Contributors' Corner - Feature Stories
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Mr. Personality
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Michael Kaeshammer seems to be on a mission, he is driven, charismatic, talented and determined. Blessed with boyish good looks, charm and oozing a vibrant personality he transfers this zest for life to his attentive audience. His performance is an attack on your senses, you have no choice but to like this guy. It helps that his piano playing...
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Concert Review by Paul J. Youngman
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Muskoka Magic Meets The Big Easy
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The Huntsville Jazz Festival now in its second year and with the backing of a major sponsor, TD Canada Trust, is booking international acts and big name Canadian talent. I am very happy that I came across this festival, it takes place in one of my favorite places and it features my kind of entertainment.
The lineup for the...
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Concert Review by Paul J. Youngman
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Rick Braun and Richard Elliot
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"Good music touches the Emotions and the Spirit in a way Nothing Else Can." ~ E.W. Ho
On a scorching hot July summer night, two of the most celebrated and distinguished performers in the smooth jazz genre made an exhilarating appearance. The high energy pairing materialized at the 512 seat Ovation Theatre located inside the lavish Green Valley Ranch Station...
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Concert Review by Randall Parrish
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Wynton Marsalis & the JLCO in Vancouver, Canada
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Let’s remember that the Jazz at the Lincoln Center Orchestra does for big
band jazz what the Preservation Hall Jazz Band does for Dixieland jazz:
preserves it. The difference is that the JLCO dusts off charts from a bygone
age, dresses them up in contemporary designer gear, and re-presents them. And
like all good jazz, to the keen listener,...
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Concert Review by Mike Cooke
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Alto’s, Shiny or Dull, Sing Brightly One For All
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Age, experience, the sage like qualities of a master musician all translated into a performance of perfection by octogenarian alto player Red Holloway. He set the bar very high for his younger summit attendees at this Toronto Jazz Fest Alto Summit. His younger alto saxophone band mates, Bobby Watson, Donald Harrison and Greg Osby, specialists each and everyone, have...
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Concert Review by Paul J. Youngman
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Duran & Sandoval, Together Again
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They came to see a Cuban Latin Jazz Master, the headliner of the concert and the magnetic draw for a packed house, the great trumpeter, multi-instrumentalist, Arturo Sandoval. What they got as added bonus was one of the most dynamic Latin Jazz trios on the planet. Opening for Maestro Sandoval was Toronto’s own, by way of Cuba, the Hilario...
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Concert Review by Paul J. Youngman
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Jazz Lives!
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The 22nd anniversary of the Toronto Jazz Festival was one for the record books with more venues, more musicians and more aspirations of becoming the very best North American jazz festival. There literally was something for everyone. That seems to be the theme for most festivals these days, but with 50 venues, 350 concerts and an estimated 1,500 performers...
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Concert Review by Paul J. Youngman
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Guitar and Saxes in Las Vegas
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The cozy confines of the Chrome Showroom located inside the Santa Fe Station Hotel and Casino provided the stage for a stop on the annual summer tour of jazz's premier performers they simply call "Guitars and Saxes". Smooth jazz fans in Las Vegas were treated to a musical feast of supreme sensory satisfaction and non-stop excitement as the lineup...
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Concert Review by Randall Parrish
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Luciana Souza Glows at Kennedy Center
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It is easy for a jazz writer to get jaded with the sheer quantity of music he/she is subjected to. Our only hope of salvation is the occasional performance that reaches rare levels of brilliance. So I was especially grateful to hear Luciana Souza and her quartet at the Kennedy Center in May.
Everything seemed to just fall perfectly...
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Concert Review by Peter Westbrook
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A Fitting Good Night
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The Art of Jazz Celebration is an amazing event. This year, the theme was about a Global Jazz Village and it lived up to the name in spirit, music, musicians and audience participation. The inaugural year, 2006, I considered this a spring jazz festival, and a great one at that. It was much more; it was enlightenment for many,...
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Concert Review by Paul J. Youngman
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Despite mishaps, Return To Forever thrill
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Return To Forever is more than a novelty act. It's four matured musicians together again after 25 years of development as instrumentalists, as bandleaders, as composers and as producers. It's not the original lineup, but instead the classic lineup that recorded three albums between 1974 and 1976.
Guitarist Al DiMeola was only 19 when he linked up with three...
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Concert Review by Michael Ferguson
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Brazilian Deity Graces T.O
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Starting out on electric piano Hermeto Pascoal the 2008 Art of Jazz Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, introduced his music to the audience in layers, as if pulling open the pages of a dynamic novel, the performance opened up to reveal more of the fascinating imagination of this spectacular master multi-instrumentalist performer. In the first song of the evening Pascoal...
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Concert Review by Paul J. Youngman
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Fire at the Boiler House
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The Boiler House is an upscale dining establishment in the Historic Distillery District, it is not a great jazz venue for a powerhouse jazz quartet, it’s better than being outside in the rain, but not by much. The room has a very good lay out for a dining establishment with nice private booths and a 2nd floor balcony for...
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Concert Review by Paul J. Youngman
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Jazz For The Spirit
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What a mix of spirit, a joy of life, the gift of humour and a soul that swings. That is Sheila Jordan and she performed an afternoon show that was a delight, with her a wonderful accompanist, Steve Kuhn who also took to the daylight for one incredible set of touching piano reminisces, that was emotionally charged.
The songs...
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Concert Review by Paul J. Youngman
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The Blues - Out of America
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Randy Weston and Billy Harper - Duo Series
Randy Weston took to the stage and seemed all about business, he announced the evening’s performance would be dedicated to the blues. He proceeded to hammer out powerful chords that resonated wildly in the dim and dark cavernous Fermenting Cellar of the Historic Distillery District. Billy Harper came on equally as...
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Concert Review by Paul J. Youngman
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Jazztrenzz's Clef Notes
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You Go to My Head – Janelle Monique (Zafe’Musik 2008)
Complex as it may be to exhume logic from the decision to spin classics when the creative mind of this young composer lays dormant, the fact is, Janelle Monique’s debut jewel-box works! Vocalist Janelle Monique’s You Go to My Head penetrates the world of the “diabolically seductive” vocalists of today’s...
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Viewpoint by Karl Stober
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Boney James Returns To Las Vegas
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"The communal experience of playing live - that's why I became a musician in the first place," "It's exciting and liberating. It never gets old for me." ~ Boney James
The soulful, seductively silky-smooth sax stylings of Boney James were on display Saturday May 3rd inside the sold-out, extremely intimate setting of the Railhead Showroom located in Las Vegas's Boulder...
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Concert Review by Randall Parrish
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This Anthology Tour Made A Return to Forever
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One of the most exciting concerts to have ever come to the Verizon Wireless Theater hit the stage with an incredible array of talent on Saturday night. The most enduring aspect of the event was the overall mystique surrounding the group who performed. After a 25-year hiatus, four of the finest musicians ever known mesmerized their audience as a...
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Concert Review by Sheldon T. Nunn
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The Hague Jazz Festival 2008
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Over the weekend of May 23 and 24, 2008. Over 22,000 people traveled from around Europe to attend the third Hague Jazz festival, held in the World Forum. This festival has replaced the world famous North Sea Jazz Festival, which has now moved onto Rotterdam. The Hague has been and always will be the number one for Jazz in...
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Concert Review by NEAL McCLIMON
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Buddy Guy and his Fabulous Blues Band
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Famed blues guitarist Buddy Guy made his annual concert appearance at Massey Hall in Toronto, Saturday night, April 5, 2008. Buddy’s rhythm section has been part of his band for several years now. All are seasoned pros from the Chicago blues scene.
On 2nd lead and rhythm guitar is Ric ‘Jaz Guitar’ Hall, with Orlando Wright on electric bass, Tim...
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Concert Review by Joe Curtis
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Music Marketing Tips and Tricks
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The presentation of your image is just as important as the quality of the music. One of the key ways in introducing your new CD to journalists and radio is through the use of a one-page.
A one-page serves as a combination press release/bio for the new CD. It tells the world what the music is about and how to...
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Viewpoint by Cheryl Hughey
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Taylor Eigsti - 'Let It Come to You' Released This Week
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Concord Jazz have released the new album (CD & Digital) from Jazz piano wonder kid and two-time Grammy nominee Taylor Eigsti titled 'Let It Come To You'. 'Let It Come To You' is Taylor's follow up to his 2006 Concord debut 'Lucky To Be Me' which spent 23 weeks on the national jazz radio airplay charts, peaking at No....
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Viewpoint by Glenn Holmes
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Children of Song
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The junior jazzers turned out in full force for Jumpin’ at Roy’s a performance at Roy Thompson Hall this past Thursday backing up Jon Hendricks, the master of jazz vocalese. They were also all for helping out The Art of Jazz quintet. The young 240 member group proceeded to serenade an eager audience, whom for the most part, looked...
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Concert Review by Paul J. Youngman
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Jazz Masters Visit Nation's Capital
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As our capital city, Washington D.C. is home to many events of national importance. This applies to the arts generally -- Washington is home to the National Symphony, the National Theater, The National Gallery, etc -- and is also reflected in the jazz world. A recent flurry of activity saw several jazz masters visiting the area.
April is Jazz...
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Concert Review by Peter Westbrook
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A Jazz Lifeline to Academia Is Severed
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Over the last week, the jazz world has been reeling from the announcement that
the International Association of Jazz Educators, a de facto trade organization,
is going out of business.
In an e-mail message sent on April 18, the
10,000-member organization, based in Manhattan, Kan., announced that its
executive board had decided to file for bankruptcy and that its annual...
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Viewpoint by Morrice Blackwell
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