Jun 11, 2024 12:59 PM
Willy Rodriguez: Give the Drummer Some Love!
Puerto Rican-born drummer/composer Willy Rodriguez now calls New York City his home, but he isn’t afraid to push…
“I had to lock myself in a room, grab the 5B sticks and punish my body every day,” Rodriguez said of preparing to record with the band Mars Volta.
Jun 11, 2024 12:59 PM
Puerto Rican-born drummer/composer Willy Rodriguez now calls New York City his home, but he isn’t afraid to push…
Mary Halvorson expanded her hollowbody guitar to match her imaginative foot-pedal-assisted forays at this year’s NYC Winter Jazzfest.
Feb 6, 2024 6:29 PM
Crisscrossing dozens of venues, in multiple New York neighborhoods, presenting smart lineups and thoughtful creative…
“We play traditional rhythms, but the nature of the traditional rhythms is that there’s improvisation and a lot of room for expression,” Santos says of his music.
Nov 14, 2023 11:35 AM
Working from his self-described “mansion” in Oakland, California, John Santos is surrounded by the things he loves…
The premiere of “100 Dreams” featured a host of stars across the new music scene.
Jan 24, 2023 12:16 PM
Performing at Manhattan’s DiMenna Center for Classical Music, a spacious wood-paneled hall in the city’s Midtown…
“It’s been my goal to write and record new types of opportunities for improvisation,” Jamie Baum says.
Mar 15, 2022 2:10 PM
The Jamie Baum Septet breezed into Dizzy’s Club in New York this February premiering a variety of pandemic-inspired…
From left: Andrew Cyrille, Reggie Workman and Oliver Lake
Mar 1, 2022 4:26 PM
In an era when contemporary jazz is largely available via streaming services and the historic music of beboppers and…
A shot from the official video for “Say Something” from Emma-Jean Thackray’s Yellow.
Jan 4, 2022 12:59 PM
Emma-Jean Thackray’s debut album, Yellow, is a surprising synthesis of ’70s funk, ethereal orchestral music modeled…
Percussionist Susie Ibarra has expanded her reach well beyond the boundaries of music.
Oct 16, 2021 12:49 PM
In the 1990s, Susie Ibarra was a mainstay of the New York jazz scene, frequently collaborating with David S. Ware,…
Pasquale Grasso looks to address bebop pianism on guitar.
Sep 16, 2019 9:23 AM
Growing up in Ariano Irpino, Italy, Pasquale Grasso regularly listened to foundational recordings of the bebop era. And…
Before Jazz Samba hit in 1962, saxophonist Stan Getz appeared to be on a different trajectory.
Aug 13, 2019 10:22 AM
It’s late in fall of 1961, and tenor saxophonist Stan Getz is playing The Village Gate in New York. It’s before the…
Trombonist John Fedchock leads a quartet, a sextet and the New York Big Band.
Aug 7, 2019 9:50 AM
John Fedchock has forged a distinctive career fueled by enormous talent, hard work and an entrepreneurial spirit.
…
Vibraphonist Behn Gillece is, by nature, eclectic, counting drummer/vibraphonist Joe Chambers, pianist Cedar Walton and guitarist Steve Giordano as his composer’s trifecta.
Apr 5, 2019 9:21 AM
Parallel Universe, the fourth album by New Jersey-based vibraphonist and composer Behn Gillece, blasts out of the gate…
Mike DiRubbo’s latest release is a live album recorded at Smalls in New York.
Feb 21, 2019 9:23 AM
Performing at Smalls Jazz Club in New York this winter with the quartet of drummer George Coleman Jr., alto saxophonist…
Vocalist and composer Annie Chen, who was born in Beijing, is based in New York.
Feb 22, 2019 3:39 PM
In a recent performance at Brooklyn’s ShapeShifter Lab, the Annie Chen Octet navigated odd meters framing Mongolian…
Guitarist John Scofield and his Combo 66 quartet recently wrapped up a run at New York’s Blue Note Jazz Club.
Dec 10, 2018 10:05 AM
John Scofield’s Combo 66 quartet was explosive during its second set at New York’s Blue Note Jazz Club on Dec. 2.
…
For his latest album, Combo 66, guitarist John Scofield enlisted drummer Bill Stewart, pianist/organist Gerald Clayton and bassist Vicente Archer.
Dec 10, 2018 9:54 AM
It’s November 1982, and 30-year-old John Scofield is in Cleveland to audition for Miles Davis’ group. The Man With…
Drummer Chris Beck’s debut is titled The Journey.
Aug 28, 2018 9:46 AM
Reading the credits of Chris Beck’s debut recording, The Journey (A.W.M.C.), an anomaly catches your eye: Eric…
Jonathan Barber’s debut album is titled Vision Ahead.
Jun 14, 2018 4:55 PM
Jonathan Barber sits atop the drum throne in trumpeter Jeremy Pelt’s and saxophonist Marcus Strickland’s touring…
John Coltrane’s Both Directions At Once: The Lost Album (Impulse!) was recorded in 1963 and only now is being released.
Jun 15, 2018 8:59 AM
Walking into the cool interiors of the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, it’s hard not to feel a…
Ambrose Akinmusire and Kris Davis perform in New York at Vision Festival, which ran May 23-28.
Jul 5, 2018 4:34 PM
“The bad guys, the expletive, blanket-y blanks—those guys are busy messing up our lives,” Vision Festival founder…
Saxophonist Caroline Davis’ new album, Heart Tonic, is informed by her study of the heart.
Apr 19, 2018 5:22 PM
Caroline Davis has become an expert in matters of the heart, physiologically speaking. The title of the New York-based…
Wadada Leo Smith’s improvisational chops weren’t properly utilized in this particular setting at Winter Jazzfest, writes critic Ken Micallef.
Jan 31, 2018 8:43 PM
Even on the surface, the lineup was at best quizzical.
The final night of Winter Jazzfest 2018 counted what was…
ArkivJazz CEO Jeff Van Driel (left) and COO Jonathan Eby.
Sep 12, 2017 11:43 AM
As music lovers watched such international retailers as Tower Records and Virgin Megastore close shop, the issue of…
Cooper-Moore performs at the 2016 Vision Festival in New York City. He appeared at this year’s fest as the honoree of a day-long tribute.
Jul 23, 2017 4:48 PM
In accordance with the program’s subhead, “For A Just Future,” the 22nd Vision Free Jazz Festival delivered…
The Cookers members Billy Harper, David Weiss and Eddie Henderson perform at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola on May 6.
May 16, 2017 11:49 AM
If you’ve heard the five CDs recorded by veteran jazz septet The Cookers, you know these seasoned pros deliver fire…
David Virelles (left) at Ravi Coltrane perform on Jan. 7 at Tishman Auditorium in New York City.
Jan 19, 2017 4:37 PM
Following a successful event at Winter JazzFest 2016, select artists from Manfred Eicher’s ECM label performed in an…
Steve Miller (left)
Dec 23, 2016 10:45 AM
Steve Miller never seems to age. Joined by his frequent guitar-slinging partner Jimmie Vaughan for a tribute to Texas…
Drummer Tony Moreno has released a double album, Short Stories (Mayima Jazz).
Oct 28, 2016 12:20 PM
Tony Moreno is New York City’s version of the “greatest drummer you’ve never heard of.” Though he’s has…
Jimmy Heath performs at a tribute to producer Orrin Keepnews at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola in New York on Sept. 8.
Sep 28, 2016 12:35 PM
Presented as part of the seventh annual Coca-Cola Generations in Jazz Festival, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola offered its…
Kendrick Scott demonstrates Sensory Percussion, a new drum trigger by Sunhouse, at Threes Brewing in Brooklyn on July 21.
Aug 24, 2016 2:43 PM
The drum company Sunhouse presented a riveting showcase for its new product, the Sensory Percussion drum trigger, on…
Kris Allen, seen here in a publicity photo, performed at DIzzy’s Club Coca-Cola in New York June 28–July 3.
Jul 20, 2016 12:37 PM
When alto saxophonist Kris Allen’s quartet performed material from its new CD, Beloved (Truth Revolution Records), at…
Lee Mixashawn Rozie (left), Marc Ribot, Henry Grimes, Chad Taylor and Tomeka Reid perform during Vision Fest 21 in New York City on June 7.
Apr 18, 2020 9:49 AM
As a young New York musician during the early 1960s, Henry Grimes played with seemingly everyone of note and was at the…
Grammy-winning drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. performs at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola in New York on April 29.
Jul 11, 2016 12:28 PM
In a celebration of “Ellington And Beyond,” the immensely talented drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. and his equally…
Keyon Harrold (clockwise, from top left), BIGYUKI and Just in Brown were among the artists who celebrated Revive Music’s 10-year anniversary in New York on April 19.
Jul 11, 2016 12:32 PM
Revive Music brought artists from its popular roster to Le Poisson Rouge in Manhattan on April 19, debuting its “Blue…
Anat Cohen (third from left, with clarinet) leads her tentet at the Jazz Standard in New York on April 19
Jun 28, 2016 12:21 PM
Listening to clarinetist Anat Cohen and her new tentet perform original material at the Jazz Standard on April 19 was…
Ethan Hawke portrays trumpeter Chet Baker in the biopic Born to be Blue, which was released by IFC Films.
Apr 8, 2016 4:14 PM
Robert Budreau’s semi-fictional Chet Baker biopic, Born to Be Blue, covers the trumpeter’s life from the mid-1950s…
Henry Grimes
Apr 18, 2020 9:46 AM
The publicist’s email promised much: A trio concert at New York venue The Stone featuring legendary bassist Henry…
Nov 9, 2018 3:54 PM
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Jun 21, 2016 5:25 PM
Pianist and bandleader Lynne Arriale once told a journalist: “Jazz should not be only for jazz lovers.”
Feb 24, 2020 3:25 PM
A few years ago, in conversation with a reporter from London’s The Sunday Times, Lynne Arriale made the quietly…
