All That's Jazz

As a part of our “Catching Up With” series, I recently re-connected with Azerbaijani-born, New York-based pianist/composer Amina Figarova, and her musical collaborator partner and husband, the exceptional flutist Bart Platteau. This dynamic duo has recorded more than more than a dozen albums, and have travelled the world performing at jazz festivals and engagements, all of which has led to a diver...

Jacqui Naylor is not an easy artist to categorize. Naylor is known for a technique she coined, “acoustic smashing,” There are times when she performs straight-ahead vocal jazz, but at other times she favors more of an alternative and diverse approach. Her  groove-based vocals and smoky sound have a subtle, intimate quality that conveys the emotional depth of a song without resorting to vocal pyrot...

The best description of Ben Sidran comes from his son, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and fellow podcaster, Leo Sidran: “In a career spanning over fifty years and thirty five records, Ben Sidran has established himself as a philosopher poet. Equally celebrated for his precise, probing writing style as he is for his improvised spoken word jazz raps, he has carved out a truly unique space for hims...

Being Guided By The Light  is the fifth album by pianist/ composer  Mamiko Watanabe, featuring heralded bassist Santi Debriano and legendary drummer Billy Hart.  Born in Fukuoka, Japan, Watanabe began playing the piano at the age of four under instruction at the Yamaha School of Music. Her inspiration was Tashiko Akiyoshi, the boundary-smashing Japanese-American pianist, composer, arranger, and ba...

Chris DiGirolamo could be called “The Accidental Publicist.”  A lifelong drummer from age 5, Chris was hooked. His mother took him to Jazz from a young age, but he truly fell in love with the genre at 14, when a friend’s uncle introduced him to Jean Luc Ponty’s “Rhythms of Hope.”  Chris attended Berklee College of Music and New York Institute of Technology. From there, he went on to work as assist...

For their seventh outing together as a close-knit, collaborative rhythm tandem, bassist Leon Lee Dorsey and drummer Mike Clark tapped pianist Michael Wolff as third man in their ongoing trio adventures. Wolff, who had previously appeared with Dorsey and Clark on 2020’s Play Sgt. Pepper, completes the triumvirate on this heartfelt tribute to the late, great pianist-composer in the new album titled...

Jay Bordeleau, the owner, creator, and mastermind behind one of the top Jazz venues in San Francisco, Mr. Tipple’s, has always loved the arts and is constantly driven by his “it’s-so-crazy-it-just-might-work” ambition. He was able to combine this deeply rich cooperative leadership style with a profound passion for hospitality while designing, building, and operating his first restaurant: Maven.  J...

A singer-saxophonist-songwriter-composer and band leader, this American-born unequivocal musical prodigy of Korean descent, with the memorable name Grace Kelly,  has rocked the jazz world.  With sold-out concerts, 14 acclaimed albums and a resume that includes performing at the Hollywood Bowl as well as being part of the house band for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” – all before reaching her...

Singer-songwriter, pianist, arranger, New York-based bandleader and winner of the prestigious 2021 American Traditions Vocal Competition Gold Medal, Nicole Zuraitis, had been there once before. But when the presenters at the 2024 Grammy®️ Awards announced her name as winner of the Best Jazz Vocal Album for her release, “How Love Begins,” her immediate reaction was “Holy Cow!”    To many of her fri...

Trumpeter, flugelhorn player, composer, educator, and recording artist Jun Iida (Joon Ee-da) has quickly established himself as a highly sought after musician. A recording and performing artist, Iida has appeared extensively throughout the U.S. at notable jazz clubs, theaters, and festivals with his sextet and as a sideman.   This gifted musician born in St Louis of Japanese parents,  has lived li...

Whatever  Gordon Goodwin touches, whether it’s in his role as pianist, saxophonist, composer, arranger, conductor - or any combination of these gifts - it’s all about his love of music. That love, and prodigious talent has brought him 25 Grammy® nominations, including three this year: Best Jazz Vocal Album: Patti Austin Featuring Gordon Goodwin’s  Big Phat Band - For Ella 2. Best Instrumental Comp...

Swedish musical sensation Gunhild Carling is an internationally acclaimed superstar whose show is a can’t-miss event! Whether she’s singing favorite swinging jazz standards, playing one of many 11 instruments (trumpet, trombone, harmonica, oboe, harp, flute, recorder, or jazz bagpipe!) or juggling and tap dancing, Gunhild is not only the consummate show-woman, in Jazz terms she’s definitely “The r...

 ‘The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Live From The Northwest, 1959’ is a collection of never-before-released recordings from the archives of Brubeck Editions of two electrifying concerts recorded on April 4, 1959 at the historic Multnomah Hotel in Portland and on April 5th in the auditorium at nearby Clark College.  The legendary quartet of Dave Brubeck on piano, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, bassist Euge...

Over the years, Tony-nominated, multiplatinum-selling pop/jazz singer-songwriter Ann Hampton Callaway’s compositions have been recorded and performed by some of the biggest names in the business – among them, Carole King, Patti Lupone, Liza Minnelli, Karrin Allyson, and Michael Feinstein, to name a few. Her newly released album, Finding Beauty, Originals Volume 1, released on Sept. 29 via Shanachi...

British singer-songwriter and composer Rebecca Poole’s story is one of a musical journey that began as a child on a farm in Oxfordshire, England.  The family lived in a house on an estate owned by Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond.  Their simple farm home was always filled with music, two of her brothers became professional musicians, her mother sang a bit and she also had an aunt and uncle w...

With their newly-released first album of a cappella Christmas music, GRAMMY nominated, Dallas TX based Kings Return continue to defy expectations. Tenor Vaughn Faison, bass Gabe Kunda, tenor JE McKissic, and baritone Jamall Williams , whose bare-bones a capella stairwell singing went viral on social media, have been compared to some of the iconic groups like Take 6 and Boyz ll Men. Their brand of...

In September, as part of their 75th anniversary celebration, Smithsonian Folkways Records re-released two albums by the poet and activist Sarah Webster Fabio, often referred to as “the mother of Black studies.” The albums, “Jujus: Alchemy of the Blues,” and “Together: To the Tune of Coltrane’s ‘Equinox’” contain poems authored and read by Sarah Webster Fabio, who, in her just 51 years, wrote more...

This All That’s Jazz episode is a conversation with three diverse and virtuosic musical masters - renowned saxophonist Jeff Coffin, venerated drummer Jordan Perlson and bass legend Viktor Krauss - have joined together  for a nine-track debut of all original music that’s been described as “a thrilling sonic odyssey that showcases undeniable musicianship and boundless artistic expression.”   Coffin,...

‘Searching For a Memory’ is a truly remarkable album. Released in July, legendary GRAMMY-nominated percussionist Sammy Figueroa brings together a stellar group of GRAMMY winning and nominated friends to musically tell the story of his late father, Charlie Figueroa, a singer of romantic boleros back in the 1950's, one of the best, whose records still sell to this day. Charlie passed away as a young...

All That’s Jazz catches up with drummer Richard Baratta to talk about his newest release, “Off The Charts,” a departure from his previous two albums that focused on music from the movies. It’s a subject he knows well having spent upwards of 35 years as a film producer. We pick up with Richard where we left off in 2020, Season 1-Episode 30,  that focused on his incredibly rich background and how it...

Pianist, composer, and educator EUNMI LEE brings a distinct compositional flair with her debut album, INTROSPECTION. Originally from South Korea, Eunmi has been living in New York City since 2020.   In this episode, we talk about how Eunmi crafted INTROSPECTION from the disparate musical traditions of big band jazz, post-bop, chamber music and even Brazilian music. Though her compositions are very...

In this episode of All That’s Jazz, we talk with Shana L. Redmond, professor of English and Comparative Literature at the Center for the Study of Ethnicity & Race at Columbia University. She is past president of the American Studies Association and a recipient of a 2023 Guggenheim Fellowship. Dr. Redmond is the album notes author for the critically acclaimed Verve Record’s new release titled ‘...

One of the most intriguing albums we’ve recently encountered is also the subject of our conversation with one of our most intriguing guests.   Javier Nero has many titles: trombonist, composer, arranger, educator; Doctor of Musical Arts  with a cognate (minor) in classical trombone performance at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, and. along the way, he’s also a Staff Sergeant i...

Ricky Riccardi is the director of research collections at the Louis Armstrong House Museum, located in the Corona section of the Queens in New York. In 2022, Ricky won a Grammy Award for “Best Album Notes”  The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia and RCA Victor Studio Sessions 1946-1966 on Mosaic Records.   In this “Catching Up With” episode, we find out what he’s been up to and also learn about the...

We had the great fortune of meeting saxophonist Keith Loftis when he was playing with The Baylor Project this spring at Earl Klugh’s 20th Weekend of Jazz at The Broadmoor. We knew then that we wanted to continue our backstage conversation in a formal ATJ episode.     Over the course of his musically wide-ranging career, Keith’s performed with the likes of Benny Carter, Cedar Walton, Nancy Wilson,...