Jazz Artist Interviews (709)
Get up close and personal with your favorite jazz artists!
Jazz described as music beginning in the 20th century and subsequently developing through various increasingly complex styles, generally marked by intricate, propulsive rhythms, a polyphonic ensemble playing, improvisatory, virtuosic solos, melodic freedom, and a harmonic idiom ranging from simple diatonicism through chromaticism to atonality. With a clearly open description of meaning why are there so many industry professionals using the words "this is not jazz" then?? Case in …
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With a long list of credentials to validate their considerable talent, Incognito has retained a massive fan base from their "not-to-be-missed" live shows. For Bluey, it’s a chance to get close to his audience. It’s not about playing the tune just to get audience applause. It’s about communicating, making sure people get it. It’s knowing that everyone shares a strong feeling of wanting to be together and experience a little utopia, something that’s not there in our daily lives. I had th …
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New York-based, St. Louis-bred pianist and composer has epiphany. That’s the short version of this story. Maybe it wasn’t truly an "aha" moment, but Linda Presgrave certainly woke up to her calling after a trip to Italy in 2003. She’d been steadily progressing as a pianist, gigging in St. Louis on piano and French horn, and then moving to NYC and focusing exclusively on piano. She spent some time studying with Joanne Brackeen, who pushed her to compose more, and then got the call to participate …
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Jazz is the ideal model of genetic evolution. New individuals express similar traits to their ancestors. Why shouldn’t they? After all they are born of the same species, same DNA, same gene pool, but when the traits are blended within every new generation, something truly unique is expressed. There are similarities, likenesses in expression, a familiarity in the voice, a feature that is reminiscent of the previous generation and upon further investigation, it is …
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In the sea of chaos and uncertainty that is modern life, one of the most crucial struggles we wage is the struggle to achieve, and hold onto, peace of mind. Free Your Mind is both sage advice and the title of Boston-based Saxophonist/vocalist/educator Walter Beasley's new CD. "All I wanted to do", explains Beasley, "was accurately reflect the times and how I felt about them". JazzReview: Your last CD, Ready For Love, was widely considered an artistic and c …
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Jazz music for contemporary times is what violinist Miles Stiebel provides to audiences in his second solo album Excellent Distraction. Produced by Bob Dawson who has worked on numerous Grammy nominated projects, and mastered by Ted Jensen, a Grammy-winning engineer with Norah Jones, Excellent Distraction achieves what Stiebel envisioned, which he describes on his website, "When I write music, I want to create an inviting and hummable melody, and set it to a catchy and hopefully in …
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Album: The Scene Musicians: Dave Stryker: Guitar, Steve Slagle: alto and soprano sax, flute Jay Anderson: bass, Victor Lewis: drums, Special Guest: Joe Lovano Tracks: Skee, The Scene, Six Four Teo, Two Sense, Kindred Spirits, Hopewell’s Last, Brighter Days, Fingers In The wind, Strikology …
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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 opportunity to unleash. Many artists strive to reach a personal best, and Lifeline is one of Deborah Latz’s own as she taps int …
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Vicki Burns’ new release, Live at Anna’s Jazz Island, tells a lot about her both musically and personally. Instead of the traditional hard CD format, it is primarily a digital release that serves multiple purposes. First, it gets Burns’ music, a rich blend of jazz genres, out into the world. The digital format, however, serves to cut down on the packaging costs, a critical consideration for most musicians. It is also an important "green" move for the environmentally conscious si …
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JazzReview: A new supergroup is born! With your combined careers, you’ve accomplished a phenomenal quantity and diversity of credits on seminal albums over the last four decades. It was an honour to be asked to do this interview for the release of your "Scene 29" CD, thanks guys. Readers will think I’m bound to say this but I really do love this album. I still get sent a lot of CD’s and only have time to play a few, and yours exceeded my hig …
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In the gypsy jazz field, no one does it any better than the Madison, Wisconsin based group Harmonious Wail. Group founder Sims Delaney-Potthoff says, I knew that wanted to play Django Reinhardt inspired music and pretty much talked to people and put the band together. We just got a bar gig and started by trying out tunes. We called it Uncle Cachuk for awhile, then we called it Junior Holstein. None of those really worked as the band kind of started getting liftoff and finding that we had just …
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Rob Mosher is one of those musicians that make you ask yourself, "Where did he come from?" Born in Canada and trained on reed instruments such as the saxophone, and later on oboe and English horn, Mosher began writing music in 2003 after studying jazz performance at the University of Toronto. He recalls, "I've always had to figure things out for myself, so I guess I've learned to compose and play by just doing it. We're our own best teachers." He has recorded and performed with a numbe …
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Salivating fans, awaiting the newest arrival, can now take a breath as Fourplay releases their latest album, Energy, on their debut with Heads Up label. Captivating hearts for more than a decade, Fourplay brings together four of the hottest talents today-each member a musical genius, mega-star in his own right. Blending R&B, pop and jazz, Fourplay creates a distinct fingerprint of musical magic. A quick and lighthearted introduction to the members: …
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John Pizzarelli is full of surprises: surprising influences, surprising insights, and surprising selections on his Richard Rodgers tribute disc, With A Song In My Heart, released on Telarc Jazz on August 19. Also surprising, given the seven-string guitarist’s long-standing relationship with the jazz canon and his penchant for thematic albums, is that he hadn’t done a Rodgers album before now. "Actually, it was my management’s idea," he said, speaking from his home in New York, awaiting …
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There is a headlining, sway appeal when the name Marilyn Scott is brought into conversation. Marilyn is the temperate tone of the modern day cabaret. Her eloquence comes in multi-faceted forms on stage, and off. It is one reason this iconic beauty defines the jazz vocalization of the past 30 years. Marilyn Scott is, in fact, a double bill by herself! The Scott romantic technique is one in which the listener only needs to shut their eyes and allow the "feel" of her essence to penetrate their e …
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Singer-songwriter Kate Schutt has invited outsiders into her secret world of songwriting. Telephone Game, which gets its name from an age-old children’s game, is a unique project that began with Schutt inviting listeners to submit song ideas. She then took those ideas and made them her own, crafting and nurturing them into songs. Along the way, Schutt shared the creative process with fans. "I think people find it quite mysterious," she said. "It is mysterious. I tried to …
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On or off stage, Al Jarreau exudes a jovial and positive spirit that is highly contagious. For over five decades, Al Jarreau has been known for his golden voice and his unique scatting styles throughout different genres, which include pop, jazz and R&B. He combines all three genres beautifully on his yuletide recording titled Christmas, a plethora of holiday favorites complete with all the Jarreau-izms that we have come to love. Set for an October release, this co …
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As a singer, songwriter and piano player, Patricia Barber reflects, "Music chooses her musicians. You know at an early age if you have a talent for music. If you do, it’s such an incredible gift it would be impossible for any reason to turn away from it." It is obvious to the viewer that Patricia Barber was built to make beautiful music just by watching her perform with her band live in the video clips that she furnishes on her Website. Seeing her play live with her band, Neal Alger, M …
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The Same Thing, the new release by composer/musician Darrell Katz and the Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra utilizes Katz’s skills as a leader, a musician, and an educator. He explains how the music for the recording came together. Jazzreview: What inspired the music for The Same Thing? Where did these songs come from? Katz: The material on The Same Thing, except for the title track by Willie Dixon which was arranged …
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It’s hard to believe that for the past 40 years George Duke has been a staple of the music industry and from the looks of things, this cat plans to be on the scene for a long time to come. "I’m having the time of my life making the kind of music that I want to make. It has been a great ride, it really has and I really have no complaints." Duke told me that being a label owner gives him the freedom to express himself musically. "My label is distributed through Heads Up …
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Driven by his passion for music, saxophonist, composer, Curtis Haywood, is committed to reaching deep into the hearts of his listeners and spreading the universal language of healing into their souls. Crossing all genres with his self-titled album, Haywood, a former member of the group Joshua, stirs the desire for love, intimacy, sharing and spiritual awareness. Along with his own sultry, sexy, stellar musicianship, Haywood brings world known artists such as bassist Artie Reynolds, drummer Ai …
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Rarely does a musician start his career at the top. Even more rare is staying on top for three decades, but that’s exactly what Donn Bynum did. Still down to earth, this mega star is debuting with his own creation-capturing the hearts and minds of all his listeners. Playing with Bootsy Collins, The Commodores and The Brothers Johnson, Bynum knows his stuff. He’s taking his experience and putting into his audience’s hand, via his new release, Do You Feel Me. JazzReview: You …
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Luck, some people have it and others will do anything to acquire it. People in the eastern hemisphere of this planet believe that you are either born with it or not, whereas western hemisphere cultures believe that you can make it. The new NuGroove Records discovery, De’Nate, formed by multi-instrumentalist Nate Harasim and sultry vocalist Deborah Connors, are a combination of both. It is fate that brought these two talented artists together as NuGroove Records President, David Chackler sugge …
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Chris Greene describes his quartet and their music with a few phrases that takes audiences into the heart of the band, "We’re a small band of only four members. We don’t require a large light show, pre-recorded tracks or a super fancy PA system to give a good show. Each one of the members of the band is proficient in multiple musical styles, and each is among the best in the city at their respective instruments. However, this would all be for naught if we didn’t play together as a unit or w …
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Singer, songwriter and bass player Glynis John Martin (aka Black Ice) delivers a familiar sounding R&B/smooth soul mixture on his self-titled debut release, Black Ice, which recalls of Motown artists like Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye. Martin’s familiar sound might be partly due to the fact that he was exposed to Motown’s music from having been born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, the incubator for Motown’s artists; or maybe it is based in the fact that he has played as a sidema …
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