jazzinterview.com - Jazz Artist Interviews
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Jay Leach
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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...
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Artist Interview by Susan Frances
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Kurt Elling
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Recently, I had an opportunity to speak on the phone with jazz vocalist Kurt Elling while he was in the midst of a tour. When one reads an interview with Elling, it would be easy to misconstrue his candor as bordering on pompous, because the reader does not have the advantage of listening to the inflection of his voice,...
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Artist Interview by Joe Montague
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Marcus H. Mitchell
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The first impression you may have of Marcus Horatio Mitchell is that he is a handsome, young man with dreamy, brown eyes, a happy-go-lucky disposition, and a sunny smile that could melt the Arctic glaciers, but this handsome 24-year old has more than just good looks to his credit. He has the music chops and astute business sense of...
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Artist Interview by Susan Frances
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Rosie Carlino
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“It comes back to that same thing; if I want to move you as a listener then it (the song) has to move me as a singer. Sometimes it is about the lyric and sometimes it is the melody or the arrangement,” says jazz vocalist Rosie Carlino.
Carlino confesses to be a romantic and being passionate about love songs, “It...
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Artist Interview by Joe Montague
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Spyro Gyra
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In February, Spyro Gyra was nominated for their ninth Grammy award in the best pop instrumental album category for Wrapped in a Dream. However, even though four of the five nominees were smooth jazz artists, the award was given out to rocker Peter Frampton's instrumental album Fingertips. Jay Beckenstein, leader and sax man of the group, says, The Grammys...
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Artist Interview by Norm Breest
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Jim Brock
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Percussionist Jim Brock needs no introduction to those in the music industry. He has during his career played live with and recorded on the projects of such esteemed artists as Brandford Marsalis, Victor Wooten, Delbert McClinton, Arturo Sanoval, Hootie and the Blowfish, Kathy Mattea and John Melencamp. He has, however, remained one of those artists who is untarnished from the lure of...
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Artist Interview by Joe Montague
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Hiroshima
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As the U.S. Congress talks about immigration reform, we remember that the United States is a country of immigrants. The group Hiroshima helps to show how diversity is the backbone of the country. When Japanese Americans, Dan and June Kuramoto, formed the group in East Los Angeles, they wanted to bring in other cultures to the mix, including Asian,...
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Artist Interview by Norm Breest
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Lin Rountree
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For all of you saxophone players who think you are the only sexy horn musicians out there, trumpeter Lin Rountree has a message for you—"Not So!" Actually, the focus of our conversation was not on the sex appeal of either type of brass player, but came out of a larger conversation in which we briefly discussed the opportunities for...
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Artist Interview by Joe Montague
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Times 4
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“San Francisco has always been a melting pot for great music. A lot of the reason is it is also a melting pot for culture. We have people of all origins, colors and flavors. You have to be pretty open-minded to live here, and it definitely reflects in the music,” says Greg Sankovich the keyboardist for the San Franciscan...
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Artist Interview by Joe Montague
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Joyce Cooling
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Keeping up in a conversation with Joyce Cooling is almost as difficult as it
would be to match her fabulous guitar work. As I spoke to the smooth jazz
artist, several times in typical Cooling fashion, she stopped, changed
directions, and left me in the dust as she enthusiastically spoke about some
event, person in her life or a...
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Artist Interview by Joe Montague
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David Gogo
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He still hasn’t reached his fortieth birthday, but blues guitarist, singer/songwriter David Gogo has twice been named Maple Blues Guitarist of the Year in his native Canada. This spring his current album Acoustic: Official Bootleg Series- Volume 2 was nominated for a Juno Award, the nation’s equivalent of a Grammy. In 2004, the blues man was named as the...
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Artist Interview by Joe Montague
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Gilad Barkan
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Musicians who immigrate to the United States come with not only their instruments, but also a firm hold on their distinct heritage. Some of these émigré immix swatches of their native music with jazz and weave a multi-textured body of work. Pianist Gilad Barkan, who’s lived in this country since he was fifteen and presently resides in Boston, MA, was...
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Artist Interview by Cheryl K. Symister-Masterson
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Michel Camilo
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Michel Camilo is a blessed person--blessed with the gift of musicianship, blessed with the genius of creativity, and blessed with a vision that keeps expanding to new heights. You might say that this pianist/composer/bandleader/educator has reached a pinnacle of success due to hard work and study…but beyond all this wonderment, it is that special something within him that rises...
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Artist Interview by Suzi Price
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John Abercrombie
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John Abercrombie has created one of the more elegant jazz guitar albums that you will hear. He refers to his new CD, The Third Quartet, as chamber jazz that incorporates the violin, guitar and drums. For the most part, The Third Quartet represents a departure in musical style from some of Abercrombie’s more recent projects such as Cat ‘N’...
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Artist Interview by Joe Montague
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Jay Soto
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Jay Soto is rapidly becoming one of the hottest smooth jazz guitarists in America. His sophomore album, Stay Awhile, fulfills all the promise of his debut CD Long Time Coming. The talented guitar maestro, who in 2004 was one of six finalists in a national guitar competition, is riding the recent success of his single “Slammin’,” which during the...
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Artist Interview by Joe Montague
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Will Donato
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More than any other song on Will Call, the title of the song, “Whatcha See is Whatcha Get,” defines the personality of jazz saxophonist Will Donato. There is a lot about this CD that gives the listener insight to this gifted, smooth jazz musician, take for instance the back cover of the CD where the beautiful woman whom he...
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Artist Interview by Joe Montague
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Matt Dusk
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Let me be perhaps the first to introduce you to Matt Dusk. Matt Dusk is Canadian. Matt Dusk is adorable. Matt Dusk is, to sum it up, a gracious, thoughtful, fun, mature singer with a reality about the music business that seems to be innate. And he is all this at the remarkably young age of 28. I assumed...
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Artist Interview by Mary Jo Conniff
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Jack Prybylski
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Jack Prybylski (pronounced purr-bill-ski) began playing the saxophone in elementary school and just never stopped. All through school and college, making music played a significant role in his life. Encouraged by his parents and teachers, he became a dedicated student and pursued a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in music education and music performance at the State University of...
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Artist Interview by Susan Frances
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Bob Margolin
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When you talk to blues guitarist, songwriter and singer Bob Margolin, you get the sense this is a man who deeply cares about family, friends, those he meets and animals. Those who know him use words like, “He is a very nice man,” to describe him. It is perhaps those sensitivities that have infused the sensibilities that he brings...
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Artist Interview by Joe Montague
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Stanley Clarke
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Stanley Clarke’s artistry has spanned classical, jazz, R&B and pop idioms. The word “legend” was used to describe Clarke by the time he was only 25-years old! He single-handedly started the 1970s “bass revolution,” paving the way for all bassist/soloist/bandleaders to follow. In 1976, Clarke released School Days, of which the title track is now a bona fide bass anthem. ...
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Artist Interview by H. Allen Williams
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Stew Cutler
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This morning I was listening to a sportscaster on the radio describe a team that had been on a tear recently and he said, "They are not hot, they are very good." The same words can be used to describe guitarist Stew Cutler who is a very good, and we might even say, exceptional guitarist from New York City.
In...
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Artist Interview by Joe Montague
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Bob Mintzer
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Maintaining a big band based in New York for nearly 25 years, arranger/saxophonist Bob Mintzer is also a member of the Yellowjackets, teaches music, writes books on music and gives back to his community through music.
Mintzer has played and written for Buddy Rich, Thad Jones, Mel Lewis, Art Blakey, Sam Jones and Jaco Pastorius, as well as Tito...
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Artist Interview by Nina Goodrich
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Maria Muldaur
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“I think that blues artists, men and women alike, are some of the most important cultural elders, and I do not think that they should be relegated to 78’s on some dusty shelf in the Smithsonian. It is music that still resonates and is very relevant today, even though the music emerged one hundred years ago. That is why...
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Artist Interview by Joe Montague
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Hiromi Uehara
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"Other people can put a name on what I do", says keyboardist Hiromi Uehara. "It's just the union of what I've been listening to and what I've been learning. It has some elements of classical music, it has some rock, it has some jazz, but I don't want to give it a name." On her electrifying new release, Time...
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Artist Interview by Kevin Cox
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Jackie Ryan
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Jackie Ryan is an international jazz star. She frequently plays both coasts and overseas, where her gig at Ronnie Scott’s in London garnered the critical praise: "One of the finest singers to perform at Ronnie's since Shirley Horn.” --The London Evening Standard.
Ryan has shared the stage and recording studio with many greats including Clark Terry, Red Holloway and...
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Artist Interview by Maxwell Chandler
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