Jazz Quotations

Brief History of Jazz

2011-04-24T17:36:00.000-04:00

This primer gives a cursory overview of major periods and styles. There is a lot of overlap in the eras and styles described.

Early Jazz

Big Band and Swing

Bebop

Cool Jazz

Hard Bop

Post Bop

Free Jazz & Avant Garde

Fusion Jazz

Post Modern Jazz

Modern Jazz

Stanley Clarke Trio- Jazz In The Garden EPK Video

2010-06-30T14:43:00.001-04:00

BASSIST STANLEY CLARKE RECORDS FIRST ACOUSTIC JAZZ TRIO ALBUM
FEATURING HIROMI AND LENNY WHITE

In a career that spans nearly four decades and includes gigs with Return to Forever, Rite of Strings and a variety of other solo and collaborative projects along the way, bassist Stanley Clarke one of the most prominent voices in electric jazz and fusion had seemingly covered every possible corner of the jazz landscape. But there was one avenue he had yet to explore.

I had never done an acoustic bass record, ever, he says. Theres a long list of people on whose records Ive played acoustic bass Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Joe Henderson and many others but Id never done an acoustic jazz trio record of my own. So I wanted to record one that would just feature the piano and the acoustic bass in a way that you could really hear the bass.

This long-overdue dream project becomes a reality with the May 12, 2009, worldwide release of Jazz In The Garden (HUCD 3155) on Heads Up International, a division of Concord Music Group. For his first straightahead acoustic jazz trio recording, Clarke assembles two brilliant collaborators at the top of their respective games: pianist Hiromi Uehara and drummer Lenny White. Each represents a distinctly different generational and cultural perspective, but given the range and versatility of both, the net effect is superb. Indeed, the synergy resulting from all three of these luminaries makes for one of the most refreshing Stanley Clarke recordings in recent years.

Victor Feldman Trio - Swinging On A Star (1965)

2010-06-28T00:43:00.000-04:00

The Victor Feldman Trio (Featuring: Rick Laird on bass, Ronnie Stephenson on drums)

Trombone Shorty Quotes

2010-06-25T22:22:00.002-04:00

"Bourbon Street is like playing, a tourist, you know? It's just a tourist attraction ... those musicians on Bourbon Street, they play all day. They might start at 12 noon and end at 3 in the morning, like, it's like sets, like a job. You go play, take a break, play again, take a break, then later on that night, the club gets busier, then you play some more. There's pride. They're a group of great musicians- and they're holding it down." - Trombone Shorty

source: Interview with NPR (May 2, 2010)

Trombone Shorty Quotes

2010-06-25T22:15:00.003-04:00

"Those type of people [in New Orleans] keep me happy and just smiling, you know? I just go hang out and talk with them and they tell me all types of old stories, and sometimes I might even pull my horn out in the middle of the block, and they're playing on beer bottles and different things, and we just do a little second line type thing, just us, four or five people, who are just having fun. That makes me day to be able to do that and go hang out with the people in the (Treme) neighborhood, and to do some shows around town, you know?" - Trombone Shorty

source: Interview with NPR (May 2, 2010)

Trombone Shorty Quotes

2010-06-25T22:10:00.003-04:00

"I'm a big fan of music, I'm a student of music, and I just wanna learn and keep enhancing my education about the music." - Trombone Shorty

source: Interview with NPR (May 2, 2010)

Trombone Shorty Quotes

2010-06-25T22:03:00.002-04:00

"As I was a kid, I had a bunch of musicians, they always told me that I should listen to all styles of music and try to play all styles and be authentic at it, if I can, because you never know who's gonna call you. This was coming from fellow horn players who would get the call to play with different types of people. Since I was a kid, that was just something I was always interested in." - Trombone Shorty

source: Interview with NPR (May 2, 2010)

Trombone Shorty Quotes

2010-06-25T21:56:00.003-04:00

"I started off playing by ear, and being around a bunch of musicians and playing in the streets and in the different parades and, then, I got accepted to go to New Orleans Center for Creative Artists ... it's where Wynton Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr. and all those guys went out." - Trombone Shorty

source: Interview with NPR (May 2, 2010)

Trombone Shorty Quotes

2010-06-25T21:50:00.003-04:00

"As soon as I was born, my mom said I was humming 'When the Saints Go Marching In,' or something like that, you know? It's in the family. And in that neighborhood [Treme, in New Orleans], I think everybody in the neighborhood has some type of musical influence, even if they don't play instruments or anything. It's the way they talk to you, the way they say your name — it's all musical." - Trombone Shorty

source: Interview with NPR (May 2, 2010)

Harry Connick, Jr. Quotes

2010-06-25T21:48:00.003-04:00

"It was horrific, it was really ugly. You're talking about tens of thousands of people – the elderly, infants, normal citizens, who were told, 'wait here we’ll come get you’ and nobody came. It's not like it's Haiti, this is the United States for crying out loud." - Harry Connick, Jr. (about New Orleans, following hurricane Katrina)

source: The Daily Telegraph (October 23, 2009)

Harry Connick, Jr. Quotes

2010-06-25T21:46:00.002-04:00

"[My mother is] a half-Chinese, half-Jamaican woman, who grew up the ninth of nine kids, getting a law degree from Harvard. Academically brilliant, but also incredibly strong-willed and ethical. My mother was like that, my sister is, and my wife is too." - Harry Connick, Jr. Quotes

source: The Daily Telegraph (October 23, 2009)

Harry Connick, Jr. Quotes

2010-06-25T21:43:00.001-04:00

"It was a house full of rules. You couldn't walk around the house barefoot. Whenever anyone older than you came into the room, you stood up. You didn't speak until you were spoken to, you had to say, Sir or Ma'm." - Harry Connick, Jr.

source: The Daily Telegraph (October 23, 2009)

Harry Connick, Jr. Quotes

2010-06-25T21:42:00.000-04:00

"I was no Miley Cyrus. I had tons of friends, played ball with my friends on the street, and did the normal things." - Harry Connick, Jr.

source: The Daily Telegraph (October 23, 2009)

Harry Connick, Jr. Quotes

2010-06-25T21:40:00.000-04:00

"You basically have to play everything (in New Orleans), because you’re getting calls to play gigs of all different styles, from classical to R&B to funk; modern jazz to traditional jazz." - Harry Connick, Jr.

source: The Daily Telegraph (October 23, 2009)

Harry Connick, Jr. Quotes

2010-06-25T21:37:00.003-04:00

"I just liked the feeling of being on stage. My parents weren't pushing me, they didn't have to, I was obsessed." - Harry Connick, Jr.

source: The Daily Telegraph (October 23, 2009)

Harry Connick, Jr. Quotes

2010-06-25T21:35:00.002-04:00

"I'm gay, it’s all a big scam. My kids don't even know who their mother is." - Harry Connick, Jr.

source: The Daily Telegraph (October 23, 2009)

Chris Botti a hit at Vuitton salon

2010-06-25T21:31:00.000-04:00

The Louis Vuitton store on Union Square was transformed into a salon one recent balmy evening. No hairdressers in sight (though the crowd was well coiffed indeed), the 250 or so invited guests gathered for a modern-day take on the centuries-old French tradition of mingling with artists, sipping fine wines and Champagne and savoring delightful food (on this night, an array of hors d'oeuvres from Michael Mina).

On the evening before his sold-out appearance with the San Francisco Symphony, Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Chris Botti played a lively 20-minute set with...

Read More:
http://www.sfgate.com/06/22/chris-botti/

Jamie Cullum cooks up new batch of songs

2010-06-25T21:29:00.001-04:00

During a performance at the Algonquin Hotel’s famed Oak Room recently, Jamie Cullum disappeared.

No, this wasn’t a magic show. But it certainly felt like one when the diminutive singer-songwriter dropped to the floor and slid beneath the piano.

A confused gentleman sitting in one of the intimate venue’s dimly lit corners asked his wife, “Where did he go?” But soon enough, the sound of Cullum beating the base of the piano like a bongo let everyone know that the musician indeed hadn’t checked out of the show.

If you’ve seen Cullum in concert, you’re familiar with his antics: He’s a piano DJ of sorts, making the instrument his drum, bass and turntable … even a launch pad. (He’s been known to jump off the piano at times.)

The gig was a celebration for the Londoner. His new album, “The Pursuit” (Verve Forecast), had just come out. And he was in a familiar place, having enjoyed a monthlong run at the...

Read More:
http://therfw.com/jamie-cullum-new-songs/

Singer Melody Gardot tantalizes in Fillmore show

2010-06-25T21:26:00.000-04:00

How does one explain what Melody Gardot does and what makes it so compelling?

A knockout in her SFJAZZ debut last year, the singer proved to be even more irresistibly confounding in a lightly publicized appearance Thursday at The Fillmore.
From her airy, sensual vocal style to her sizzling appearance to the few physical concessions she must still make to the accident that nearly killed her (a walking stick for support and sunglasses to ward off photosensitive headaches), Gardot was an enigma wrapped in a firecracker. She has the kind of stage presence you might get from...

Read More:
http://www.examiner.com/Singer-Melody-Gardot-Fillmore

Stanley Clarke pays tribute to pioneering fusion bands

2010-06-25T21:25:00.001-04:00

Nearly 40 years after forming the pioneering fusion act Return to Forever, Stanley Clarke and Chick Corea remain good friends—and sometimes friendly rivals, most recently for the sonic favours of the young Japanese pianist Hiromi Uehara. Corea wooed her first, recording the live Duet in 2008. But it didn’t take long for his bass-playing counterpart to add Uehara, whose own band was a surprise hit at the 2009 edition of the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival, to his long list of musical partners.

“Chick turned me on to Hiromi, although I’d met her in London many, many years ago,” Clarke explains, on the line from his L.A. home. “I knew she was a very good pianist. But then Chick told me about...

Read More:
http://www.straight.com/stanley-clarke-fusion-bands

Teen Nikki Yanofsky already a prodigious jazz musician

2010-06-25T19:23:00.001-04:00

Last week, Nikki Yanofsky couldn't come to the phone because she was home in Montreal studying for her high-school exams.

"I know that school is just as important," she explains simply.

So while she's writing exams, her blossoming career as a jazz singer has been put on hold.

"I don't talk about it in school," adds Yanofsky. "There's not much jealousy. Everything is great. Everyone is supportive."

This week, she almost didn't come to the phone because she had a TV appearance in New York that...

Read More:
http://www.theprovince.com/Teen+Nikki+Yanofsky+jazz+musician

Portland's 2010 Blues Festival: Troy 'Trombone Shorty' Andrews blows into town with his fusion of jazz, funk, rock and soul

2010-06-25T18:52:00.000-04:00

Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews is in the middle of making a point about growing up in the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans when his voice is drowned out by a gate agent with a lot to say and a particularly loud speaker through which to speak.

"Hold on a second," Andrews says.

Not a problem, and since we're on the subjects of airports and Andrews' home turf, there was a wonderful scene in HBO's "Treme" featuring an airport and Andrews that serves as a nice introduction, if one is needed.

Wendell Pierce's character, the trombone-playing, forever-short-of-cab-fare, always-in-need-of-a-gig Antoine Batiste found one playing at...

Read More:
http://www.oregonlive.com/music/index.ssf/2010/06/2010_blues_festival_troy_tromb.html

Herbie Hancock Celebrates Seventieth Birthday At Carnegie Hall In New York

2010-06-25T18:50:00.001-04:00

Among a number of high-ranking pianists in New York this week — McCoy Tyner, Keith Jarrett, Junior Mance, Cyrus Chestnut, Eric Reed, Gerald Clayton, Hiromi — Herbie Hancock commanded the biggest ticket prices. But then, he's so much more than a pianist. To say the least, this was a game of two halves, with an almost unbridgeable gulf between the first set and the largely vocal follow-up based on his new album, The Imagine Project.

A token comedy bit by Bill Cosby with Herbie as straight-man led to an hour honouring the Miles era. The rotating personnel including Jack DeJohnette, both Terence Blanchard and Wallace Roney, both Wayne Shorter and Joe Lovano, both Ron Carter and Dave Holland played in different line-ups — unusually, remaining on stage when not performing — and nailed Shorter's 'Footprints' and Carter's ‘81’. But it wasn’t until a short ‘Funny Valentine’ featuring Roney (of course) and a free-ish collective ‘Eye Of The Hurricane’ that things really took off.

Lionel Loueke looked distinctly out of place here, but was the only one to stay on for the second set, anchored by keyboardist Greg Phillinganes, bassist Tal Wilkenfeld (she also sang ‘Times They Are A-Changing’) and Vinnie Colaiuta — notably more sensitive than with the McLaughlin/Corea band. One of the strengths was all-purpose vocalist Kristina Train, who did a Joni on ‘Court And Spark’ and, if I'm not mistaken, sang in Irish as well as playing fiddle in a brief reference to the Chieftains. The even briefer contribution of India.Arie on ‘Imagine’ and a longer dose of Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks with ‘Learning To Live Together’ took us into feel-good territory, while an a cappella ‘Happy Birthday’ (for Herbie’s 70th two months before) underlined the slightly self-congratulatory air of the exercise.

Harry Connick, Jr., finds joy in jazz classics at Chicago Theatre

2010-06-25T18:49:00.001-04:00

No one in jazz idealizes the past as effectively as Harry Connick, Jr.

Depending on your point of view, that's either a great achievement or a dubious one.

To the crowd that packed the Chicago Theatre on Tuesday evening, Connick's celebration of music of the swing era was nothing less than a jolt of electricity, prompting thunderous ovations. Whether he crooned, played the piano, led his band or simply conversed with the audience, he drew heated response.

For good reason, too. The sheer craft of this concert – with its sterling orchestral arrangements, brilliant lighting design and charismatic vocal performance – stands apart from anything else in...

Read More:
http://chicagotribune.com/2010-06-23/harry-connick-music

Michael Bublé has Crazy Love for Tulsa

2010-06-25T18:47:00.001-04:00

Tulsa, was the first stop for Michael Bublé’s Crazy Love North American tour, after a series of sold out European shows. He now starts the second leg of his tour with Naturally 7 the opening act. Running late, I still loved Naturally 7’s music - an a cappella band, but what a surprise. The band calls their style “Vocal Play” and uses the same name for their newest album (coming late summer). It sounds like a full band, but the only instruments are their voices. Eyes closed you hear guitars, drums, bass, even a harmonica, but all made with the human voice. I highly recommend them and they were just the opening act.

Nearly packed; the arena crowd was standing in eager anticipation for Michael Bublé. As he appeared, the crowd went wild in cheers and...

Read More:
http://www.tulsatoday.com/michael-buble-has-crazy-love-tulsa