Jazz
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Stories proliferate when a figure of some stature passes, but I hope you won't mind if I share a tale I've never told before. What follows is not an obituary by any stretch; for that you'll want to read the very fine Associated Press obit. This is nothing more than a personal memory I hadn't
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Anthony Davis, the estimable American composer, pianist, and bandleader born in Paterson, NJ, on February 20, 1951, celebrates his 65th birthday today. Having declined an invitation to join the Grateful Dead as a 20-year-old Yale student in 1971 (an incident reported in 2011 by George Varga in the San Diego Union-Tribune), Davis initially came to
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Jack DeJohnette (center) and Made in Chicago, by Wes Orshoski/ECM Records Even when looking back, Jack DeJohnette forges aheadBoston GlobeMay 17, 2015 For the featured jazz story in today's Summer Arts Preview issue of the Boston Globe, a brief but event-filled article about jazz drummer, bandleader, and composer Jack DeJohnette, who brings his legend-studded quintet
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Keith Lockhart, by Suzanne Kreiter/Boston Globe "After 20 years, Keith Lockhart keeping the Pops youthful"Boston GlobeMay 5, 2015 My front-page story about Keith Lockhart and his eventful journey to the Boston Pops, with which institution he celebrates his 20th anniversary in a spring season that starts tonight (May 6) with a swanky concert featuring Bernadette
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The author, daughter, and Lee Konitz, by Limor Tomer Annina didn't make it quite to the end of the lovely set that Lee Konitz, a saxophonist who actually warrants the tag "legendary," played with pianist Dan Tepfer at the Museum of Fine Arts yesterday afternoon. Much as I would have liked to hear it, I
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Joanna Wallfisch and Dan Tepfer, by Josh Goleman "Wallfisch, Tepfer learn to collaborate on CD and onstage"Boston GlobeMarch 13, 2015 Singer Joanna Wallfisch, who describes herself as having been a "bad student," learns to slow down and pay closer attention to the art she creates. Pianist Dan Tepfer, a self-proclaimed nerd engaged by virtuosity in
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Should one wish to immerse oneself in Boston's thriving live-music scene – and should one attempt to do so on a Monday night – one could do much, much worse than to hit the Lilypad, a modest, cozy storefont space in Inman Square, where two incredibly proficient, stylistically diverse bands are in regular residence. The
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[I intended to post this here on Monday, but the DDoS hacker attack on Typepad put paid to that notion, so I posted this on Facebook. Here it is, in case you missed it before now.—Steve] A new baby…a new work status…and now, a new job. What started with a simple email I received a
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Truth be told, there wasn't a lot happening on Monday or Tuesday night, thanks to the convergence of Holy Week and Tax Day. Still, late is late, and late is frustrating – I'm still trying to get the hang of a schedule in serious flux, and there are new developments afoot as well. So much
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As America takes stock of itself in this complex time-cycle, it is important to understand that one person can still make a difference. That not everyone has to follow the tried-and-true traditional path—to get tried-and-true traditional results. Steve Backer opened a door for a generation of creative artists to connect to the greater culture (and
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John Zorn: Masada Book 3 at the Town Hall, March 19, 2014The New York Times, March 21, 2014 The biggest surprise about this particular concert was the fact that I was there; I'd originally been scheduled to cover a different event, but a sick colleague prompted a last-minute shuffle, and here we are. Because of
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Shared on Facebook by Larry Appelbaum, here's a video I've never seen before: a documentary about Ornette Coleman's 1966 Parisian trek to record the soundtrack for Who's Crazy? with bassist David Izenson and drummer Charles Moffett. Happy 84th birthday, Ornette, with profound thanks for the music and its message.
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After more than a month off the beat—and after a quiet soft-start (in multiple senses) with the very impressive opening event of the new series Music for Contemplation last Saturday night—I'm finally heading back out into concert life. There are three events on my agenda this week: two on assignment for The New York Times,
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<a href="http://gestinson.bandcamp.com/album/masters-of-the-abstract-an-homage" _mce_href="http://gestinson.bandcamp.com/album/masters-of-the-abstract-an-homage">masters of the abstract (an homage) by g.e.stinson</a> Left coast guitar artist GE Stinson, a founding member of seminal New Age/fusion ensemble Shadowfax who moved onward to all manner of rich, gripping projects, has just reposted this 2011 "homage to some of the masters of abstract jazz and improvisation." I was going to
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Today's required listening, from Max Roach's 1981 LP, Chattahoochee Red. Not many musicians could pull this off with such decorum, gravity and conviction. The album is rare now, evidently, and is worth tracking down, not least because the band involved – Odean Pope, Cecil Bridgewater and Calvin Hill – was one of Roach's best, and
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Donna Lewis, by Marvin Joseph Donna LewisTime Out New YorkAug 15–21, 2013 Any self-respecting pop star would be delirious to have a hit like “I Love You Always Forever,” an irresistible bit of romantic treacle that launched Welsh singer Donna Lewis to global success in 1996. Same goes for “At the Beginning,” the uplifting
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Charles Gayle in 'Rising Tones Cross' JazzizJuly 1999 The early 1980s were a period of transition for the avant-garde fringe in New York. The loft scene – the days in which Ornette Coleman's hom on Prince Street and Sam Rivers' Studio Rivbea provided workshops for experimenters to develop their art –was drawing to a close,
Night After Night 