May 18, 2018 9:24 AM
Charles Joseph Smith Sees New Possibilities
Pianist Charles Joseph Smith always has used music to challenge limitations. When this world offered him only scant…
Chicago pianist Charles Joseph Smith says War Of The Martian Ghosts, which he began composing in the ’90s, was inspired by saxophonist Caroline Davis, the film Mars Attacks! and techniques of minimalist composers.
May 18, 2018 9:24 AM
Pianist Charles Joseph Smith always has used music to challenge limitations. When this world offered him only scant…
Emma-Jean Thackray began her life as a musician in a Yorkshire brass band.
May 17, 2018 9:20 AM
Emma-Jean Thackray built her new record, Ley Lines, in the upstairs studio of her cozy and colorful South London flat,…
Lakecia Benjamin’s new album is titled Rise Up.
May 16, 2018 3:51 PM
Because of the music’s sheer ebullience, it’s sometimes hard to comprehend the somber inspiration that fuels alto…
Bassist and ASCAP board member Marcus Miller (left) and music director Paul Mirkovich take part in a panel discussion at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles during the organization’s recent “I Create Music” Expo.
May 14, 2018 9:12 AM
Three years ago, Marcus Miller got a phone call from one of the many music legends he’s worked with over the years,…
Bettye LaVette interprets 12 Bob Dylan songs on her album Things Have Changed.
May 11, 2018 1:27 PM
A few years ago, singer Bettye LaVette was backstage at a festival in Italy and found herself walking about 50 feet…
Vibraphonist Roy Ayers performs last year in Pittsburgh.
May 11, 2018 11:54 AM
Pittsburgh’s contributions to the jazz firmament stretch from seminal figures like Roy Eldridge, Kenny Clarke and…
Pianist Mike Jones and bassist Penn Jillette have released a duo album.
May 10, 2018 1:53 PM
Seventeen years ago, Penn Jillette and his friend Mike Post went out to dinner at The Eiffel Tower—a place that Mike…
Singer and composer Sara Serpa recently released Close Up on Clean Feed, a Portuguese imprint.
May 7, 2018 5:24 PM
For a decade, the Portuguese-born Sara Serpa has been crafting hauntingly beautiful composed and improvised music,…
The Nels Cline 4 has released a new Blue Note album titled Currents, Constellations. The band includes drummer Tom Rainey (left), guitarists Nels Cline and Julian Lage, and bassist Scott Colley.
May 4, 2018 11:27 AM
Thirty years ago, Nels Cline recorded his first album as a bandleader for the Enja label. Angelica featured an all-star…
Starting Today, keyboardist Joe Armon-Jones’ debut on Brownswood Recordings, is out May 4.
May 1, 2018 4:07 PM
Keyboardist Joe Armon-Jones is sitting on a sofa in the South London house he shares with four other musicians.…
