Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show

It’s always a pleasure to see jazz musicians who have performed and recorded as sidemen for years get the chance to step up and be leaders on their own recording projects. Otis Brown III is the latest such musician – the top-flight drummer, with dozens of credits and work on Grammy nominated albums, releases The Thought of You  earlier this month. Brown’s maiden voyage features an impressive roll...

One of the most criminally overlooked vocalists in jazz may just be ready to get some overdue attention. Although she was featured on the Grammy winning CD The Mosaic Project by Terri Lyne Carrington, Carmen Lundy is often left off the list of top female performers of today. Backed by a myriad of special guests Including Patrice Rushen, Geri Allen, Randy Brecker, Simphiwe Dana, Bennie Maupin, Caro...

Kenny Wheeler, one of the giants of British jazz, died last week at the age of 84. Born in Canada in 1930, the trumpeter and composer joined the London jazz scene after moving to Britain in 1952. He played in groups alongside the likes of Ronnie Scott, John Dankworth and Tubby Hayes as well becoming part of the free-improvisation movement. In later life, he was the founding patron of the Junior Ja...

One of the highlights of the early Fall Jazz season will be the release of a CD lead by the exciting tenor saxophonist Mark Turner. Lathe of Heaven is his first album as a leader in a decade, but is his third appearance on ECM Records in 2014, after gracing sessions with Billy Hart, and Enrico Rava and Stefano Bollani. Turner has recorded three CDs for ECM in the past, as part of the trio Fly, wit...

One would be hard pressed to find a more intrepid musician on the scene today than drummer, composer, bandleader and educator Mark Guiliana . I first came across Mark as a key member of Donny McCaslin’s band, as the fiery sax plyer, keyboardist Jason Lindner and bassist Tim Lefebvre joined him to make music that stretched the boundaries of jazz. Casting for Gravity was one of my favorite CDs of 20...

I’ve wanted to interview Jane Bunnett for a number of years, and it was a pleasure to finally get the chance to talk with her about her love of Cuban music. You might not expect a Canadian flutist and saxophonist to be one of the most innovative performers of Latin Jazz, but with album after album, she finds new and glorious ways to make the music her own. In addition, her trips to the island have...

British singer Polly Gibbons descends from a grand tradition of jazz and blues women whose singing exudes strength, defiance, and sassy wit. At the age of thirty, she has moved form an R&B/Pop flavoring in her recordings to a solid set of jazz tunes. Polly has a raspy, lived-in tone, a walloping sense of swing, and a dramatic flair that brings the listener inside her songs. Recorded for Resonance...

It's summer in New England , so why not some summer themed music for these lazy, hot days? Today is August 16th, the feast day of Saint Roch, the patron saint of Dogs, so why not celebrate the "Dog Days"? The Romans referred to the dog days as diēs caniculārēs and associated the hot weather with the star Sirius. They considered Sirius to be the "Dog Star" because it is the brightest star in the co...

“Swinging, grooving, clean and tricky playing. This is the group that, once you’ve heard them, you’ll realize they always needed to exist. Unique, original, exciting. And simply killing in the best sense.”- Dave Douglas on The Westerlies. The Westerlies are a New York based brass quartet comprised of four friends from Seattle, Washington. Avid explorers of cross-genre territory, Riley Mulherkar (t...

The “Business of Jazz” grows increasingly thornier at almost every turn these days. One of the bright spots in the demise of major label signings and sold recording budgets is the ability of artists to take control of their projects and reach out to their fans for support, both artistic and financial. PledgeMusic is one such “crowdfunding site”, a direct-to-fan music platform bringing artists and...

The Newport Jazz Festival, the multi-day jazz festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island is celebrating its 60 th anniversary this year. The venerable festival was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the event to help them bring jazz to...

Charlie Haden, one of the most influential and recorded bass players of the last seventy years, has died of a long illness related to post-polio degeneration. He was 76 years old. Haden is unique among the stars of the rhythm section in that he could handle the most difficult avant-garde music, could swing with the best of the straight ahead players, and always brought to anything he played an Ame...

Bassist/Composer Mario Pavone will kick off his celebration of 50 years in music with a three night Mini Festival at The Cornelia Street Cafe, July 10-12.   Mr. Pavone will be featured on all nights (bass & compositions) with the following top-notch players : Thursday, July 10, 8:30 & 10 PM: Quartet Arc, featuring Gerald Cleaver (drums), Ellery Eskelin (tenor saxophone) and Dave Ballou (trumpet);...

Thirty years has now passed since a group of young jazz musicians were tagged with the title “The Young Lions”, and released a series of albums and performances that helped change the direction and flow of jazz. Mark Whitfield would have to be near the top of the Second Wave of Young Lions, along with Christian McBride, Carl Allen, Tim Warfield, Benny Green, Marlon Jordan and Roy Hargrove, all of...

Legendary drummer, Ginger Baker , renowned for his work with Cream and Blind Faith was once voted at "The musician least likely to survive the '60s."  But now, four decades and a few years later, he has proved them all wrong and he is heading to the United States for a June 2014 jazz fusion tour and a new CD titled Why? due June 24 on Motema Music. Teaming up with funk and jazz giant tenor saxopho...

The 37th annual Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz Festival , one of the most celebrated and longest running jazz events in the world will be held on Saturday, June 28 and Sunday, June 29 at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center . This year's festival headliners include Earth, Wind & Fire , Trombone Shorty , Terence Blanchard , Dave Holland Prism , Patti Austin , Jon Batiste & Stay Human , Eddie Palmieri Sal...

Bassist/Composer Michael Formanek will take up residency at The Cornelia Street Cafe for three nights, June 12-14, featuring three distinct and formidable ensembles: Thursday, June 12, 8:30 & 10 PM  - Michael Formanek's Elusion Trio  featuring Kris Davis (See Podcast 419 )  (piano), Michael Formanek (bass) and Ches Smith (drums) Friday, June 13th, 9 & 10:30 PM - The Michael Formanek Quartet Featur...

What can I say about Christian McBride, a man who is at the top of his craft? In addition to his virtuosity as a bass player, McBride is an educator, curator, XM radio host and composer-arranger.   I also should add, he has the best Twitter feed in the business – sign up for @mcbridesworld   ASAP. The Philadelphia-born musician has performed alongside a diverse set of luminaries including Chick Co...

The first major jazz event of the summer is on its way. OK, the summer solstice doesn’t start the season until June 21 st , but for my money, Memorial Day starts off the summer season, and the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival will start on May 30 th and run until June 8 th . Good enough for me. And the Festival is more than good enough for jazz fans. For 10 days and nights, the idyllic Vermont to...

Ten years after nearly walking away from the piano due to his struggles with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), an incurable connective tissue disorder with which he was born, Noah Baerman is playing and composing with more authority than ever. These challenges and his experiences as a foster parent have deepened his already fierce commitment to "message music." The result is a new CD,   Ripples , that...

I posted a podcast last month about Sun Ra, but there is so much music to share that I wanted to add a mixtape podcast to shwocase the great breadth of his musical talent. As for further explanations of the man and his music, I point you to the Village Voice and John F. Szwed's 2006 piece " The Sun Ra Guide ." To quote Mr. Szwed on the expanse of Sun Ra's music: It's as if Sun Ra planned the hopel...

Theo Croker’s musical journey may seem traditional, but it has a truly a 21 st century twist. The grandson of New Orleans trumpet legend Doc Cheatham, Croker’s parents were music fans, not music professionals. After his grandfather’s death in 1997, Theo decided that he wanted to make music a career, and so his parents supported their son’s ambitions, sending him to the Douglas Anderson School of A...

One of the highlights of this year's Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival will be the appearance of Brooklyn native Arturo O'Farrill and his Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. Arturo is following in the footsteps of his father, the late Chico O'Farrill, presenting the finest in that great melting pot of jazz music, Latin jazz. O'Farrill's latest CD, The Offense of the Drum , is a difference maker, refusing to fal...

When a guitarist decides to record an album’s worth of the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim, he had better bring his “A” game. The great Brazilian composer/performer is a towering figure in 20 th century jazz, and it seems like everyone worth his or her salt has taken a crack at his deep catalogue of melodious tunes. The good news is that Les Sabler’s Jobim Tribute , has recognized that the most impo...

When so many think of the late, great Chet Baker, they think of a life cut short by abuse of drugs and violent encounters. Even in the documentary film Let’s Get Lost , there seems little to like about the great trumpet player and singer. We’re often left wondering how anyone tolerated his seemed excesses and lack of control and trust.  Artt Frank, a drummer who played with and knew Baker well has...