Before being interrupted by bebop, then Elvis Presley, and then The Beatles and the remaining British Invasion, big band jazz was America’s most popular music. Yet despite the genre’s overall scroll of innovators, jazz as a whole has scrambled for the spotlight in-between (and ever since) in the United States — even as its innovators were, and continue to be, embraced … [Read more...]
Jazz bass titan McBride brings Ursa Major band to Arts Garage
One of my first experiences as a journalist with bassist Christian McBride (www.christianmcbride.com) wasn’t an interview with him, but rather one that partially turned out to be about him for Jazziz magazine in 2002. Keyboardist/vocalist George Duke (1946-2013) had recently released his 26th studio album, Face the Music (Big Piano Music). Duke’s lengthy solo career had … [Read more...]