If music is indeed the universal language, then jazz vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and composer Cyrille Aimée (cyrillemusic.com) literally and figuratively proves the value of being bilingual within it. Born in 1984 in Samois-sur-Seine, Fontainebleau, France, she both speaks and sings in English, French and Spanish. Her father is French; her mother is from the Dominican … [Read more...]
West Palm native Henderson found guitar glory far from home
Casual music fans might not recognize the name Scott Henderson (www.scotthenderson.net), but area musicians from the 1970s, and fans of jazz/fusion internationally from the 1980s onward, all know the name of the greatest electric musician South Florida ever exported. The guitarist released his seventh solo album, the self-produced Karnevel!, on Feb. 2, and has made 20 total … [Read more...]
Smokeboss Militia carves out original path amid tribute band plenty
Bands that blend a wide variety of different influences into a unique style often can’t be categorized in the moment. The Allman Brothers Band, for example, was simply called a rock act as it climbed to popularity from the late 1960s onward. No one coined the terms “jam band” or “Southern rock” until later to describe such a diverse act’s mesh of blues, jazz, gospel, … [Read more...]
Jazz singer Monheit happy to be scatting in her 40s
For Long Island-born jazz vocalist Jane Monheit (www.janemonheitonline.com), music is — and practically always has been — a family affair. “I think it’s great when music and family can combine,” she says by phone from her home in Los Angeles in late December. “It’s always been great for me.” Born in Oakdale, N.Y., to musical parents who nurtured her love for vocalists, … [Read more...]
Late musician’s drums try to save Lake Worth Beach artists’ studio
As legacies go, the late area drummer Michael Duncan’s is unique and profound. Duncan died from complications with the human papillomavirus (commonly called HPV) in 2020 at age 64 after having worked with local blues, rock and country music acts including The Hellhounds, Tucker Brothers, Night Train, and the Wild Bushmen. And he left behind a treasure trove of drum … [Read more...]
LWB brewery and music hot spot opens new kitchen
Location, location, location. It's the well-known mantra for any real estate investor. But when anyone opens a successful establishment that's slightly off the beaten path, then expanding can figuratively necessitate starting again from scratch. Mathews Brewing Company Scratch Kitchen officially opened at 125 S. Dixie Highway in Lake Worth Beach on Jan. 5 — complete with a … [Read more...]
Veteran Gardens music producer launches audio engineering venture
PALM BEACH GARDENS — In music, what a listener hears on recordings or sees on stages constitute only a few pieces of what’s a larger sonic jigsaw. And perhaps no one in South Florida’s music scene understands that more than Palm Beach Gardens resident Guy Gualtieri (gualmusic.com), since he’s covered practically every piece of that completed puzzle during various points of his … [Read more...]
Veteran area drummer soldiers on despite collapse from leukemia
For every veteran musician, there are shows etched into memory over the course of a career. They’re usually high-water marks: a gig at a lauded festival; a reunion, an opening slot for a national to international touring act, and/or a night when everyone on stage performed with uncommon synchronicity. And then there’s the other kind of memory, one West Palm Beach-based … [Read more...]
2023-24 Season in jazz: It’s harder to find, but good jazz will still enrich season
Since the dawn of the all-encompassing non-genre now known by the blanket term “pop,” and specifically since the popularity surges of Elvis Presley and the Beatles, it’s become increasingly difficult for jazz musicians to get substantial paying gigs. Even pop players have since become relegated to legacy acts, but jazz — which has been called “America’s classical music” — … [Read more...]
2023-24 Season in Pop: From Willie to Pink to Blackberry Smoke, season features artists of integrity
There’s a tendency to presume that COVID-19 might’ve driven home one of the final nails in the coffin inhabited by the once-affordable popular music concert scene. Realistically, it was the latest in 50 years of paper cuts that turned music from art into business, and made it just another part of our advertorial non-culture. Punk music once declared that any non-rock … [Read more...]