Author Archives: The Independent Ear

No question saxophonist Kamasi Washington is the current “it” man in jazz. Its not often that an unabashed jazz musician like the L.A. based tenor man garners the level of mainstream prints Washington has enjoyed. Certainly we recognize that the … Continue reading →

Producer LeRoy Downs interviewing Terence Blanchard for the premier edition of “The Jazz Creative” on the Aspire network Over the last few years a fixture at Dizzy’s Den on the grounds of the Monterey Jazz Festival, has been the hip, … Continue reading →

Joe Lovano is a true renaissance man of jazz, one of the music’s most diverse and most restless explorers, never content with one format over another, never prone to repeating ensembles for more than a tour, two at most. Scanning … Continue reading →

Pianist-composer-bandleader and Kennedy Center Jazz curator Jason Moran became one of the true lead voices in the music largely on the combination of his restless artistry and a strong recording relationship with Blue Note Records. His wife, the striking contralto … Continue reading →

Winter Jazzfest 2016 January 13-17 From the time George Wein and the Lorillards launched the Newport Jazz Festival in ‘54 and Jimmy Lyons hatched the Monterey Jazz Festival in ‘58, the whole idea of what constitutes such an event has … Continue reading →