“Fusion” is a musical term commonly used to describe a mix of jazz influence with electric rock. It's a blend that started in the late 1960s and early 1970s, popularized separately by artists such as trumpeter Miles Davis and guitarist/vocalist Frank Zappa, who created disparate versions and catapulted band members toward future careers — from Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, … [Read more...]
From Russia with horns: Moscow-based band flawlessly re-creates music of Chicago, EWF, Steely Dan
Tribute acts have become all the rage in South Florida and beyond. But it’s safe to say that a tribute act will soon appear in South Florida that’s beyond anything most South Floridians have ever seen. Leonid & Friends is a 10-year-old group that started out as a tribute to the band Chicago, the Midwestern act that was initially called Chicago Transit Authority before … [Read more...]
Multi-genre guitar virtuoso Steve Vai living link to alt-rock history
If you asked fans of 63-year-old guitarist Steve Vai (www.vai.com) what he’s best-known for, you might get a variety of answers. One might be the Long Island, N.Y., native’s recording and touring run within the fusion of styles created by Frank Zappa (1940-1993). Those seeds were sown when Vai — still a student at the Berklee College of Music in Boston — sent him exacting … [Read more...]
Jazz singer Aimée gets under the skin with new disc, Gold Coast Jazz show
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...]