By Katherine Cole I’m just back from two and a half weeks touring around India—wish I could have spent twice that long in that wonderful country. I didn’t get to any clubs or concert halls on this trip, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t hear any good music. Breakfast at our hotel in Udaipur featured […]
Gabriel’s Trumpet
Posted January 29th, 2013 at 8:26 pm (UTC+0)
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By Doug Levine Meet up-and-coming trumpeter Gabriel Johnson, whose spare, jazzy melodies have drawn comparisons to the legendary Miles Davis. Johnson was especially drawn to the orchestral collaborations between Miles and arranger Gil Evans. But, it was another iconic entertainer that helped jump-start his solo career: filmmaker and jazz enthusiast Clint Eastwood. Johnson recalls making […]
Pianist Paul Hofmann and Jazz-Classical Intersection
Posted January 29th, 2013 at 8:05 pm (UTC+0)
Jazz and classical music are highly connected, says acclaimed pianist and composer Paul Hofmann
And The Best Rock Album Grammy Goes To…
Posted January 25th, 2013 at 4:21 pm (UTC+0)
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By Ray McDonald Two weeks from Sunday, the 55th annual Grammy Awards ceremony takes place in Los Angeles. Among the 81 categories will be Best Rock Album, one of just four trophies that will be given for Rock (the other three awards for the genre are Best Rock Song, Best Rock Performance, and Best Hard […]
Mitch Woods Takes His “Blues Beyond Borders”
Posted January 17th, 2013 at 9:46 pm (UTC+0)
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By Doug Levine Who knew swing and boogie-woogie were so popular in Istanbul? Mitch Woods, who’s been playing piano around the world for decades, knows firsthand that Turkey loves the blues. In fact, his new CD “Blues Beyond Borders” was recorded live in Istanbul, a concert with so much energy you could almost hear the […]
OKeh Records Revived
Posted January 11th, 2013 at 10:34 pm (UTC+0)
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The historic OKeh record label — which famously recorded Louis Armstrong in his prime, among other jazz and blues greats — is being revived by Sony Masterworks. It won’t be a retro enterprise, but rather an effort to celebrate jazz (and jazz-related idioms) as world music. What artists should the label be seeking out? What […]
John Fullbright
Posted January 11th, 2013 at 8:17 pm (UTC+0)
By Katherine Cole Today, legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie is probably the most famous export from Okemah, Oklahoma. But don’t be surprised if one day soon 24-year-old Grammy nominee John Fullbright’s name is also synonymous with that city. It’s rare that an artist receives a Grammy nomination for their first release—but what about an artist […]
A Day To Remember
Posted January 11th, 2013 at 4:11 pm (UTC+0)
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by Ray McDonald Tuesday of this week — January 8, 2013 — presented a convergence of three very different but significant events. First, it was the day that would have been Elvis Presley’s 78th birthday. “The King,” as he was known, was born in Tupelo, Mississippi on January 8, 1935, and moved to Memphis, Tennessee […]
Grammy Contender Kurt Elling Taps The Brill Building Sound
Posted January 10th, 2013 at 8:01 pm (UTC+0)
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By Doug Levine It’s a new year and with it comes a slew of awards shows. Now is it just me or are they doling out more and more trophies and plaques these days? This month alone brings four major awards, mostly for film and television. Of course, the Grammy Awards is still “music’s biggest […]
Musical Brain Boost
Posted January 10th, 2013 at 6:18 pm (UTC+0)
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By Eric Felten A new study published in Frontiers in Psychology has found that children who take up a musical instrument develop better language skills. Which raises the question: Why does music build cognitive power? The researchers have a theory: “Playing music requires continued monitoring of meaningful chunks of information… these chunks entail clusters of […]
