Aug 26, 2025 1:53 PM
Blindfold Test: Buster Williams
Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
In Blue, Karrin Allyson’s follow up to her double Grammy-nominated Ballads—Remembering John Coltrane, debuted at No. 2 a week ago on the Billboard Traditional Jazz Charts, and has maintained that position for a second straight week. In Blue was released on August 13.
Known for her unparalleled ability to connect with her material and communicate that intimacy to her listeners, Allyson’s talent for capturing the emotional essence of whatever style of music she performs has earned her a place alongside the most notable female vocalists in jazz or any other genre. In Blue, her eighth release with Concord Records, is Allyson’s first album that focuses exclusively on the diverse sentiments that make up the blues and includes such tracks as “Moanin’,” “The Meaning Of The Blues,” “How Long Has This Been Going On?,” “Angel Eyes,” “Blue Motel Room” and “West Coast Blues.”
“When I first thought about doing a ‘blues album’ it was hard to describe to people,” recalls Allyson. “In specific musical terms, the blues have a ‘form’-whether it be the typical 12-bar blues, minor blues, blues with a bridge, etc. This album is not a ‘traditional blues album’ but rather, it’s a collection of tunes I love, that have to do with having the blues-no matter what the form.
“The Blues are…universal, it’s hard not to respond to them,” Allyson continues. “Some of these tunes allow me to express personal feelings not just about love or heartbreak, but also about social issues too. I also love humor, irony and the more than occasional ‘sassiness’ in music. The blues are a perfect vehicle for all these things.”
“What I got from Percy was the dignity of playing the bass,” Buster Williams said of Percy Heath.
Aug 26, 2025 1:53 PM
Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
Don and Maureen Sickler serve as the keepers of engineer Rudy Van Gelder’s flame at Van Gelder Studio, perhaps the most famous recording studio in jazz history.
Sep 3, 2025 12:02 PM
On the last Sunday of 2024, in the control room of Van Gelder Studio, Don and Maureen Sickler, co-owners since Rudy Van…
The Free Slave, Cosmos Nucleus and Sunset To Dawn: three classic Muse albums being reissued this fall by Timer Traveler Recordings.
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Record producer and “Jazz Detective” Zev Feldman has launched his next endeavor, the archival label Time Traveler…
This year’s Jazz em Agosto set by the Darius Jones Trio captured the titular alto saxophonist at his most ferocious.
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The organizers of Lisbon, Portugal’s Jazz em Agosto Festival assume its audience is thoughtful and independent. Over…
Trio aRT with its avalanche of instrumentation: from left, Pheeroan akLaff, Scott Robinson and Julian Thayer.
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Trio aRT, a working unit since 1988, shockingly released its very first studio recording this summer. Recorded in…
