Franz A. Matzner

Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith has been at the forefront of musical invention for 40 years and has recently entered a late-career renaissance. In May, 2012, this seminal musician released his greatest effort to date, Ten Freedom Summers (Cuneiform), a 30-year in-the-making testament to the power of civil rights and the importance of artistic engagement in social activism. As the United States faces an election, at the heart of which lies race relations, Smith’s message of liberty is intended to drive action and inspire passion…

A unique blend of traditional jazz, classical, Eastern European folk, and modern idioms, Mat Ulery’s By A little Light is steeped in a melancholic grace and shadowy beauty that provides the two-disc set its unifying force. Throughout, Ulery has chosen detail and the oblique over the grandiose to etch his dusky scenes and portraits that seem to capture discreet emotional moments the way master photographers can distill vast meaning within a single frame…

Lorenzo Feliciati’s Frequent Flyer, is a lush mixture of tunes that provides the Italian bassist, composer, and bandleader ample opportunity to display his m: Jaco Pastorius-inspired prowess on the electric bass, as well as his abilities as a leader.

Clearly placing himself in the Pastorius lineage in both style and ambition, Feliciati delivers a collection of diverse offerings on which he consistently reaches an impressive degree of musicianship. It’s often a fine line, however, between homage and derivativeness, and Frequent Flyer crisscrosses that line over the course of its 11 tracks. Fortunately, Feliciati’s formidable bass abilities mean that even in the most “Jaco-esque” moments he’s done such a good job that tunes like “”The Fastswing Park Rules,” Groove First,” and “Riding the Orient Express” are entertaining enough to serve as transitions to the album’s other more exceptional material…

Marking its 85th anniversary as a jazz venue, 2011 was a remarkable year for Washington, DC’s e: Bohemian Caverns, solidifying its renewed reputation as DC’s premier jazz club and a venue of national significance. The path to this point, however, was neither easy nor guaranteed.

The smoky clubs, dark corner joints, impromptu lofts, theaters, noisy dinner clubs, and hidden basement bars of jazz are emblazoned in our collective imagination and provide definition to entire genres of film and literature, conjuring instantly lost eras and evoking a powerful sense of place and meaning for modern audiences to this day. Moreover, to the aficionado, the names of particular clubs have become code words for entire musical movements and inspire in some religious-like pilgrimages to those few historic venues still in operation…

DC Jazz Festival 2011 Washington, DC June 1-13, 2011

The DC Jazz Festival’s seventh year was defined in equal measure by the event’s now distinct combination of local acts and headline guests, spread throughout the city’s stages, museums, and local clubs. Unlike many festivals, the DC Jazz Festival has maintained an exclusive focus on jazz music and continues to place a spotlight on the local musicians that now more than ever are converting DC back into a vibrant jazz city. The DC Jazz Festival recipe has come to rely on some stock ingredients–m: Roy Hargrove and m: Eddie Palmieri were back for another round of Jazz on the Mall this year–but the 2011 lineup was leavened by several new additions that helped transform the two-week event into a life-affirming celebration of community and culture…