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 hot new video game right now is Grand Theft Auto IV. It has sold more than 6 million copies and made $500 million in sales in its first week.
Perhaps jazz was part of the reason behind the success of the game? The new game has a special feature to enhance play: 16 in-game radio stations featuring a wide variety of musical choices—rock, electronic and classic jazz. And who better to talk up these classic tunes by the likes of John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Charlie Parker—than the living link between all of the greats—83-year-old jazz legend Roy Haynes?
Haynes makes a guest appearance on Grand Theft Auto IV as the DJ of JNR 108.5 - “Jazz Nation Radio,” a station that plays classic jazz ‘sides’ such as Chet Baker’s “Let’s Get Lost” and Haynes’ own “Snap Crackle.”
“I travel all over the world performing this music, connecting with the audiences,” Haynes said. “But this is an opportunity to connect with a different audience, in a different way.
“Jazz has always been about personal expression, but it’s also about communication. This is an excellent opportunity to communicate this music to millions of young people, so I have been really excited about it!”
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.’”
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As Ted Nash, left, departs the alto saxophone chair for LCJO, Alexa Tarantino steps in as the band’s first female full-time member.
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If only because openings for JLCO’s 15 permanent positions appear about as frequently as sub-freezing days on the…
“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.”
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In her four-decade career, Renee Rosnes has been recognized as a singular voice, both as a jazz composer and a…
