May 3, 2022 12:38 PM
Ron Carter Reminisces on the Eve of 85th Gala
On May 10, the iconic bassist-composer Ron Carter will be fêted in an 85th birthday celebration at Carnegie Hall. With…
Wayne Shorter and Don Was discuss uncovered Art Blakey music on First Flight To Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings.
(Photo: Blue Note)In a surprise interview, composer and saxophonist Wayne Shorter sat down with Don Was, president of Blue Note Records, for a conversation about the new release First Flight To Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings by Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers.
Shorter was a core member of that band, and as one of the first American acts to go to Japan, Was said the tour experience “was something akin to Beatlemania,” taking on a “mythical quality.”
“It was almost overwhelming,” Shorter said of the tour. “We thought we were cool anyway, and getting off the plane and in the airport, all of a sudden, [there were] all of these lights and photographers and people and presents.”
Shorter said that during interviews with the Japanese press, band members were frequently asked questions like, “What is originality?” and “Why are you here?” He noted that Japan audiences wanted to witness something that was authentic.
The interview with Shorter and Was appears on the latest episode of Blue Note’s First Look video blog and can be viewed HERE.
First Flight To Tokyo was co-produced by Zev Feldman and David Weiss for Blue Note. It’s a two-LP or two-CD set complete with booklets of rare photography, essays and interviews. Catch the story behind the album HERE. DB
Bassist-composer Ron Carter turns 85 on May 4.
May 3, 2022 12:38 PM
On May 10, the iconic bassist-composer Ron Carter will be fêted in an 85th birthday celebration at Carnegie Hall. With…
Meghan Stabile was the founder of Revive Music Group.
Jun 21, 2022 11:37 AM
Meghan Stabile, a promoter, presenter and producer, died on June 12 in Florida at age 39. The apparent cause was…
“I have no concept of what I did before! That’s irrelevant,” Ibrahim said. “I can’t change anything. I can’t change the past, I can’t change the future, I can only deal with what is now.”
May 9, 2022 2:52 PM
It is 2022. The pandemic lingers, yet life is moving forward in unexpected ways.
The necessary move to video…
The Detroit Jazz Festival has announced its lineup for Labor Day weekend during a livestream preview event that included a live performance from the 2022 Artist-in-Residence Chucho Valdés.
May 24, 2022 10:25 AM
The Detroit Jazz Festival has announced its lineup for Labor Day weekend during a livestream preview event that…
Bounce pioneers Mannie Fresh and Big Freedia and other guests join Galactic on “Act Like You Know.”
May 31, 2022 12:07 PM
Anyone who has spent time in New Orleans knows why it is also known as The City That Care Forgot. Between the music and…