To say that jazz bassist/composer Rob Fried thinks outside the box, and that his music is complex, would be enormous understatements. To say that his songs on the current album Wind Song leave you feeling relaxed and immersed in their many moods would be a truer statement. Unlike so many sophisticated writers whose music is wonderful but sometimes leave the listener mentally and emotionally exhausted, Fried seems to have a knack for creating music, that despite pushing the envelope, pr …

Smooth jazz guitarist Nils is one of those nice guys in the music industry that is enjoying one of those ‘lived happily ever after’ lives after experiencing near disaster earlier in his music career. His first attempt at releasing a CD occurred in 1998 with the Blue Planet CD, but the label that had signed him declared bankruptcy, without doing any promotion or marketing of him or his album. "I got stuck with a $3,000 band bill because the label support just fell flat. The CDs …

Richard Dreyfuss received an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Glenn Holland, a musician/composer turned high school music teacher, in the wonderful film Mr. Holland’s Opus. Holland is forced into retirement when the school board cuts funding for his department. Near the end of the movie, there is a warm scene that always prompts tears from yours truly, as his colleagues and former students present him with a surprise gift. They have gathered in the school’s auditorium to pay tribute …

"To me, the most amazing thing as a writer is to get a concept in your mind, have it come out through your fingers, find it on the piano, write it down, play it, have someone else hear the melody, and get that same thought and same feeling that I had originally. That is the ultimate reward as a writer," says the personable, upright bassist and composer, Morrie Louden. Louden, who is the proud owner of an almost three hundred-year old Pietro Rogeri upright acoustic bass, describes how songs of …

Although his composition skills and his ability to master the tenor and soprano saxophones move him to the head of the class, Wayne Escoffery still relishes those opportunities to perform as a sideman with the ensembles of other leading musicians. It would be easy for a man with his stature in jazz music to become caught up with his own significant accomplishments, yet one never gets the impression from talking with Escofferey that he dwells on what has been, but instead, spends more time thinki …