Stories, interviews, and reviews
INTERMISSION | 15 minutes with … Dianne Reeves Chatting with the jazz vocalist before her concert with Gregory Porter. n 2016, Dianne Reeves was the veteran and Gregory Porter the up-and-coming artist on a bill at the Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts in Costa Mesa, California. Several months before the concert – which was […]
ALL ORIGINAL Karrin Allyson With the 2018 release of her first recording of originals, a look back. Two qualities that distinguish enduring jazz vocalists, beyond the ability to sing in tune, are the character of the voice and phrasing. A great contemporary example is Karrin Allyson. Allyson’s current tour, which comes to Catalina’s Jazz Club
REEVES AND PORTER SATISFY Dianne Reeves and Gregory Porter share the bill in Costa Mesa by CRISTOFER GROSS he Orange County big-venue jazz year got off to an encouraging start January 16, with Dianne Reeves and Gregory Porter each performing solid hour-plus sets at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. The audience, more age- and
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A JONES FOR MILES Musician, composer and educator Sean Jones is in the trumpet chair for SFJAZZ Collective’s 2016-17 tribute tour to Miles Davis. by CRISTOFER GROSS n 1988, Sean Jones was a 10-year-old learning to play drums in Warren, Ohio when he heard that his grandfather played trumpet during World War II. That, and
CHARGED PARTICLES Bonding with Chick Corea Elektric Band’s high-speed fusion at L.A.’s Catalina Jazz Club. by CRISTOFER GROSS he May 2018 maiden voyage of Jazz Generations could not have had a more apt or exciting setting. For its first outing, the new group of jazz patrons and players out to build pan-genre and cross-generational audiences
AFTERTHOUGHTS | CHICK COREA ELEKTRIC BAND | May 2018 Read More »
WIDENING THE CIRCLE Billy Mitchell sparks musical appreciation at concerts and in classes while entertaining audiences and passing the flame to adolescents. by CRISTOFER GROSS ianist-composer-bandleader Billy Mitchell performs music onstage and magic off. The onstage music usually is played with "The Circle of Friends," a loose association of like-minded musicians who get together for
JAZZ GUMBO Finding unity in the musical universe of saxophonist Donald Harrison. by CRISTOFER GROSS
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TWO-BASS HIT TIERNEY SUTTON The great jazz vocalist releases great recordings while holding fast to a great group of musicians. ierney Sutton, who was born in Wisconsin and later moved to New England, was living in the San Fernando Valley, a few miles from where I grew up, when we arranged to meet for the
VIDEO Harris and Blackout Can’t Go Wrong at TED Conference With Nicholas Payton and David Sanchez 90 Miles in Copenhagen RECORDINGS Click image to purchase recordings by Stefon Harris on Amazon. Cloud of Red Dust Stefon Harris The Grand Unification Theory Stefon Harris Evolution Stefon Harris Music of Horace Silver SFJAZZ Collective Music of Stevie
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INTERMISSION | 15 minutes with … Jane Monheit Playing favorites with the sultry jazz vocalist. Vocalist Jane Monheit was at her home outside New York City when we reached her for background on an article to promote her October 2012 concert at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. She would share the bill with guitarist-singer
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