofa Jazz Fest - 4th Annual Event to be held April 7, 2018 in Miami FL to Feature Jamison Ross & Jesse Jones Jr.

The African Heritage Cultural Arts Center (AHCAC), presents fourth annual Sankofa Jazz Fest on Saturday, April 7, 2018 from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The event celebrates jazz and welcomes the AHCAC’s alumni and the greater community to reconnect on the historic grounds of Liberty City’s AHCAC, 6161 NW 22nd Avenue, Miami, at the intersection of Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and Moonlight Way. The event is open to the public with free general admission. VIP tickets are also available for purchase for $30 each and include reserved parking, seating and lunch. General admission reservations and VIP ticket purchases are available at SankofaJazzFest.eventbrite.com.

The complete “Sankofa Jazz Fest” lineup includes:
·         Jamison Ross – the concert headliner is a bright young Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist, a gifted drummer and composer, and the winner of the prestigious 2012 Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Drums Competition;
·         Jesse Jones Jr. Quintet – Jones, a Miami native and saxophonist “combines the hard-bop influence of Cannonball Adderley, the funk of Hank Crawford, and the sweetness of Paul Desmond”;
·         Melton Mustafa on Sax - the son of international jazz artist Melton S. Mustafa  and the nephew of Jesse Jones, Jr., he has already achieved major successes in performance, education, directing and recording;
·         Allen Paul Trio - Paul started playing piano at the age of three and has evolved into an accomplished song writer and performing talent in jazz, R&B, gospel, and classical piano;
·         LaVie – a talented vocalist with an eclectic contemporary sound

“Sankofa Jazz Fest is a celebration with engaging performances that showcase incredibly talented and authentic jazz musicians,” explained Marshall Davis, AHCAC Managing Director, “and it also serves as a special time, when we reunite and reconnect with all the multitalented alumni that have received their arts instruction and training at the AHCAC. Giving young people a solid start and foundation in the arts is central to our Center’s mission.”

The event will be a celebration and family-friendly affair. Festival goers are encouraged to bring lawn chairs. Food will be available for purchase from a variety of vendors. No outside food, beverages or coolers allowed.  

A premier arts training institution in Liberty City, the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center is nationally-recognized for developing hundreds of outstanding artists in all arts disciplines over the last thirty-three years. Known as the artistic home of alumnus Tarell Alvin McCraney, co-creator of the award-winning movie, Moonlight, the Center’s other distinguished alumni include Robert Battle, Artistic Director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; Bianca Brewton, dancer (Janet Jackson and Beyoncé); Shareef Clayton, a Jazz trumpeter (Arturo Sandoval and Stevie Wonder); and tap dancer Marshall Davis, Jr., associate choreographer of the Tony-nominated play, Shuffle Along.


For more information about the Sankofa Jazz Fest, vendor opportunities or tickets, call 305-638-6771 during business hours Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. or visit www.ahcacmiami.org. Follow us on social media @ahcacmiami, #AHCAC, #AHCACMiami and #SankofaJazzFest


May 2018

BUY THIS ISSUE  |  SUBSCRIBE
COVER

Alicia Hall Moran and Jason Moran - State of the Art

Alicia Hall Moran and Jason Moran have spent years collaborating with world-renowned choreographers, filmmakers, visual artists, furniture makers, poets, scholars and, yes, fellow musicians.

Tedeschi Trucks Band


2018 TOUR TEDESCHI TRUCKS BANDAT BARBARA B. MANN PERFORMING ARTS HALL AT FSW IN FORT MYERS
Thursday, April 12
Tedeschi Trucks Band’s latest release, Live From the Fox Oakland, (2017) – a CD and film – was recorded in a single night at a show that fans and band members all regard as one of their finest performances to date.  The double disc live recording showcases the band’s ability to move seamlessly from blistering rock and blues to soulful ballads and includes their take on classics from Derek and the Dominos, Leonard Cohen, and even Miles Davis among TTB’s original songs. Get tickets! Read more…

Thursday, April 12, 2018 at 7:30PM
Barbara B Mann Performing Arts Hallat Florida Southwestern State College
13350 FSW Parkway, Fort Myers, FL 33919

Friday, April 6, 2018

Jazz Blues Florida - Florida's Online Guide to Live Jazz & Blues in at JazzBluesFlorida.com: The Four Freshman in Concert in Fort Lauderdale Ap...

Jazz Blues Florida - Florida's Online Guide to Live Jazz & Blues in at JazzBluesFlorida.com: The Four Freshman in Concert in Fort Lauderdale Ap...: Gold Coast Jazz Society -  Tradition…Innovation…Creativity! Wednesday, April 11, 2018 ~ 7:45pm An Evening  with the...

Sunday, April 1, 2018

Oliver Jones - Gershwin Medley (11/11)

Jazz Musician Of The Day: Duke Jordan

SOURCE: 

All About Jazz is celebrating Duke Jordan's birthday today!
Duke Jordan was a pianist whose work with the saxophonist Charlie Parker endures in the jazz pantheon. Jordan was regarded as one of the great early bebop pianists, the sound that he helped to create in the postwar era was something new, and it remains a cornerstone of jazz. Irving Sydney Jordan was born in New York in 1922, and began his formal piano studies at the age of eight.Hecontinued to study piano until he was 16... Read more.
from: https://news.allaboutjazz.com/jazz-musician-of-the-day-duke-jordan__3491.php

from jazz@jazzinstitut.de

1 April 2018
                                              
Laura Schuler / Karl Berger

Xymna Engel talks to the Swiss violinist Laura Schuler about her discovery of jazz as an experimental art form, about the many technical possibilities of her instrument, about trying to tell a story in her improvisations, as well as about the use of editing and post-production in her recordings which she sees as being part of her music ( Der Bund). --- Andrian Kreye talks to the German pianist and vibraphonist Karl Berger about having been mentored by Theodor W. Adorno during his student years who warned him not to call jazz an art form, about his friendship and collaboration with Don Cherry and Ornette Coleman, about the motivic focus of Coleman's harmolodics, about the Creative Music Studio which he founded together with his wife Ingrid Sertso in 1973, about the Studio's workshops which are still happening today, as well as about the current wave of young jazz musicians ( Süddeutsche Zeitung ).

3 April 2018

Kiyoshi Koyama / Michael Wollny

Katherine Whatley talks to the Japanese critic Kiyoshi Koyama about his fascination with jazz which started in the early 1950s, listening to jazz shows on the radio and hearing Louis Armstrong live in concert in 1953, about the press conference in 1966 at which he asked John Coltrane what he would like to be in ten years, to which Coltrane replied, "I'd like to be a Saint", about inviting Ornette Coleman to dinner in his Tokyo apartment, about his work for the Japanese periodical Swing Journal and as a producer of box sets, as well as about the current interest in jazz having to do with the fact that the music always was more than entertainment but had a message as well ( Japan Times). --- The German pianist Michael Wollny writes about improvisation as a tool for communication everybody uses every day, about the difference between improvisation and composition, about the Icelandic singer Björk who insists that her songs be incomplete until the last day of recording to keep the possibility of spontaneity, about the best music often being created when he doesn't need to prove anything, about his own approach to performing, as well as about the fact that improvisation always has to pay respect to complexity might be a reason to transfer more of that technique back into real life ( Süddeutsche Zeitung).

4 April 2018

... what else ... 

New Orleans trumpeter Irvin Mayfield has been allowed to travel to South Africa for a festival performance despite facing criminal charges at home ( Channel 24). — A firefighter died battling a blaze at a film set in the former Harlem club St. Nick's ( The IndependentNew York Daily News). — Harun Atmaca talks to the German producer and jazz promoter Uwe Hager ( Giessener Anzeiger). --- Tom Hörner talks to the German saxophonist and entertainer Roland Baisch ( Stuttgarter Zeitung). --- Gabriele M. Knoll talks to the German trumpeter Markus Türk ( Westdeutsche Zeitung). --- Jordannah Elizabeth talks to Heather Ireland Robinson, the first African-American leader of the Chicago Jazz Institute ( Chicago Reader). --- Danny Hakim reports about the economic problems of legendary guitar maker Gibson ( New York Times). --- Mary Jo Winter talks to the pianist Greg Hester ( The Press-Democrat). --- George Varga talks to the saxophonist Branford Marsalis ( San Diego Union-Tribune).

Obituaries

We read another obituary about the composer and musicologist Olly Wilson who had died two weeks ago at the age of 80 ( New Music USA). --- We learned of the passing of the double bassist Buell Neidlinger at the age of 82 ( The Blue Moment06880New York TimesNPR), the German trombonist Dick Simon at the age of 88, the pianist Donnie Heitler at the age of 81 ( Smile PolitelyThe News-Gazette), the German pianist Hermann Keller at the age of 72 ( Der Tagesspiegel), as well as the Swiss author and saxophonist Jürg Laederach at the age of 72 ( Die Welt).

Barbara Dennerlein, A flight over keys and pedals


The organist Barbara Dennerlein excelled in March at the concert in the Annakirche in Aachen. Stylistically diverse and rousing, she explored the tonal possibilities of the organ - and received thunderous applause from the audience.

The Aachener Anzeiger news reported about the concert: "The organ is considered to be the Queen of Instruments. For Barbara Dennerlein it is easy to subduing it. On Friday night, the world-renowned jazz organist delighted the Aachen audience at the sold out opening concert. ... Dennerlein took the Annakirche with about 400 seats and the Aachen audience to her heart during her first visit a few years ago. Now she should also be pleased about a 2016 built, computer-controlled setting device in the Weimbs organ, which made her virtuoso play even more relaxed, although organists always work with the whole body.

The 53-year-old always projects her performance in the church so that the listener becomes also a spectator. All four manuals of the Weimbs Organ - three for the hands, one for the feet - could be seen. That is another fascination at Dennerlein's performances, as one sees her hands and feet almost flying over the keys and pedals.

What matters most is the music she creates this way: in Aachen she presented six of her own jazz works and an encore that lost not a glimpse of fascination and enthusiasm while listening with closed eyes. Blues, Funk, Calypso - stylistically diverse and rousing, she explored the tonal possibilities of the organ. The "Early Bird BIues" had to be part of the program, said the musician and composer. Because the organ in the Annakirche has a whistle with a bird voice, the only register that still must be moved by hand. The "Waltzing Pipes" were in the programme thanks to the setting system, because even with all her dexterity, Barbara Dennerlein would not have been able to pull so many stops at the same time, as the piece demanded. At least with "Corean Smile" the audience knew, how virtuoso and expressive possibilities Dennerlein is able to play on the manuals. Almost casually, as if it were nothing, she pursued three different rhythms simultaneously.

The "Stormy Weather BIues", one of Dennerlein's best-known works, was missing just as little as "New York Impressions", an improvisation to Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor and at the same time a musical symbol of the melting pot on the Manhattan River. Both rightfully tore the audience into storms of excitement. In the end, the audience gave standing ovations - thunderous cheers in the nave after a grand concert."