I Like Jazz

INTERVIEW/PROFILE: Jazz Musician of the Day: Eubie Blake

All About Jazz News — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:10:05 +0000

All About Jazz is celebrating Eubie Blake's birthday today! Eubie Blake - pianist (1883 - 1983) Ragtime music, with its syncopated, polyrhythmic style, was born, in the 1890s in the black saloons and brothels of southern and mid-western cities like Baltimore and St. Louis. It was at the center of American popular music from the end of the nineteenth century until the 1920s. One of the most enduring ragtime pianists was Eubie Blake, who took that music well into the 1980a€(TM)s...Eubie Blake - pianist (1883 - 1983) Ragtime music, with its syncopated, polyrhythmic style, was born, in the 1890s in the black saloons and brothels of southern and mid-western cities like Baltimore and St. Louis. It was at the center of American popular music from the end of the nineteenth century until the 1920s. One of the most enduring ragtime pianists was Eubie Blake, who took that music well into the 1980a€(TM)s... more...

Burlington Vermont Discover Jazz…

Jazz News — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:35:35 +0000

DC writes regularly about rock and roll, jazz and the blues, composing reviews of CD’s, DVD’s, live performances, books and films, as well as conducting interviews.

Jon Balke Batagraf: Say And Play

John Kelman — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:05:13 +0000

He may be nowhere near a household name in North America, but elsewhere-- in particular in his native Norway--pianist Jon Balke's influence continues to grow. That he's better known for the music he writes--and the contexts in which he delivers it--shouldn't be taken as a negative, either; only that, with projects like the brass-heavy Oslo 13, chamber-tinged Magnetic North Orchestra and culturally and stylistically cross-pollinated Siwan (ECM, 2009), the collaboration-minded Balke simply doesn't opt for contexts where his own playing is front and center. Even a solo piano project like Book of Velocities (ECM, 2008), where he's as exposed as he'll ever be, remains emphatically diverted from Balke the pianist, and is more about Balke the conceptualist...

Sonny Rollins: Mark of Greatness

R.J. DeLuke — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:05:11 +0000

Making two trips to the White House within a calendar year, to receive two of the nation’s most prestigious awards bestowed upon artists, is more than fairly momentous. Those are significant feathers in the ol’ cap–surely reasons to crow or, at the very least, feel pretty satisfied about oneself. So it had to be a hell of a year for Sonny Rollins–had to be. But, with the ever level-headed, realistic and humble Rollins, one wouldn’t really notice it. He doesn’t classify 2011 as that special. Rollins sees it as a year when he continued to develop his music and–at times–reached satisfactory levels. That’s not bad for the reigning king of jazz improvisation, who is notoriously hard on himself…

February 2012

Mr. P.C. — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:05:08 +0000

Dear Mr. P.C.: I'm pretty new as a jazz listener, but there's already something I don't get. People say jazz is supposed to be all about surprise. But I keep hearing this same formula: They play the melody, then the melody instrument takes a solo, then the piano solos, then the bass solos, and then sometimes the drums solo. If it's supposed to be so spontaneous, why do they keep doing it the same order, over and over? -- Where is the Surprise...

Lorraine Feather: Tales of the Unusual

C. Michael Bailey — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:05:06 +0000

Vocalist Lorraine Feather is first and foremost, a lyricist. The daughter of jazz writer, composer, and producer, m: Leonard Feather, she has released a mess of recordings, all of which feature finely crafted songs composed from the same brew that gave rise to Tippo, Mississippi's m: Mose Allison and St. Paul, Minnesota's m: Dave Frishberg...

Yuka Mito: Time After Time

Edward Blanco — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:05:04 +0000

Time After Time, Yuka Mito's second solo album, shines new light on oft-recorded songs from The Great American Songbook, adding three pop tunes and one original for a tasteful project from a Japanese vocalist with a love for jazz. Now based in New York, Mito divides her performance time between the Tokyo and New York jazz scenes. A gritty contralto and ever-so-slight accent makes her approach even more unique...

RADIO/PODCAST: JazzWeek Radio Chart: January 30, 2012

All About Jazz News — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:00:40 +0000

Jimmy Owens The Monk Project (IPO)

248

209

+39

Christian McBride Big Band The Good Feeling (Mack Avenue)

151

130

+21

Chick Corea Further Explorations (Concord Jazz)

141

148

-7

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Jazz concert brings legends, students together

Jazz News — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 04:25:59 +0000

Texas State's School of Music put on a concert Friday night in memory of Eddie Durham, one of the pioneers of jazz music.

New Details Announced About Paul McCartney’s Upcoming Live iTunes Performance

Jazz News — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:21:48 +0000

Official details have been revealed about the live Paul McCartney performance that will stream online via iTunes this Thursday in celebration of the release of his new standards album, Kisses on the Bottom .