Author Archives: The Independent Ear

Mike LeDonne This is a story of one jazz musician’s sense of humanity that has been deeply touched by personal experience. While perusing the myriad possibilities offered by the annual Winterjazzfest (January 9-10), conspicuously tagged onto many of the releases … Continue reading →

In recent times the term ‘fusion’ has become somewhat taboo. For some the idea of endeavoring to achieve a fusion comes with a red flag warning the participants that inevitably one form or entity is bound to dominate, or even … Continue reading →

By Ron Scott Our correspondent Ron Scott, noted contributor to the Amsterdam News on all things jazz, reports from the 30th annual Inaternacional Jazz Plaza Festival La Habana. It was our fourth day in Havana, Cuba enjoying the music, digesting … Continue reading →

A Jazz Connect Conference 2015 panel discussion on The Ways & Means of DIY Labels was moderated by Greg Osby, with bassist Mimi Jones making her point What do you suppose are the ultimate benefits of attending jazz conferences? That’s … Continue reading →

Having been privileged to participate in several year-end “best of” recordings polls (including Francis Davis’ esteemed poll for NPR (http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2014/12/19/371282561/the-2014-npr-music-jazz-critics-poll), as well as assorted critic’s polls I’ll decline to belabor Independent Ear readers with my favorite recordings for 2014. However, … Continue reading →