Jun 13, 2023 12:32 PM
The Casual Side of Art with Walter Smith III
Walter Smith III finds compositional inspiration in unexpected — and amusing — places. As an example, consider the…
“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…
“The way I keep myself being original is by not listening to other recorded music,” Pascoal says.
Jun 6, 2023 1:37 PM
Hermeto Pascoal, the Brazilian-born multi-instrumentalist/composer/orchestrator, is one of the world’s most prolific…
“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…
“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…
“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…
“Remember to be a warrior, not a worrier,” Shorter said, 10 days prior to his passing on March 2.
May 9, 2023 12:02 PM
Sadly, the formative giants of jazz are passing the torch and joining the ancestors. But such cliché and dwelling on…
“I got chills,” Patricia Brennan said while listening to the music of Chris Dingman.
May 9, 2023 11:48 AM
Having established herself as a master practitioner of extended techniques and electronic effects on vibraphone and…
“There’s so much mystery in his own writing,” Dianne Reeves (left) said of Vince Mendoza (right).
May 2, 2023 3:00 PM
Sunset Boulevard begins its 21-mile journey at Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles, curving northward as it skirts…
“I knew Dizzy’s music inside and out,” Cassidy said about playing in the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band. “That’s what I grew up chasing.”
Apr 25, 2023 12:26 PM
There’s a zen-like drive to alto saxophonist Sharel Cassity that’s undeniable — über calm on the exterior, but…
“Perhaps that’s a key to what makes me tick — a very strong curiosity, which makes me a perpetual fanboy of whatever I’m discovering,” Mehldau says.
Apr 11, 2023 10:47 AM
At the tail end of 2022, Brad Mehldau took advantage of a New York sojourn to play piano with old friends at Smalls…
