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Back In The Groove: Material Matters

Read "Back In The Groove: Material Matters" reviewed by Tarik Townsend


An aspect of jazz that is often overlooked is the material. That is, the very tunes that the musicians are performing. Arguably more important than the key or the tempo, the song itself dictates where the musician's inspiration will go, and even that isn't always a sure thing. They're a launching pad and an indicator of an artist's imagination. The material can also lead the players into some fascinating places normally not tread by anyone else--including themselves. Some recent records ...

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2024 Winter JazzFest Marathons: A Survival Guide

Read "2024 Winter JazzFest Marathons: A Survival Guide" reviewed by Ludovico Granvassu


Twenty years is a remarkable milestone for any activity, let alone one that comes with the wear and tear of a high-profile jazz festival that every year strives to up its own ante, like the Winter JazzFest. From January 11 to 18, 2024, fans, musicians, promoters and other industry people from around the world will converge to mark this special anniversary and celebrate what has become a cornerstone of New York's cultural architecture. Following the pattern ...

40

Tokyo Jazz Joints: Capturing An Old Love Story

Read "Tokyo Jazz Joints: Capturing An Old Love Story" reviewed by Ian Patterson


Could you imagine coffee shops in any North American or European city that played jazz non-stop all day, or bars where, variously, as you quenched your thirst, you heard only Blue Note Records, free-jazz or the music of, say, Miles Davis, according to the bar owner's tastes? Could you imagine such places where speaking is not only frowned upon but is actually banned in reverence to the music? Probably not, on both counts. In Japan, and especially in ...

2

Why Hard Bop?

Read "Why Hard Bop?" reviewed by AAJ Staff


When trying to investigate jazz, all the classifications and categories can be a bit confusing. What do they mean when they say “hard bop?" How is it different from other types of jazz? Although a definition of the music may not necessarily enhance your listening enjoyment a little historical perceptive may be helpful for the jazz collector. The term hard bop, like many classifications in the arts, was created by the critics. It describes the new stylistic development ...

16

Seattle Jazz Fellowship: How One Week Told the Story of a Jazz Nonprofit's First Year

Read "Seattle Jazz Fellowship: How One Week Told the Story of a Jazz Nonprofit's First Year" reviewed by Paul Rauch


When jny: Seattle-based trumpeter Thomas Marriott announced the founding of a new 501(c)3 nonprofit to support the local jazz scene in his hometown, both the enormity of its possibilities and its challenges merged front and center in the collective mind of the Seattle jazz community. Over the past decade, the city had lost its two main venues that staged jazz featuring musicians from its historically vibrant scene. Both The New Orleans Creole Restaurant in Pioneer Square and Tula's ...

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2023 Winter JazzFest Marathons: A Survival Guide

Read "2023 Winter JazzFest Marathons: A Survival Guide" reviewed by Ludovico Granvassu


The fact that New York City's Winter JazzFest (WJF) is back to in-person performances may very well be among the most meaningful signs, at least for jazz die-hards, that life is returning to normal. The overall number of concerts may not be as high as in the past, with the 170+ performances of 2020 representing the historic peak. The mere fact, however, that producer Brice Rosenbloom and his team had the resolve not to let the soul-crushing, last-minute, ...

5

Seattle Jazz Fellowship Presents: Orrin Evans & the Captain Black Big Band

Read "Seattle Jazz Fellowship Presents: Orrin Evans & the Captain Black Big Band" reviewed by Paul Rauch


The Seattle Jazz Fellowship, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by trumpeter Thomas Marriott, was created in response to the loss of viable jazz stages showcasing the vibrant resident jazz scene in Seattle. While local jazz musicians and fans alike mourned the downfall of longtime resident haunts such as the New Orleans club and Tula's Jazz Club, Marriott and a supportive group of like-minded community members sought an alternative to the traditional jazz supper club personified by the aforementioned institutions. Gentrification of ...

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Seattle Jazz Fellowship: A New Beginning For Live Resident Jazz

Read "Seattle Jazz Fellowship: A New Beginning For Live Resident Jazz" reviewed by Paul Rauch


The local jazz scene in Seattle has been vibrant and at times prolific over the last one hundred years. The city hosted the only fully integrated jazz club scene in the 1920's and '30s, inspiring Black musicians from the south to escape Jim Crow, and find a place to not only engage in the bustling club scene in the seemingly remote northwest outpost, but to simply live a life free of the tyranny of the south. It was exactly why ...

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Coltrane's Progeny: Giant Steps for Late Beginners

Read "Coltrane's Progeny: Giant Steps for Late Beginners" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci


For many listeners, the name John Coltrane is synonymous with the tune “Giant Steps." Whether or not you happen to agree with the proposition that this was the “greatest" or most important composition Coltrane ever recorded—for some, it would be “My Favorite Things," and for still others, “A Love Supreme." This is not an attempt, largely futile, to settle that question. There probably is no answer. The great bassist Jimmy Haslip once said that hearing Jaco Pastorius play ...

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A Tale of Two Genres: The Surprising Similarities in the Development of Jazz and Classical Music

Read "A Tale of Two Genres: The Surprising Similarities in the Development of Jazz and Classical Music" reviewed by Kurt Ellenberger


Jazz and classical music are two of the most monumental achievements in human history. Together, they encompass a range of expressive capability that is simply astounding, giving voice to the human experience from centuries past to the present and in doing so, enriching our lives immeasurably. This is more remarkable when one considers that they have nothing to do with our survival as a species, but rather serve to nurture our emotional and intellectual needs, occupying a place in our ...


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