“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 […]
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 […]
There are many Black female jazz vocalists held in special regard for their commitment to civil rights and activism, including the support expressed through their songs and lyrics that directly address racism. Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit, Lena Horne’s Stormy Weather, […]
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 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 […]
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, […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
As the driving rhythm and dance-based sound of Afro-Cuban music was being introduced to the U.S. in the late ‘40s by Cuban bandleaders, most notably Machito and his Latin orchestra, a refinement of musical genre was evolving. With styles incorporating […]
The voice, tone, phrasing–in effect, the signature sound of the sax has distinguished a number of artists. Wayne Shorter, now 89 years old, has been a profound force of interpretation on the tenor saxophone; on the soprano saxophone, there is […]
As many musically divergent roads can lead to a professional career in jazz, veteran vocalist, pianist, multi-instrumentalist, Grammy-award nominee, and winner Catherine Russell, has followed her own path. With an established bloodline of famed musicianship from both parents, Luis Russell […]
Watching live performances of featured artists in jazz, certain musicians command your attention with their physical presence, effortlessly able to exude enormous energy. Grace Kelly, saxophonist, singer, and bandleader, has been sharing that sustained personal intensity on stage since her […]
As mentoring becomes a more recognized adjunct to an established career as a jazz musician (or any veteran artist), the impact is clear when insights are shared by mentored musicians. There are a handful of such teachers that carry as […]
Champion: An Opera in Jazz Performed Sunday, May 22 at The Emerson Cutler Majestic Theater Music by Terence Blanchard Libretto by Michael Cristofer Now in its 45th season, Boston Lyric Opera is the largest and longest-lived opera company in New […]
The music world abounds with references to Philly soul or Philly funk and its heritage of legendary musicians. Philly jazz musicians have also earned such iconic references. But there is one contemporary recording artist, constantly touring with top-shelf talent and […]
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, […]
If a compositional work of music such as a 500-page score was discovered in our current era, that when arranged and performed would be 2.5 hours long and require 30 musicians to perform, you’d assume this was a classical piece […]
New England Conservatory in Boston is recognized as one of the top music schools in the country, and at the forefront of leadership in educating and training musicians of all ages from around the world. NEC’s music students represent more […]
Known for his lyrical and relaxed style on the tenor saxophone, exceptional improvisor and seminal influence on his instrument, Lester Young, “The Prez,” was interviewed in a Paris hotel room just two months before he died. In response to a […]
The telling originality and influence of a great innovator in jazz, based on their instrument, technique, and voicing, is often echoed by the number of outstanding musicians of future generations that advance the established style. The signature thumb-based strumming method, […]
Often when a selection of bossa nova jazz is played by Stan Getz, Donald Byrd, or Dizzy Gillespie, it is attributed to them from an American perspective. The 1964 groundbreaking release in the US by Verve Records, Getz/Gilberto, sold over […]
In the arena of large jazz orchestras – whether it be Duke Ellington, Count Basie, or Dizzy Gillespie – the choice of an individual musician becomes a critical decision for any bandleader. Ray Brown, legendary acoustic double-bassist, DownBeat Jazz Hall […]
As you look at all the seminal legends and stars of jazz that have performed and recorded for over 60 years, there are only a few currently active. An even shorter list, indeed, if you consider the list of performers […]
Jazz trumpeter and composer, Randy Brecker, has been at the center of seminal jazz-funk groups with his late brother Michael (on saxophone) through the mid-‘70s and early ‘80s. Brecker has helped shape the sound of jazz, R&B, and rock for […]
If ever there were a jazz singer whose musical career could not be separated from the legacy of their own political and social positions, it would be Nina Simone. From early on in her performances and recordings, her establishment and […]
As one of the greatest crooners and stylists of the Great American Songbook, Tony Bennett has been influenced by and taken vocal impressions from many singular, legendary jazz performers. Bennett’s well-known emotional and physical reaction to hearing the birth of […]
A sweeping messenger of the widest of musical genre explorations (classical, traditional jazz, post-bop, jazz-rock fusion, funk, electronica, hip-hop, pop, and ambient); jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer Herbie Hancock is true to his own label as “cultural ambassador.” Early […]
When the Afro-Cuban jazz sound traveled to the U.S. in the 1940s, with roots rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music and a percussion that, in fact, incorporated the earliest sounds of a syncopated beat from ancient Africa, it became […]
In the 1950s, with the advent of “cool jazz” and Miles Davis leading the way with a modal change with Birth of the Cool (1957) Milestones (1958), and later the seminal, legendary recording of Kind of Blue (1959) with its […]
If you happened to be on the Williamsburg Bridge anytime from the summer of 1959 through roughly the autumn of 1961, you would have been privileged to hear the sound of a true artist seeking to find new directions and […]
If legendary jazz musicians were collected together in one giant jigsaw puzzle and each musician was one piece – Thelonious Monk’s individual piece would be impossible to cut out. As a singular artist, his shape or place in jazz is […]
