South Florida has been known for the masterful music programs at several renowned universities, and the countless students-turned-professionals those programs produce, for decades. But there’s one essential requirement that is lagging far behind the demand by those newly working musicians — venues in which they can perform. So every musical graduate of Florida Atlantic … [Read more...]
2013-14 arts preview: The season in jazz
As the sweltering South Florida summer temperatures drop, and listeners decide they can survive leaving their houses wearing more than just shorts and T-shirts, so the often equally-sweltering area jazz season begins. The big news last year was the unfortunate suspension of the annual concert series by the West Palm Beach-based Jazz Arts Music Society (JAMS), a trend that … [Read more...]
Drew Tucker: Arts Garage’s master of music and education
Drew Tucker may wear more different hats than anyone else involved in the Palm Beach County arts scene. The Boynton Beach resident, who turns 33 on Aug. 21, is director of education and outreach for both his own Tucker Academy for the Arts and the Delray Beach-based Arts Garage. He's also a drummer and percussionist, on everything from mallet instruments like the vibraphone, … [Read more...]
Hiromi: Master of the mashup, jazz piano-style
If you’re already a fan of Japanese jazz pianist Hiromi Uehara, then you'd probably be on a first-name basis with her even if she didn’t go by just Hiromi for recordings and touring. And if you’ve been a fan throughout her 10-year recording career, the association likely started with XYZ, the opening song from her 2003 Telarc debut CD, Another Mind. Talk about a first … [Read more...]
Corea and Fleck reunite for mutually enriching duo concerts
When iconic 71-year-old jazz keyboardist Chick Corea won two Grammy Awards in February, it ran his career total to 20, tied for seventh all-time. Banjoist Bela Fleck is a comparative pup in both age (54) and Grammys (with “only” 15), but he’s been nominated in more different categories — bluegrass, jazz, country, pop, classical, folk, spoken word, composition, and arranging — … [Read more...]
Jazzman Fred Hersch survived ‘coma dreams’ for a comeback
If any musician gets chesty enough to think their work approaches impressionistic art, that they’ve overcome insurmountable obstacles to reach that plateau, and become a cultural icon in the process, you can bring them down to earth by matching their life against that of pianist Fred Hersch. The 57-year-old native of Cincinnati was writing symphonies before high school, and … [Read more...]
Comment: Arts Garage successful, so of course, it’s threatened
Perhaps only a conspiracy theorist could come up with a scenario where a fledgling arts center revives and enhances a region's jazz, blues, Latin, hip-hop, musical education and theater scenes, only to literally be sold out. But this is South Florida. And the Arts Garage (http://artsgarage.org) ― the 18-month-old Delray Beach venue that's distinguished itself by presenting … [Read more...]
JP Soars, Boca Raton’s rising bluesman
For centuries, blues has been one of the few musical genres to succeed through purposeful simplicity, grit, and an innate sense of Southern musical feel. Ironically, one of the artists on the leading edge of new blues, singing South Florida guitarist JP Soars (www.jpsoars.com), resides among the shopping centers and pink office buildings of the decidedly non-bluesy Boca … [Read more...]
McFerrin, Blanchard headline Jazz Roots celebration
Real or perceived, a divide between jazz and classical music has always appeared to exist. One style is an American art form spawned by the blues; the other originated in Europe. One involves mostly small groups, the other largely orchestras; one embraces improvisation, the other strictly adheres to time-honored written notation. But ask multiple Grammy-winners like vocalist … [Read more...]
Medeski, Martin and Wood: From scrappy trio to jam band royalty
It isn't exactly John Belushi's "seven years of college" quote from Animal House, but Medeski, Martin and Wood keyboardist John Medeski has an admission regarding his own higher learning at the New England Conservatory in Boston. “It took me about five-and-a-half years to finish there,” he says with a laugh. “I had a scholarship, but I got so busy that I dropped to part-time … [Read more...]