Apr 2, 2024 12:59 PM
Saxophonist, Sonic Explorer Casey Benjamin Dies at 45
Casey Benjamin, the alto saxophonist, vocalist, keyboardist and producer who stamped his distinctive sounds on the…
Samuel L. Jackson, who may be best known for his role as a hit man in Pulp Fiction , will potray a fictional blues singer named Lazurus in the upcoming film Black Snake Moan . The movie will be released in early 2007 and its accompanying soundtrack on New West Records features Jackson singing four blues standards.
While Jackson learned how to play guitar for his role, he receives support from such musicians as Alvin Youngblood Hart, Kenny Brown, Big Jack Johnson and Jason Freeman. Two of Jackson’s songs in the film—“Just Like A Bird Without A Feather” and “Alice Mae”—have been associated with R.L. Burnside.
“R.L. was definitely the zeitgeist of the film,” said Black Snake Moan‘s musical supervisor Scott Bomar.
Justin Timberlake also appears in the film, but there is no indication that he covers any blues favorites on the soundtrack.
Benjamin possessed a fluid, round sound on the alto saxophone, and he was often most recognizable by the layers of electronic effects that he put onto the instrument.
Apr 2, 2024 12:59 PM
Casey Benjamin, the alto saxophonist, vocalist, keyboardist and producer who stamped his distinctive sounds on the…
Albert “Tootie” Heath (1935–2024) followed in the tradition of drummer Kenny Clarke, his idol.
Apr 5, 2024 10:28 AM
Albert “Tootie” Heath, a drummer of impeccable taste and time who was the youngest of three jazz-legend brothers…
“Both of us are quite grounded in the craft, the tradition and the harmonic sense,” Rosenwinkel said of his experience playing with Allen. “Yet I felt we shared something mystical as well.”
Mar 12, 2024 11:42 AM
“There are a few musicians you hear where, as somebody once said, the molecules in the room change. Geri was one of…
Henry Threadgill performs with Zooid at Big Ears in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Apr 9, 2024 11:30 AM
Big Ears, the annual four-day music celebration that first took place in 2009 in Knoxville, Tennessee, could well be…
“I’m also at a point in my life where I don’t feel like I have anything to prove, like at all,” Akinmusire says about his art.
Mar 26, 2024 12:45 PM
At the risk of oversimplifying and romanticizing the story, Ambrose Akinmusire came bursting on the jazz scene at the…
