Contributors' Corner - Feature Stories
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Second Annual Duke Ellington Jazz Festival Weathers Storms
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As another example of how large scale jazz events can work, The Duke Ellington Jazz Festival enjoyed its second year October 4 - 8 with an even more ambitious program than last year, sponsoring activities that seemed to encompass the whole of the District of Columbia. The more than fifty performances were held in major venues such as the...
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Concert Review by Peter Westbrook
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Celestial Symphony with Pandit Hariprasad Charasia & George Brooks' Summit in Washington DC
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The name Hariprasad Charasia may not be well known to jazz lovers but he is virtually a household name in India and in Indian classical music circles world wide. He is best known as the premier performer on the bansuri, or bamboo flute, but he has also written the scores of several very popular Bollywood movies. He has also...
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Concert Review by Peter Westbrook
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The Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra at the University of Maryland
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The jazz program at the University of Maryland continued as it began this season–with quality, as the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra followed the McCoy Tyner Septet into the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. The difficulty in describing any performance by this award-winning ensemble comes from finding superlatives that haven't already been used. Perhaps the best compliment to pay Ms....
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Concert Review by Peter Westbrook
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Rollins Live at San Franciso Jazz Festival
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Born in 1930 in New York City, Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins has long been a fixture on the jazz scene, and he has been no stranger to the San Francisco Jazz Festival. Sonny appeared most recently in October, 2006 at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco. At the event, Milestone and Fantasy record producer Orrin Keepnews introduces him to...
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Concert Review by Harry S. Pariser
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McCoy Tyner at The University of Maryland
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In the five years since its opening, the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland has presented programs that emphasize both diversity and quality, with student recitals alternating with renowned artists in all fields of music, dance and theater. A major component has been their presentations of major jazz artists and the 2006/7 season is no...
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Concert Review by Peter Westbrook
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Growing from Inside Out
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Creation begins in the most internal constitution of the creator. Whatever language the creator uses to describe something outside, that person is correlating an assortment of givens with the dynamics that animate them. In this case, the creator is pianist and composer Matthew Shipp and his creation is Sacred Geometry. Shipp premiered his work for strings and piano at...
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Concert Review by Lyn Horton
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57 West Provides A Much Needed Resource
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For the second time in as many weeks, Houston’s 57 West Jazz Café brought to bear a sorely needed entertainment resource that is best described as an intimate and personal club jazz experience. Having only opened for business on November 10th for the very first time, 57 West Jazz Café began an auspicious debut with guitarist Joyce Cooling; what came next...
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Concert Review by Sheldon T. Nunn
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The Original Superstars of Jazz
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The Original Superstars of Jazz - The Phoenix Concert Theatre – Toronto, Nov. 16, 2006
The Original Superstars of Jazz Fusion concert with Roy Ayers, Lonnie Liston Smith, Jean Carne, Wayne Henderson, Bobbi Humphrey, Ronnie Laws & Jon Lucien was a tremendous success. The fusion occurred between the promoters, a co-production of Toronto Downtown Jazz and REMG Productions and the...
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Concert Review by Paul J. Youngman
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Ali Ryerson and Gene Bertoncini in Connecticut
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Getting out of Manhattan into the greenery of Connecticut is always refreshing. On this particular weekend in late October the feeling was reinforced by crisp Autumn air, a brilliant display of multi-colored leaves, and a quality jazz performance. In celebration of her birthday, and as a benefit for the local library's new building fund, Connecticut resident, flutist Ali Ryerson,...
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Concert Review by Peter Westbrook
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Joyce Cooling Debuts at 57 West Jazz Cafe
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Houston, Texas is the fourth largest city in the United States. Culturally speaking, the city is internationally diverse, artistically enhanced and economically sound with as much to offer as any other major city. But the jazz scene in Houston does leave much to be desired. Historically, Houston once had a strong and distinctive jazz presence. There were numerous venues...
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Concert Review by Sheldon T. Nunn
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Alice Coltrane at New Jersey Performing Arts Center
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It has been a couple of weeks or more since I attended Alice Coltrane's only East coast appearance at the beautiful NJPAC concert hall in Newark, October 22nd. It has taken this time for me to sort out my thoughts on the experience because I came away strangely conflicted–ambivalent about both the music and the message that accompanied it....
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Concert Review by Peter Westbrook
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Putting A Perspective on Carlos Santana
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For more than 40 years, Carlos Augusto Alves Santana has pushed the
envelope of rock guitar by melding blues, jazz fusion, R&B and salsa into a
level of creativity that has been seldom paralleled by any other musician of his
generation. As a Grammy Award-winning musician and Latin-rock guitarist, Santana
has epitomized the sound of music by blending the...
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Viewpoint by Sheldon T. Nunn
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KHJZ 95.7 Made A Positive Jazz Statement
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In an ever increasing environment where smooth jazz radio programming is in a continuing state of flux, it is refreshing to note a few successes as they occur. KHJZ 95.7 “The Wave” celebrated its 4th year of programming on October 28th; a feat that is very significant, especially in an arena where station after station has flipped to a...
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Concert Review by Sheldon T. Nunn
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Brazilian Star Shines
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This is the second October in a row that Blue Note jazz club has had the great fortune of booking Milton Nascimento for a week-long engagement in New York City. A friend of mine who grew up in Sao Paulo tells me that Milton plays in front of huge crowds in Brazil (and around the world) so the opportunity...
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Concert Review by Bryan Zoran
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Paris Escovedo
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Paris Escovedo, son of famed percussionist Thomas “Coke” Escovedo; has emerged to bring Latin back to the world of jazz. “Coke” Escovedo was an original member of the Carlos Santana band in the 1970s, who later created his band entitled Azteca, and through his untimely passing, Paris is building upon the tradition set forth by his father. Paris has...
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Concert Review by Katrina-Kasey Wheeler
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Branford Marsalis 4tet's heat makes Chicagoans forget the onset of chilly weather
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If there's one thing there's not a shortage of, it's tenor saxophonists. There are many, but few are at all like Branford Marsalis. Many saxophonists can be summed-up in a few glib words, but Branford (I hope he forgives my familiarity) has a style that reflects many styles, many "schools," many eras, yet there's nothing pastiche about him. Classic...
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Concert Review by Mark Keresman
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Sassy, Sexy, Scintillating: Janiva Magness
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Dressed in a wine colored dress her attitude alternated between vampish and sassy but when Janiva Magness the 2006 Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year took to the stage at Calgary’s Red Onion on October 21st her passionate vocals stirred the emotions of both men and women.
Backed by a scintillating performance from her rhythm section the Los...
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Concert Review by Joe Montague
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Releasing the Rigor
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Dipping into the Meetinghouse in Amherst, MA, on a multi-city tour, reedsman Peter Brötzmann and drummer Han Bennink paired up for a performance that projected a dynamic rarely experienced in the music. A hard-edged European mode of improvisation overcame the acoustically alive room.
Tenacity and intensity go hand in hand. Even though such descriptive nouns might imply a network...
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Concert Review by Lyn Horton
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Imani Winds Celebrate the Unquenchable Spirit of Josephine Baker
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Imani Winds: Valerie Coleman - flutes; Toyin Spellman-Diaz - oboe; Mariam Adam - clarinet & bass clarinet; Jeff Scott - French horn; Monica Ellis - bassoon/soprano saxophone
Jazz lovers would do well to check out Imani Winds. Officially a classical chamber ensemble, they are opening up new areas of expression for this genre, drawing upon jazz and world music...
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Concert Review by Peter Westbrook
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Changing the Seasons
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In a hall that has tripled in size due to the contributions of area jazz enthusiasts, the Vermont Jazz Center hosted The Billy Bang Quartet on a brisk October night at the slippery edge between summer and fall.
The Billy Bang Quartet is a group that knows where it is going. Violinist Bang as leader has cast a musical...
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Concert Review by Lyn Horton
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Ghosts and Memories of Hoagy Carmichael
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I returned to Calgary recently after a three year hiatus and discovered that the once bastion for country music bars has given wings to blues and jazz venues of the highest quality. On Friday October 6, 2006 I had an opportunity to take in a splendid jazz performance by two of Canada’s premier instrumentalists/vocalists Joe Sealy and George Koller...
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Concert Review by Joe Montague
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Morgan Davis Plays Blues With A Swagger
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Canada's premier blues venue the Red Onion showcased two of Canada's top blues performers on September 29th. Morgan Davis a 2004 Juno Award (Canada's Grammy) winner (Painkiller was Blues Album of the Year) electrified the crowd with spine tingling and note bending guitar riffs. Among the members of the band backing him this evening was drummer Duris Maxwell one...
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Concert Review by Joe Montague
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Meditating on Matt
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No stronger mind-body-spirit nexus exists other than that of meditation. In fact, the essences of all three dissolve into one in the process. The inside becomes the outside, the outside… inside. When that becoming is conscious, peace settles. And we and the universe are indistinguishable.
Meditation can assume many forms. For Matthew Shipp, that meditation is playing the piano. Shipp...
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Concert Review by Lyn Horton
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An All Star Jam Comes To Houston
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Reviewing smooth jazz related activities is not a very easy endeavor to embark upon; in fact and in all actuality, providing an unbiased perspective on these opportunities often generates a myriad of emotions. On one end of the spectrum I am torn between my ambivalence for smooth jazz radio and my loyalty to jazz as an indigenous American art...
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Concert Review by Sheldon T. Nunn
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Youman Wilder Brings Down House In NYC.
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Youman Wilder and Weird Stories returned to the Village Land Mark music club Kenny's Castaways for what was a home coming and an Industry showcase for the Music Insiders of New York.
The Band which has seemed to perform mostly at high end Jazz Festivals in Europe and Canada was back on it's home turf here in New York.
With a...
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Concert Review by Karen Gullet-Dupree
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