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... brief news ...
Tim Mak reports about a jazz club in Odessa, Ukraine, that, while having had to shut down like many other business due to the war, still does impromptu shows, and he talks to the owners of the club called Perron Number Seven, about living in a city during wartime, as well as about how having theater productions or jazz can help them and others deal with war reality (NPR). Sophia Alexandra Hall reports about Perron Number Seven as well and how it relocated its public concerts to a balcony (Classic FM). --- Meanwhile, the Goethe-Institut has established a fund to help musicians and artists from Ukraine who have settled in Germany because of the war (Goethe-Institut). --- Representatives from Ukraine will be present at this week's JazzAhead trade fair in Bremen, Germany, as well. The fair's website has some hints as to how one can help musicians from Ukraine within the jazz world (JazzAhead).
Jonny Hart talks to trumpeter Terell Stafford about the legacy of the Philadelphia jazz scene, about some of the projects he feels especially proud of having contributed to, about how the pandemic has changed his routines of writing, recording and performing music, as well as about his dedication to mentoring a next generation of jazz musicians (Temple News). --- Andrea Kachelrieß talks to German saxophonist Magnus Mehl about a project with his quartet and dancers of the Stuttgart Ballet Company in which he sees himself and the other musicians both as performing artists and viewers of what happens on stage, as well as about having been asked to contribute to the next program of the dance company to be premiered in late May (Stuttgarter Nachrichten).
Ed Masley remembers bass player and composer Charles Mingus on the occasion of his 100th birthday (The Arizona Republic). George Varga also remembers Charles Mingus (The San Diego Union-Tribune), and he talks to ex-Mingus saxophonist Charles McPherson about his former boss's musical legacy and his own experiences in the band when he was in his early 20s (The San Diego Union-Tribune). John Edward Hasse remembers Charles Mingus as well (Wall Street Journal), and so do Allison Fagan (Tucson Weekly), Tom Vitale (NPR), Robert Mießner (ND), Karl Lippegaus (Deutschlandfunk), Richard Williams (The Blue Moment), Giovanni Russonello (New York Times), Nichole Rustin-Paschal (Guitar World / Bassplayer), and Roland Spiegel (BR Klassik). asse --- Richard Williams remembers when saxophonist Ornette Coleman recorded "The Skies of America" at Abbey Road Studios in London 50 years ago (The Blue Moment).
Javier C. Hernández talks to trombonist, composer and music scholar George E. Lewis who was named new artistic director of the International Contemporary Ensemble and explains that he plans to widen the community of contemporary music by bringing in "newer people who happen to have great ideas, but who might be overlooked by other ensembles or institutions, to the forefront so they can be noticed by everybody". Lewis also notes his hope to overcome the limitations of genre, explaining that "at a certain point, classical music becomes so fluid that it becomes like a permeable membrane where you start to realize that it’s a point of connection rather than a set of practices or a set of received histories. It’s something that accretes and accumulates new information, rather than something that excludes or does gatekeeping." (New York Times). --- Jeff Terich talks to British bassist Ben Marc about his latest album "Glass Effect", about combining jazz elements with such from electronic music, about how his background in classical music helped him, as well as about wanting to write for symphony orchestra at least once (Treble Zine).
Christopher Berinato talks to pianist Eric Mintel about a video series he produces about paranormal incidents around the country, as well as about his jazz career and the influence of Dave Brubeck on his playing (Savannah Now). --- Monica Freeman listens to pianist Robert Glasper's latest podcast in which he talks about the need to stay true to one's voice and vision, about changes in the music industry with the emphasis being moved away from marketing a record toward building a fanbase through Instagram, about what he learned from fellow pianist Kenny Werner, as well as about the importance to not just play your music but actually perform it, present it to the audience (Spotify for Artists).
Jess McHugh reports about pianist Hazel Scott's classical and jazz career which included a Carnegie Hall concert at age 20, the first television show hosted by a Black American, an activist attitude to Hollywood roles she was offered, her being investigated by the House Committee on Un-American Activities during the McCarthy era, living in Paris for some years, and marching alongside her friend James Baldwin in the March on Washington (Washington Post). --- Ted Gioia remembers being contacted by Count Basie's agency in the early 1980s while he finished his graduate degree, asking whether he might be interested in booking the Basie band for a concert, a request he responded to by pointing out that it might be difficult setting up the big band in his cheap apartment in Palo Alto (The Honest Broker).
Paul de Barros talks to pianist Joey Alexander, who at age 18 just released his 6th album, about his career which started when he won the grand prize at an international competition in Odessa, Ukraine, about how he tried to not let the pandemic frustrate him but instead make it a source for inspiration, as well as about his love for songs written by Burt Bacharach (The Seattle Times). --- Ann Powers talks to singer Flora Purim about her return to Brazil a decade ago and having finished her singing career, however returning to the studio once more for a last album. She also talks about the percussive sounds she is able to produce through her voice, about the many collaborations with percussionist Airto, about Ron Carter, Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter whom she learned from that there are no mistakes in music, about her career start as a background singer for Miriam Makeba, about working with Chick Corea, colleagues from her native Brazil, and pop stars such as Joni Mitchell or The Carpenters, about 18 months she was confined at Terminal Island prison in Los Angeles in the 1970s, as well as about how both her many musical experiences and her current life in Brazil inform her latest album, "If You Will" (NPR).
Ross Boissoneau talks to bassist Jimmy Haslip about some of the albums that shaped his career (Something Else Reviews). --- Ted Gioia looks at the origins of the blues in New Orleans (The Honest Broker). --- Marc Myers talks to Marshall Rogers about his father, trumpeter and composer Shorty Rogers (JazzWax). --- Kate Oczypok talks to Sunny Sumter, president of the DC Jazz Festival (The Georgetowner). --- Nela Ulaby lists new selections on the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry, among them recordings by James P. Johnson, Duke Ellington, Max Roach, and Nat King Cole (NPR). --- Philip Watson talks about the research for his upcoming biography of guitarist Bill Frisell (Irish Examiner). --- Koen Spil talks to Dutch drummer Han Bennink (Mare Online). --- The late Canadian singer Salome Bey is honored with a stamp issued by Canadian Post (Linns). --- Shaun Brady hears a performance by guitarist Kevin Eubanks and pianist Orrin Evans (The Philadelphia Inquirer). --- Hans-Jürgen Linke listens to the new album "Isolated Flowers" of German saxophonist Fabian Dudek (Frankfurter Rundschau). |
