Rant ‘N’ Roll: Jazz Mike Greenblatt October 22, 2014 Columns Trilogy (Stretch Records/Concord Jazz), by Chick Corea, is a milestone recording in the piano legend’s 50-year career chronicling a world tour in trio format with master musicians (and leaders in their own ...
Rant ‘N’ Roll: Jazz Festival Mike Greenblatt June 11, 2014 Columns Arguably the greatest jazz album of 2011 was When The Heart Emerges Glistening, a masterful debut from composer/trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, born and raised in Oakland, California. It had everything and wa...
Rant ‘N’ Roll: Jazzin’ It Mike Greenblatt October 2, 2013 Columns The New York band of trumpeter Ralph Alessi is perfect for his mysterioso pilgrimages into outer and inner space on Baida (ECM). Time itself is altered on the title-track. It stands still, then seemingly mo...
Rant ‘N’ Roll: Two Jazz Legends – Still Kickin’ Mike Greenblatt March 13, 2013 Columns I’m as guilty as the next jazz fan of listening mostly to dead guys. Monk, Miles, Mingus, Pops, Diz and Bird rule my roost. This doesn’t exactly perpetuate the future of the music. Be it known there are gen...
Rant ‘N’ Roll: Jazz Alive And Well In 2012 Mike Greenblatt December 26, 2012 Columns My cousin Marla Kleman lives, breathes, eats and sleeps jazz. A former radio DJ, she now works at Scullers, Boston’s legendary jazz club. As a kid, Sarah Vaughan befriended her and called her “Little One.” ...
Rant ‘N’ Roll: Jazzin’ It Mike Greenblatt September 19, 2012 Columns For only his eighth studio album since his 1983 Suddenly debut, multi-instrumentalist native New Yorker Marcus Miller, 63, (the man who wrote “Tutu” for Miles Davis) is back with the absolutely stunning and...
Alyssa Graham: Defying The Industry Marissa Savino February 8, 2012 Goings-On After an incident with a bossy label-rep and time spent studying at New England Conservatory, this jazz artist has never been more convinced of her goals. Despite the pressures of the music industry, Alyssa Gra...
Interview with Trombone Shorty: Born In The Tradition Mike Greenblatt December 1, 2010 Interviews 2 When Troy Andrews was four years old, he was onstage in his historic sixth ward New Orleans neighborhood now known as Treme. By five, he was jamming with Bo Diddley. By seven, he went around the world. It s...
Interview with Tosin Abasi from Animals As Leaders: Caged Beast Andrew Magnotta November 24, 2010 Interviews 3 Instrumentalism has long been a haven for progressive and experimental musics. By casting off the confines of vocally-driven styles, guitar virtuosos like Jeff Beck, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Eric Johnson hav...
