In tribute to composer, musician and arranger Tadd Dameron, “Dameronia” has been adopted as a band name by Philly Joe Jones and Don Sickler, and as the title of Paul Combs’s Dameron biography. Dameron himself used it as the title [...]
With few exceptions, producers of jazz recordings wrestle with the question of how to take it to the masses, how to make it more palatable. Given the fickleness of audiences, this may seem futile or even counterproductive. As an American [...]
Writing this just twenty-four hours after hearing Gareth Williams play in a local quintet session prompts one to try and pinpoint this pianist’s distinctive, almost feral response to the creative process. As ever, he was mercurial, restless even, often sitting [...]
There is an abiding truth about South African jazz, and it is perhaps best expressed in the title of a song by Mongezi Feza: “You Ain’t Gonna Know Me ‘Cos You Think You Know Me”. The fact is that the [...]
Steve Boudreau is a Canadian jazz pianist and educator based in Ottawa. His latest album is a piano trio record entitled “Cherished Possessions”. In this latest contribution to our “Ten Tracks….” series, in which musicians write about their inspirations, Steve delves [...]
The stunning city of Barga, in the Serchio Valley to the north of Lucca, has for many years now held a special jazz festival based on a big band arrangement competition. In 1986, a group of visionaries, including the founder, [...]
Jazz players rarely retire voluntarily, but many – perhaps most – settle into the familiar, the tried and tested, in their last years. Wayne Shorter is a shining exception. For nearly two decades this century his live work was a [...]
“Mothers In Jazz” is a new series, started by vocalist Nicky Schrire. The initiative aims to create an online resource for working jazz musicians with children, those contemplating parenthood, and jazz industry figures who work with and hire musicians who [...]
