Bassist Esperanza Spalding has led a bit of a whirlwind artistic life for one so young and fresh off their second release as a leader. Esperanza, the singing bassist’s sophomore release on Heads Up was rather promising, if a bit all over the map — as freshman label releases often are. It proved to be [...]
Continuing our investigation of folks who are endeavoring to present jazz in non-traditional ways and non-traditional venues (ala Search and Restore), our series of conversations with what has become a seemingly rare breed over the last 40 years – African Americans who present jazz on their stages — this installment is our chat with emerging young vocalist [...]
Plain and simple folks, as I’ve been preaching for many moons, the biggest issue facing jazz music is not a matter of lack of gigs or venues, dying record companies or jazz masters checking out for ancestry, or the lack of widespread 24/7 jazz radio; the biggest issue is audience, and our collective ability to [...]
COMING IN OCTOBER on Duke University Press: An as-told-to autobiography Composed by Randy Weston; Arranged by Willard Jenkins "Randy Weston is a magical, spiritual, ebullient, and generous soul who just happens to be one of the most original composers and pianists of the last sixty years. African Rhythms is his fascinating story in his own [...]
Last Tuesday evening at the Jazz Standard, fortified by a plate of succulent ribs and amidst an appreciative audience, sonic rewards were plentiful from pianist Orrin Evans once again offering ample evidence that his arc continues on the rise. That evening and the next at the agreeable East Side joint, Evans piloted a rough & ready [...]
The 2011 class of National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters, the highest honor this country bestows on living jazz artists and advocates, is not without controversy. There’s been much conversation about the unprecedented elevation of the entire Marsalis Family; and just the other day while doing some research at the Institute of Jazz Studies [...]
Though still in progress with James Gavin’s thick new volume on the life & times of the recently departed ancestor Lena Horne, several in-progress observations give high marks to the writer’s thorough, detailed efforts. Gavin, who penned the equally-rewarding Chet Baker bio The Long Night of Chet Baker, details La Horne’s vivid and often troubling life, [...]