Victor Wooten. It isn’t very often that a festival features a combined 13 Grammy Awards between four iconic headliners, and that’s what gives the First Annual Florida Jazz and Blues Jam on Saturday instant name recognition and potential staying power. Its opening act is only John Mayall, the 82-year-old British blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player whose Bluesbreakers … [Read more...]
Twelve-year-old jazz pianist plays far beyond his years, peers
Most people who watched the venerable CBS program 60 Minutes on Jan. 3 probably weren’t blind, and didn’t tune in right in the middle of a playing segment by jazz pianist Joey Alexander. But if those possibilities aligned, anyone listening would’ve heard a musician playing with the creativity, dexterity and improvisational skills of jazz keyboard legends from Art Tatum and … [Read more...]
A modern jazz piano master thrills at Arts Garage
Jazz improvisation, Cyrus Chestnut said last Saturday night, is “the art of composition at a very rapid pace, without the benefit of editing.” That’s the kind of useful working definition a good teacher would provide, and perhaps it’s no coincidence that Chestnut recently was appointed a distinguished professor of jazz studies at Howard University. But the audience that … [Read more...]
Jazz guitarist Najar flies in on Byrd’s wings
If he had it to do again, nylon-string jazz guitarist Nate Najar would be playing a different instrument. “If I could start over, I'd play piano,” he says. “I once had a wonderful teacher named Frank Mullen, and he often brought a classical guitar to my lessons before I played one. He talked me into trying it, and made me realize how much more piano-like a nylon-string guitar … [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...]
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...]
Jazz’s Arriale shows mastery, growth at Arts Garage
A cynic might discern that the recent rush of solo jazz piano releases is more cost-cutting than musical, since only one artist needs to get paid while the CD costs the same afterward as one recorded by a full band. Some of the top jazz pianists from around the world, from Frenchman Jean-Michel Pilc to Japanese sensation Hiromi to American Lynne Arriale, have capitalized on … [Read more...]
Molineaux, master of jazz steel drums, set for Arts Garage
Steel drummer Othello Molineaux has helped his instrument go global since the Trinidad native moved to Miami in 1971. The 72-year-old introduced the tuned drums -- often referred to as "steel pans," and played with mallets that strike different areas to produce specific musical notes -- to much of the world through international touring with the late jazz bass giant Jaco … [Read more...]
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra shows why jazz matters
When you think about it, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra is essentially the only ensemble in the entire country quite like it, a group whose purpose is to keep a flame for the benefit of the American people and occasionally stoke it with fresh wood. There are many hundreds of university-based jazz bands, and most of the major symphonic orchestras do plenty of outreach at … [Read more...]
The 2011-12 season in jazz: A feast for discerning listeners
A struggling economy won’t impact a jazz concert season as much as it does pop music. That’s because jazz is used to struggling more than pop to succeed. Sure, it’s a case of supply and demand -- if you charged three figures for even marquee jazz artists, you’d be lucky to get three figures in attendance -- but there’s more to it. A jazz performer will usually have more in … [Read more...]