The Jazz Session

Jason Crane interviews saxophonist Wayne Escoffery about his life and his new album, Veneration (Savant, 2007). Escoffery was born in London and moved to New Haven, Connecticut as a child. He sang in a boys choir and then got introduced to the saxophone. Choosing the latter, Escoffery moved into the orbit of legendary saxophonist Jackie McLean, eventually attending McLean’s Artist Collective...

Jason Crane interviews pianist Misha Piatigorsky. Misha fled with his family from Russia during the height of the Cold War and ended up in New Jersey. A classically trained pianist, he discovered jazz and fell in love with the music, ending up at Rutgers studying with Kenny Barron. He won the 2004 Thelonious Monk Composers Competition. He’s also the pianist and musical director for singing l...

Jason Crane interviews Japanese pianist Toru Dodo. Born in Tokyo, Dodo started playing piano at age 4, then gave up his dream of concert piano for the economics department at Tokyo’s Meiji University. He found jazz at Meiji, and eventually came to the United States to study at Berklee College of Music. Since moving to New York City in 1998, Dodo has released three CDs and performed with Kenn...

Jason Crane interviews French guitarist Francis Jacob. Jacob’s career has taken him around the world: France, Switzerland, Boston, Brazil, Paris and now New York. Along the way, he’s picked up a gift for improvisation and a taste for West African music. On his new CD, Side By Side (2006), he combines his many influences and creates two albums in one — the same tunes, played by tw...

Jason Crane interviews guitarist John Abercrombie, whose forthcoming record is The Third Quartet (ECM, 2007). Abercrombie has been on more than 50 ECM recordings as a leader or sideman, including sessions with Charles Lloyd, Kenny Wheeler, Jack DeJohnette, Dave Liebman and Dave Holland. This interview features several excerpts from the new CD in advance of its April 3 release. You’ll also he...

Jason Crane interviews pianist Luis Perdomo. Since coming to New York from his native Venezuela, Perdomo has blossomed as a player. As a student at the Manhattan School of Music and at Queens College, he studied with pianists Harold Danko and Sir Roland Hanna. As a professional musician, he’s played with Ray Baretto, Ravi Coltrane, Miguel Zenon, Dafnis Prieto, and Timbalaye, to name a few. P...

It’s here — the first episode of The Jazz Session, a jazz interview podcast hosted by Jason Crane. In this show, Jason interviews tenor saxophonist Grant Stewart. Stewart has been in New York for the past 16 years, since moving there from his native Toronto. He’s played with quite a roster of jazz artists, from Curtis Fuller, John Hendricks and Clark Terry to Brad Mehldau, Larry...