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Enjoy a luxurious round-trip ride to The Newport Jazz Festival on Saturday, August 3rd with WICN! Travel back and forth to the festival in style and comfort aboard the WICN Jazz Bus, provided by FTI Coach, and leave the hassle of driving and parking to us! Ticket-holders must arrive at WICN Studios on 50 Portland […]
Mark Lynch the host of WICN’s Inquiry had the opportunity to sit down and speak with several hosts and other members of WICN. If you missed hearing these interviews you can check them out below. We talk with WICN’s former General Manager of WICN: BRIAN BARLOW about his long and important history with the […]
In the jazz community, innumerable legendary bandleaders are familiar to jazz fans, yet often, it’s the sidemen at the core of that bandleader’s trio, quartet, or orchestra. At 83, Kenny Barron, pianist, composer, educator, and NEA jazz master, is the current statesman of piano accompaniment in jazz and a bandleader in his own right. As […]
WICN Contributing Writer Doug Hall has a new podcast series through a partner community channel. Tune into the series below. In this first episode, Doug speaks with jazz pianist, composer, and Berklee Professor Laszlo Gardony about his life, career, and work. WICN Contributing Writer Doug Hall spoke with Phil Haynes recently for […]
by Doug Hall, Contributing Writer During the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the late ‘50s and ‘60s, many Black musicians participated in the marches, demonstrations, and political activities of the times, lending their voices and stature to this seminal era in America. In particular, Black female vocalists Billie Holiday and Nina Simone were […]
By Doug Hall Often in jazz, when identifying the soaring range or virtuosity or power of a vocalist, these gifts are accepted as a skill set that is necessary to impart the depth and complication of song material. Through 1930s to her death in 1959, Billie Holiday, singing within a vocal range of barely […]
“Swing” in jazz, for the audience on a dance floor, is often described as an emotional response, with foot-tapping, dancing to a rhythm and a propulsive “feel” to the beat. There is no greater contributor or bandleader for this big-band sound than the legendary Count Basie – jazz pianist, arranger and major influencer of this […]
The evolution of spiritual jazz began with elements of free jazz, avant-garde jazz, and modal jazz, cited by jazz critics to have been heavily influenced by John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme (1965). The range of musicians reimagining their interpretations of jazz music following this seminal release stretches across generations of players. There are a number […]
By Doug Hall, WICN Contributing Writer Julian Lage – Love Hurts (Official Video) – YouTube When a younger, established guitar phenomenon has a wide band of inclusion with other varied guitarists, including Jim Hall, Nels Cline, and Leo Kottke, it is a recognition that their ear has an expansive and deep […]
Back when albums were the main source for collecting and listening to music for both jazz audiences and jazz artists alike, there was a limited range of record labels. However, one record label stood out as foundational for jazz in the past and is historically renowned today. Verve Records, established in 1956, has offered a […]