Jan 21, 2025 7:54 PM
Southern California Fires Hit the Jazz Community
Roy McCurdy and his wife had just finished eating dinner and were relaxing over coffee in their Altadena home, when he…
“The Spirit of Django Reinhardt,” an annual concert event celebrating the legendary gypsy guitarist, will take place Aug. 1 at Frederick P. Rose Hall, the home of New York City’s Jazz at Lincoln Center.
This year’s concert features the John Jorgenson Quintet, which has performed standards from the gypsy jazz repertoire worldwide. Jorgenson re-created Reinhardt’s music for the feature films Gattica and Head in the Clouds. In the latter, he portrayed the legendary guitarist with stars Charlize Theron and Penelope Cruz.
Jorgensen joins the event’s regular “gypsy stars” from France: lead guitarist Dorado Schmitt, lead and rhythm guitarist Samson Schmitt, violinist Pierre Blanchard and accordionist/accordina master Ludovic Beier. Brian Torff will be on bass and serve as musical director. In addition, Colombian jazz harpist Edmar Castaneda will be the evening’s special guest.
Reinhardt pioneered a style called “le jazz hot” in Paris during the 1930s, becoming Europe’s first widely recognized jazz figure. The annual concert in his honor is now in its fifth installment. For more information, see jalc.org.
Gerald and John Clayton at the family home in Altadena during a photo shoot for the June 2022 cover of DownBeat. The house was lost during the Los Angeles fires.
Jan 21, 2025 7:54 PM
Roy McCurdy and his wife had just finished eating dinner and were relaxing over coffee in their Altadena home, when he…
“She said, ‘A lot of people are going to try and stop you,’” Sheryl Bailey recalls of the advice she received from jazz guitarist Emily Remler (1957–’90). “‘They’re going to say you slept with somebody, you’re a dyke, you’re this and that and the other. Don’t listen to them, and just keep playing.’”
Feb 3, 2025 10:49 PM
In the April 1982 issue of People magazine, under the heading “Lookout: A Guide To The Up and Coming,” jazz…
The Old Country: More From The Deer Head Inn arrives 30 years after ECM issued the Keith Jarret Trio live album At The Deer Head Inn.
Jan 21, 2025 7:38 PM
Last November, Keith Jarrett, who has not played publicly since suffering two strokes in 2018, greenlighted ECM to drop…
“The first recording I owned with Brazilian music on it was Wayne Shorter’s Native Dancer,” says Renee Rosnes. “And then I just started to go down the rabbit hole.”
Jan 16, 2025 2:02 PM
In her four-decade career, Renee Rosnes has been recognized as a singular voice, both as a jazz composer and a…
As Ted Nash, left, departs the alto saxophone chair for LCJO, Alexa Tarantino steps in as the band’s first female full-time member.
Mar 4, 2025 1:29 PM
If only because openings for JLCO’s 15 permanent positions appear about as frequently as sub-freezing days on the…
