Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show

Way back in September, I featured an interview with saxophonist John Ellis .  The North Carolina born, New Orleans trained, and New York resident performer talked about his less straight ahead work in that interview, mentioning his collaborations with playwright Andy Bragen. One of those collaborations, Mobro , is being mounted for the second time this year over the next few days at the Jazz Galle...

A track a day is fun, but what if you just want a solid hour of good Christmas jazz to enjoy? Look no further - dig the Annual Straight No Chaser Nuthin' But Christmas Podcast for 2011, which includes swinging tunes like: Ella Fitzgerald - "Jingle Bells" Marcus Roberts Trio - "Little Drummer Boy" Vince Guaraldi - "Christmas is Coming" Rahsaan Roland Kirk - "We Free (Three) Kings" Bobby Timmons - "...

When jazz lovers like myself talk about "the new standards", we're usually talking material written in "the Rock Era" that entices jazz musicians to record unique or different versions of the song. Well established singer-songwriters like James Taylor, Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon have been recorded by jazz musicians for years, with Joni's catalog becoming something of a touchstone for jazz musici...

Forty-two years ago today, a little known record label called ECM (short for “Encounters in Contemporary Music”) booked time at Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg to record what would become its first release, a trio album by Mal Waldron. entitled Free at Last .   Perhaps only the label's founder Manfred Eicher, could have imagined that in 2011, ECM would still be going strong, and be synonymous with su...

Guitarist Rez Abbasi was born in Karachi, Pakistan, and grew up in California listening to rock music. Today, he mixes the sounds of his native Southern Asia – particularly devotional Qawwali music – with jazz and classical sounds to create true world music. Whether he is playing with the electric Rez Abbasi’s Invocation (with Rudresh Mahanthappa and Vijay Iyer) , Rez Abbasi Acoustic Quartet (“RAA...

Most jazz fans have been exposed to the rhythms and melodies of Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992), the Argentine tango master who melded his native music with jazz and modern classical sounds in the second half of the 20 th century.   Albums of his music have been recorded by jazz stalwarts like Gary Burton, Paquito D’Rivera and Pablo Aslan. Alsan, a masterful bass player and arranger, has recorded some...

On June 28, 1965 , John Coltrane convened a recording session that marked his move from straight-ahead jazz titan to avant-garde explorer. He described the sound as a “big band thing”, and in fact it was a very big band that met in Rudy Van Gelder’s New Jersey studio that day. Along with Coltrane’s long-time running mates Jimmy Garrison (bass), McCoy Tyner (piano) and Elvin Jones (drums), were pai...

Saxophonist Tia Fuller definitely leaves an impression. Influenced by legends such as Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Stitt, and John Coltrane, her playing is dynamic and fluid as she navigates the trickiest of lines with a tone that is rich and meaty. It’s a sound that works well in the modern brand of straight-ahead bebop she writes for her quartet, but Fuller is also flexible enough to play in Beyon...

“It’s a challenging journey bouncing from one genre to another, but with this quintet record, I really feel like I’ve finally come home.” – Dave Shank. If you looked at Dave Shank’s jazz resume, you’d think he’d spent the last few decades in limbo. In fact, the vibes player, who was part of the fusion group Wishful Thinking in the 1980’s, has spent much of his time on more lucrative gigs, includin...

Ramsey Lewis’ Sun Goddess was one of the first jazz records I listened to with any serious interest. It was a perfect mix of funk, electric jazz, and soul, presented by a longtime keyboard player with serious jazz credentials. Add to it the addition of Maurice White and Earth, Wind & Fire, just then becoming a commercial power, on the ubiquitous title track, and the album was bound to be a hit whe...

Halloween is here again, which means its almost time to make up a batch of my famous pumpkin martinis to carry Nancy and me through the evening’s trick or treaters. And it’s also time for my semi-annual podcast of jazz songs with spooky titles . Click here for a bevy of ghouls and goblins, witches and devils, all performed by: Peter Cincotti - “Witches Brew” from East of Angel Town . The crooner/m...

The 9th Annual Festival of New Trumpet Music (FONT) series will be held at the Jazz Standard in New York from Thursday, October 20, through Sunday, October 23   This year, the FONT series celebrates Kenny Wheeler, one of the most creative and iconic of progressive trumpeters. Wheeler (pictured above), a Canadian residing in the UK since 1952, celebrated his 81st birthday this year. He will make a...

It may be hard for those who discovered jazz in the late 1970's and early 1980's to wrap their heads around it, but trumepter Wynton Marsalis turns 50 years old today. Despite his position as one of jazz's most revered voices and organizers, I always saw him as the new kid on the block. Clearly that's no longer the case. A look at his discography (jazz, classical, soundtracks, etc) reveals more th...

From October 4-6, The Jazz Standard in New York City will present the Andrew Hill Legacy Project, three different groups playing the music of Andrew Hill (1937-2007), with appearances by many of the late great pianist/composer's former sidemen including Greg Osby, J.D. Parran, Ron Horton, and more. Hill, who would be 80 this year, was "a pianist and composer of highly original and sometimes opaque...

The first Northampton Jazz Festival will take place in Northampton , MA on Saturday October 1, 2011 . The festival will present free live music from 11AM to 8 PM in the parking lot behind Thornes Market and in Thornes Basement in downtown Northampton . Participants will include promising young players from Pioneer Valley high schools and colleges combined with established local artists, as well as...

Originally from North Carolina, John Ellis has been turning heads since his time in New Orleans as an active member of Ellis Marsalis' band in the mid-nineties. A finalist at the 2002 Thelonius Monk International Saxophone competition, John has gone on to record six albums and has played and toured with musicians such as John Scofield, Norah Jones, Jason Marsalis, George Garzone, Reggie Workman, a...

Marcus Strickland's seventh recording Triumph of The Heavy Volume 1 & 2 (available on Strick Muzik, September 27, 2011) is a major statement from the critically-acclaimed and world renowned saxophonist. In demand as a sideman, he is ready now to take his place as one of the most innovative and exciting sax players around. This ambitious two-CD set allows Strickland to show a polished studio side a...

Tens of thousands of music lovers are expected to jam Boston city blocks this coming weekend to enjoy jazz, Latin, blues, and more at the 11th annual Berklee BeanTown Jazz Festival on September 23-25. Two ticketed events, starring the James Farm and the New Gary Burton Quartet, bookend a day full of free music and festivities up and down Columbus Avenue. Danilo Perez headlines a ticketed event Sat...

The North Philadelphia native was a promising young pianist in the fifties, accompanying the likes of Mel Torme, Woody Herman and Red Rodney, when his performing career was brought to an abrupt halt by severe tendonitis in both hands. Playing the piano suddenly became sheer agony, and Amadie was reduced to improvising only in his head for the next 35 years. He managed to maintain an influential pr...

Chick Corea’s return to recording on ECM appears this week, when his duet album with Stefano Bollani, Orvieto , is released. At the age of 70, Corea shows no sign of slowing down or stopping his widely differing artistic output. He spent most of the spring and summer on tour with a new version of Return to Forever, having released a trio album with Lenny White and Stanley Clarke in June, entitled...

Formed in 2001, EXEGESIS is made up of bandleader/guitarist Nick Demopoulos (best known to many readers as the guitarist in Chico Hamilton’s latest group), bassist Danton Boller (who toured with Roy Hargrove), and drummer Tomas Fujiwara.  EXEGESIS has performed throughout the United States , Europe and the Middle East , and participated in the "American Music Abroad" program sponsored by Jazz at L...

"Jazz is America's most significant artistic export to the world, and it's fun and interesting to hear the spin that other cultures take on it, While it can be argued that the festival literally brings the world to Detroit year after year, there is a definite international flair in 2011." - Terri Pontremoli, executive and artistic director, Detroit Jazz Festival Voted one of the top three jazz fes...

We in Western Massachusetts are just not used to this kind of weather. Well, maybe we should be. On June 1, we get a tornado. Then a series of microbursts and a hellacious thunder storm that did more damage in my neighborhood than the tornado did. Earlier this week, an earthquake. And now it looks like we're right smack dab in the path of Hurricane Irene. My advise? Hunker down, bring in the lawn...

Drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts was appointed 2011 Detroit Jazz Festival artist in residence earlier this year. The dynamic drummer will be on a number of stages in a number of guises this labor day weekend in the Motor City. He plans to heat things up on opening night with a star-studded "Drum Club" featuring Joe Locke, Susie Ibarra, Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez and Pedro Martinez.  Throughout the week...

Although she is never one to rest on her laurels, Dee Dee Bridgewater is releasing a new CD of old material. Midnight Sun ,   a remastered compilation of love songs from throughout her career, on the DDB Records/Emarcy label this week.   The material is organized in a way that it is being is billed as "the ultimate mixed tape, traversing landscapes of melodically mournful tales of love lost, heart...