In the 1960s, the word “songsmith” was a definition often given to folk music artists such as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, or Neil Young, tied with their overt political and social critiques. Burt Bacharach would easily capture that title in the era of pop songs made famous for their beautiful melodies and romantic lyrics; songs […]
The limelight for the Big Band Era of Swing is often dominated by the familiarity of names such as Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and Artie Shaw. Yet Fletcher Henderson was a pivotal bandleader, leading possibly the most dynamic early big band of the ‘20s and ‘30s and having been an enormous draw and popularity both […]
Experimental jazz guitarist, composer, and ensemble bandleader Mary Halvorson has evolved her individual style and pushed an incredibly varied direction in musical expression over the course of numerous projects since 2005. Finding significant critical attention in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and most recently 2022 by virtue of consecutive wins in DownBeat’s International Critics Poll as […]
March 8th: Steve Kirby Guitarist, composer, educator Steven Kirby is known for performing exciting, melodic, lyrical, and expressive jazz, as well as being active in other contemporary styles. He has appeared on multiple recordings, including three as a leader: “Point Of Balance” and “North Light” with Challenge Records and “Illuminations” with WCS records. “Illuminations” was Downbeat […]
Opened in 1988, the Blue Note Tokyo nightclub has a long-established history of providing top-tier jazz performances and holds a special place in the veins of many renowned jazz artists. Over several decades, A-list performers including Sarah Vaughan, Oscar Peterson, Tony Bennett, Chick Corea, Stan Getz, McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Pass, The Milt Jackson […]
To read more from Doug Hall, view Doug’s archive or visit https://artsparksmusic.com.
It’s difficult to overstate the importance of Duke Ellington’s influence: as seminal orchestral band leader; compositional genius; and his depth of musical contribution to jazz, modernizing without precedent, and his extensive legacy of recordings. In his own words, Ellington expressed that jazz was “beyond category” and renowned music critic, novelist, and literary scholar Albert Murray […]
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The voice as an instrument, particularly in jazz, is a fascinating vehicle for musical expression. In the category of female vocalists there are the established legends – think Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Billie Holiday. They each have a different style and treatment of their personal interpretations of a jazz standard, original composition, or covering […]
The image of a Spanish flamenco dancer with intensive emotion, swirling with castanets clicking and boots stomping, driving a rhythm against a dance floor, is hard to separate from the accompanying band that delivers the syncopation. The flamenco dancer is intertwined with the fast strumming on Toque (guitar) and the spirited Cantaor (flamenco vocalist) telling […]