Diana Krall popped on the scene in 1993 with her first CD “Steppin’ Out,” (Justin Time), followed by a string of Grammy award nominations and platinum sales with her following...

It’s a warm, summer, Friday afternoon, the first Friday after the Fourth of July holiday, and I am a bit nervous as I enter into the condo complex in Dobb’s Ferry where I am about to conduct an interview with the jazz pianist Steve Kuhn. It’s my first interview and I am wondering how the hell I ever I...

Deborah Latz’s new album Lifeline opens her up more personally in front of audiences than ever before.  The depth of her vocals and the mood of the music reel audiences into her life in a way that her past experiences as a stage actress/singer and her training, which included Afro/Haitian classes with Madonna in attendance, never gave her the...

For singer/songwriter/musician Julie Lavender, “Never Felt the Sun” may be the...

Maybe something that you have often asked yourself is “What is neo-soul and nu-jazz,” buzz words that seem to come up often now-a-days? These are terms that music writers like myself use to describe a new generation of soul and jazz artists, similarly to the way writers back in the mid-’80s called Bobby Brown the voice of new-jack FM radio. Singer/songwriter...

I had the pleasure of speaking to the inspirational Babatunde Lea recently, a musician who...

The church and music have always gone hand-in-hand. It is the place where artists like modern rock’s Bono of U2 and R&B/jazz savant Lizz Wright began by singing in the choir, pop music’s Whitney Houston and hip hop’s Kanye West first touched audiences, and country music’s Dolly Parton and bluegrass’ Alison Krauss were first embraced. The church and music...

The 1940s and 1950s are fondly remembered for many reasons. Two of the main ones are the great movies that were made and the great jazz that was featured in them. In addition to brilliant composition and some of the best players that ever lived, those movies also had great singers. Some of the actors, it turns out, were...

Jazz vocalist and composer Carolyn Leonhart has always been surrounded by gifted artists. Her father Jay Leonhart is a highly respected acoustic double bass player, her mother was a talented singer, who left a promising professional career to focus on raising her family, and her husband Wayne Escoffery, besides being a very talented tenor saxophonist, is considered to be...

With Danny Lerman on an extensive tour for his new album, it is almost natural to begin the interview with: “Good...

When I was approached by Phyllis Fast (the wife of Larry Fast, who plays synthesizer in Tony’s band) about Tony Levin’s recent Grammy nomination for his solo...

Natalie Bernard has been referring jazz performers to me for potential interviews, internet exposure and the potential for some additional gigs from her roster of...

Finally able to do what he enjoys—the creative process of growing music, Levy no longer has to spend...

"This was not Ramsey’s first time performing religious music publicly. His unique style and versatility exemplify a fresh awakening in the sound of gospel music. The excitement generated by Ramsey is stimulating to observe and...

Nimbus is a full acoustic ensemble, except for...

Swedish diva Jeanette Lindstrom is the kind of person you like more every time you talk to her, watch her perform, or as in my case, correspond with her during the course of writing this article. Her fans’ love for Lindstrom was obvious when a couple of months ago. I had the opportunity to attend one of her concerts...

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