All About Jazz

NEWPORT, R.I. - For the first time since he founded the Newport Jazz Festival, George Wein didn't have to sign any checks or worry about how the fickle weather might affect the bottom line. Instead, his biggest concern at the recent festival was whether he could keep up on piano with his Newport All-Stars band during their set on the main stage that preceded performances by Herbie Hancock and Sonny Rollins...

Download a free live track by the Albert Rivera Quartet from their August 23rd, 2008 performance at Smalls Jazz Club, NYC. Featuring Albert Rivera on tenor saxophone, Zaccai Curtis on piano, Luques Curtis on bass and John Iannuzzi on drums. Download Instructions...

Charlie Reedy remembers his friend John "Spider" Martin well. They attended music classes at Niagara Falls High School together in the 1940s and eventually formed a band to play at the Ontario House. Without Spider's help, who knows if Reedy -- who still performs regularly at the Colored Musicians Club of Buffalo -- would ever have became the jazz musician he is today...

James Moody to perform Sept. 26 With a world-class lineup of international jazz legends and bright new stars, the 2008 Solvang Jazz Festival is set to bring the excitement of jazz and other forms of music to the Central Coast, Sept. 25 to 28. The Universal Guild for Jazz and Progressive Music has announced that Grammy-nominated saxophonist James Moody has been added to this year's lineup...

NO wonder many Zimbabwean female musicians are taking up jazz music! The genre -- famed for its soft and tender tunes that probe the soul -- is just ideal for sentimental, romantic hearts, which most women are gifted with. The latest in the line of such females to embrace jazz music is none other than talented former Amagents backing vocalist Faith Ganyau...

Jazz lovers can experience living history through Metro Connection, a collection of professional jazz greats living and playing throughout Sarasota and Manatee counties. The musicians bring lifetimes of passionate showmanship and dedication to their shows. The ensemble usually plays a variety of jazz standards Tuesday evenings at the Bacalao Sports Grill and Lounge in Sarasota, but on Sept. 21 the performers will give a special concert at the Glenridge Performing Arts Center for local fans and members of the Jazz Club of Sarasota...

Walk of Fame honors musical pioneers The Starr-Gennett Foundation inducted 10 jazz, blues, gospel and Big Band artists into its Walk of Fame on Saturday that lay claim to Richmond's history as a birthplace of recorded jazz music. The two-hour-plus induction ceremony paid tribute for the second consecutive year to some of the music greats who recorded on the Gennett label, which got its start in Richmond about 90 years ago...

Arts council puts jazz on display Canadian pianist Oscar Peterson plays piano at the Newport-Belgrade Jazz Festival in the former Yugoslavia in 1973, wearing a checkered suit and a smile on his face. Duke Ellington blows kisses from a white convertible to an enamored crowd at the Tamil Union Oval before a performance in 1972 in Colombo, Sri Lanka...

Saxophone Summit: The original summiteers were Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, and the late Michael Brecker. Since Brecker's passing, Ravi Coltrane has joined the unit, helping push it ever further in adventurous directions. Sept. 24-25, Regattabar. 617-395-7757, Randy Weston: At 82, Weston is the foremost authority on the piano's percussive possibilities; his work manifests both Eastern rhythmic sensibilities and the abstract geometries of Thelonious Monk. Sept. 27, BeanTown Jazz Festival. 617-747-2261...

MACOMB -- As notes of jazz waft through Chandler Park in the coming days, the artists traveling to Macomb to perform are as varied as their musical styles and histories. The seventh annual Al Sears Jazz Festival runs Friday through Sept. 14, with a full day of music in Chandler Park on Saturday...

WHEELING-Cooler temperatures and the threat of rain didn't keep jazz lovers and wine aficionados from Wheeling's Heritage Port on Saturday. Despite the gray clouds looming above, the atmosphere at the first Wheeling Wine and Jazz Festival was bright and sunny, as hundreds of smiling wine tasters ventured from one tasting station to another while jazz music carried on the slight breeze...

We Kansas City people like to beat up on ourselves and lament how things could be if only... Jazz had its heyday, we say, and that was long ago. And now? Well, it's tough to find jazz in town and, besides, it's just so hard to get out of the house. Well, hooey on that. You could just as easily make the argument that jazz in Kansas City is nearly as vital as ever. At least for listeners willing to make the effort. (Then again, a chronic complaint of musicians is that there's not enough work and not enough pay, and that, sadly, might be true, too.)...

Antoinette Montague will perform at The Many Colors of a W*O*M*A*N XXIV Free Jazz Festival (Aetna Theater at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. Hartford, CT on Saturday Sept. 6 and at The September Concert: The Heart of Jazz in New York on Thursday, September 11. Born and raised in Newark, Antoinette Montague recently released her first CD, Pretty Blues but she has had many invaluable musical experiences. She worked in gospel and R&B ensembles after college, serves as the vice president of the International Women in Jazz, and considers Carrie Smith, Etta Jones, Della Griffin and Myrna Lake to be her mentors...

With this week's news that Dave Liebman is coming to St. Louis in November to play a free concert for Washington University's Jazz at Holmes series, it seems an opportune time to look at some videos of the veteran saxophonist. First up is Liebman's take on "My Favorite Things," a song popularized in...

A Penny Peyser / Doug McIntyre film Trying To Get Good- the Jazz Odyssey of Jack Sheldon Dear Jack Sheldon Fans, This is to let you know that TRYING TO GET GOOD - the Jazz Odyssey of Jack Sheldon is now available on DVD for purchase on our website. Thank you for your interest and your patience...

Step inside the sound of 3 Cities, Bombay Dub Orchestras sophomore release, and experience the crossroads where Mumbai, Chennai, and London musically meet. Since the release of their self-titled debut, the name Bombay Dub Orchestra (consisting of composer/producers Garry Hughes and Andrew T. Mackay) has built quite a reputation. From main-stage performances at the UKs Big Chill Festival and DJing across the globe, scoring feature films to remixing such world-renowned artists as Bob Marley, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and Bebel Gilberto, fans and critics have been eagerly awaiting their next album. For 3 Cities, both Hughes and Mackay traveled to Mumbai and Chennai to record with the cities premier musicians and vocalists before returning to London to mix the album. 3 Cities is where their cinematic soundscapes meet Indian Classical and electronica featuring a huge cast of over 75 musicians...

An almost-real-time, behind-the-scenes look at the assigning, writing, editing, and designing of a Wired feature. This is a one-time experiment, tied solely to the Charlie Kaufman profile scheduled to run in our November 08 issue. Photo Issues, Pt. I By Jason Tanz September 05, 2008 | 2:13:19 PM Kaufman does not sit for magazine photo shoots. That posed a problem; we take design very seriously at Wired, and without a quality, original shot, it would be difficult to run this story at any length. Here's our first conversation about it...

Whether or not you can get out to the Pacific Coast Highway, check out a list of tunes that would be perfect for that ideal California road trip. As you drive up the PCH (that's "Pacific Coast Highway" for you non-Californians) from San Diego to San Francisco with a surfboard strapped to the top of your Woodie, you may be thinking, "Dude, I need some tunes." So before you head to the bonfire on the beach, load up your iPod with these California classics. "California Girls" by The Beach Boys (1965): Infectious and lighthearted, this song definitely captures the essence of a time and a place. You'll understand why they wrote this tune when you spot the surfer girls on Manhattan Beach one of The Beach Boys' famous hangouts...

Enjoy the Edmund Velasco Quintet on Thursday, September 18 at the Kobe Japanese Steakhouse at 7 PM. The band, led by Edmund Velasco on sax, features Francesca Delfin-Proponis on vocals, Matt Politano on piano, Steve Venz on Bass, Jimmy Ford on Drums Edmund Velasco is a native Southern Californian that has been recognized as one of the top sax men in the area...

All About Jazz now assigns global region designations to our articles, so international readers can quickly access articles relevant to their location. AAJ currently assigns the following regions to our articles and news announcements: Africa Asia Australia/NZ Canada Europe Latin America Middle East United States...