Jun 20, 2023 2:30 PM
An Homage to ‘Bitches Brew,’ London Style
In 2020, the pandemic scuppered plans for a concert at London’s Barbican, which would have paid homage to 50 years of…
The London Brew Team, from left, Shabaka Hutchings, Tom Herbert, Nikolaj Torp Larsen, Nubya Garcia, Dave Okumu, Raven Bush, Dan See, Martin Terefe, Tom Skinner, Benji B, Nick Ramm, Dilip Harris, Luke Pickering and Theon Cross.
Jun 20, 2023 2:30 PM
In 2020, the pandemic scuppered plans for a concert at London’s Barbican, which would have paid homage to 50 years of…
“The big thing was having multiple sections, ideas that develop slowly over time and don’t stray too far from an initial core idea,” Smith says of Return To Casual.
Jun 13, 2023 12:32 PM
Walter Smith III finds compositional inspiration in unexpected — and amusing — places. As an example, consider the…
“When I picked up the accordion, my musical world expanded instantly,” says Rosenblum.
Jun 13, 2023 11:20 AM
Composer, pianist, accordionist and bandleader Ben Rosenblum’s musical purview is, by nature, a worldly one. Although…
“I’m just trying to write from a calm place,” Laubrock says of her latest work.
Jun 6, 2023 11:39 AM
The lines between jazz and classical used to be more stark, but they were never seamless — even before composer and…
“When you play blues-type stuff, the material is pretty obvious; it’s how you do a lot with a little,” Liebman said.
May 30, 2023 1:06 PM
At 76, soprano and tenor saxophonist Dave Liebman — an alumnus of bands led by Miles Davis and Elvin Jones, leader of…
Hajdu assembled a cast of composers, musicians and singers to create his song cycle The Parsonage.
May 30, 2023 12:50 PM
David Hajdu, the eminent biographer, cultural historian, music critic and journalism professor, has heeded T.S.…
“I guess that’s my personality: On the outside I’m very mellow, but, inside, my brain is going 100 miles a minute,” says Scott.
May 23, 2023 12:58 PM
Kendrick Scott loves harmony at least as much as he loves rhythm, possibly more. “To me, one of the most beautiful…
Wong interviews other guitarists he admires on his Wong Notes podcast.
May 23, 2023 12:52 PM
A modern day practitioner of the “chanking” rhythm guitar method developed by James Brown sideman Jimmy Nolen —…
“When I first emerged on the scene, I was dealing with working with a certain trumpet player who shall remain nameless,” Reed said. “It was very much an indoctrinating, dogmatic point of view, but it was all I knew.”
May 16, 2023 3:15 PM
As a piano-playing prodigy, Philadelphia native Eric Reed performed gospel music in his father’s church at age 5. By…
At 65, Branker feels he is just coming into his own as a composer.
May 16, 2023 2:21 PM
While the trajectory of a jazz musician’s career often follows a somewhat logical arc, others take more complex and…
