Five Great Samples of Jazz Clarinet
Just a feeling, but jazz may be on the threshold of a new age of ascendancy for the jazz clarinet. This NPR feature by clarinetist Ben Goldberg trains the spotlight on five premier practitioners of the jazz clarinet, from Sidney Bechet through Jimmy Hamilton, John Carter and Michael Moore, with examples of their work.
(Photo: Jimmy Hamilton, left, with Harry Carney; by William Gottlieb/The Library of Congress)
-Nick Moy
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General Motors Learns a Lesson in Jazz Song: Lyrics Matter
Jazz has been no stranger to controversy, and apparently no less so today, in Adam Pasick’s story of international affront. It might be convenient to cast blame on Lil Hardin Armstrong for the language in the 1938 song that inflamed Canadian airwaves in 2013 and caught the notice of media in China. As I see it, though, Armstrong’s song is yet another reminder of what jazz musicians had to do to earn a buck in those days \u2014 not to mention a reminder of how times have changed in China, Japan and the Arab world. Evidently, some folks at one major American corporation might just be coming up that learning curve.
-Nick Moy
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Jazz Journalists Association 2013 Musician Awards Winners
The Jazz Journalists Association has announced its Musician Awards for 2013. Among the highlights, Wayne Shorter was recipient of an award for Lifetime Achievement in Jazz, and Wadada Leo Smith (pictured above) was named Musician of the Year. See the complete lineup of JJA Musician Award winners. Congratulations, all.
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International Jazz Day 2013: the View from Istanbul
From JazzTimes comes this dispatch from Istanbul, in the afterglow of the second annual International Jazz Day festivities on April 30. A photo gallery of assembled luminaries in their captivating setting, and reflections from Wayne Shorter and T.S. Monk on the significance of the event.
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Read MoreThe Gil Evans Project at the Jazz Standard
In our recent post in the Gazette, we shared Ryan Truesdell’s overview of the Gil Evans Project, just named Best Large Ensemble of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association, and whose Centennial: Newly Discovered Works of Gil Evans was named the JJA’s 2013 Record of the Year. Here’s a vivid look at the ensemble at the Jazz Standard in 2012, performing two pieces Evans recorded for his classic, The Individualism of Gil Evans. You can catch a live look at the band when they return to the Jazz Standard in mid-May.
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Ryan Truesdell: Behind the Gil Evans Centennial Project
Ryan Truesdell enjoyed a burst of celebrity this month, when the Jazz Jorunalists Association named his Centennial: Newly Discovered Works of Gil Evans as its 2013 Record of the Year, and named his Gil Evans Project its Best Large Ensemble of the Year. Who is Ryan Truesdell, and where is he coming from? Thoughtful answers to those questions, and a wealth of insight into Gil Evans and this project, in Edward Blanco’s interview with Truesdell in All About Jazz.
-Nick Moy
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Read MoreBetty Carter Wakes Up Today
This clip of Betty Carter, singing her “Droppin’ Things,” must have been some wake up call for viewers of the Today show in 1990. With Marc Cary’s piano, Dwayne Burno on bass, and Gregory Hutchinson on drums.
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Opus De Horace
Ethan Iverson’s post pays tribute to what was probably Horace Silver’s first hit, “Opus De Funk,” with the notated music and the recording. Great stuff, as is everything on Ethan Iverson’s site.
-Michael Cuscuna
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Great Jazz Bassists 1964-1965
Bassist and educator Michael Formanek zeroes in on a fertile period for modern jazz recordings and for the jazz bass. He highlights five great examples of jazz bass playing during this time, and regrets leaving out more; yet you can hardly go wrong starting with his picks.
The article highlights a selection from Mosaic’s recent release, Charles Mingus - The Jazz Workshop Concerts 1964-65. This set is still in stock, and you can order here.
-Nick Moy
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Singer Madeleine Peyroux: Perfect Musical Pedigree and Beyond
Madeleine Peyroux has the perfect artistic pedigree: New Orleans heritage and raised in Brooklyn and Paris. Her unique vocal approach is directed toward the songs that Ray Charles popularized on “Modern Sounds In Country And Western” on her latest album “The Blue Room,” for which I had the honor of writing the liner notes. Here’s a brief but interesting interview in the Great Britain’s The Guardian.
-Michael Cuscuna
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