TERENCE BLANCHARD IS A MAN WITH A MISSION. INITIALLY STARTING HIS CAREER WITH THE LAST OF ART BLAKEY’S JAZZ MESSENGERS, BLANCHARD HAS SUCCESSFULLY WALKED THE TIGHTROPE OF CONTINUING THE JAZZ TRADITION BUT MAKING IT RELEVANT TO TODAY’S GENERATION. HE’S BEEN…
Category: Interviews
JOEY DEFRANCESCO: DRIVING CRAZY WITH VAN
SOMETIMES, AN ARTIST WILL SURPRISE YOU. ORGANMEISTER JOEY DEFRANCESCO IS THE UNDISPUTED MASTER OF THE HAMMOND B3, HAVING DISPLAYED HIS VIRTUOSITY UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF MILES DAVIS AND JOHN MCLAUGHLIN AS WELL AS RELEASING AN OLYMPUS OF A CATALOGUE, INCLUDING…
DEANNA WITKOWSKI: MUSIC TO MAKE THE HEART SING
THROUGHOUT WORLD HISTORY, MUSIC HAS HAD VARIOUS PURPOSES. SOMETIMES TO STIR AN ARMY TO WAR, OTHER TIMES TO WOO AND COURT A WOMAN, TO TELL A STORY, SET A STAGE FOR A DRAMA OR SIMPLY TO EXALT BEAUTY THROUGH THE…
RICHIE COLE: A CHRONIC CASE OF ALTO MADNESS
SINCE FIRST HITTING THE JAZZ SCENE IN THE 1970’S, RICHIE COLE HAS CONSISTENTLY BLOWN HIS HORN TO THE SOUNDS OF BEBOP. THROUGH VARIOUS FADS RANGING FROM FUSION, NEO-TRADITIONAL, DISCO, FUNK, AND POST BOP, MR. COLE HAS NEVER SWAYED EVEN A…
TED NASH: GENERATIONS OF JAZZ AND INSPIRATION
FEW ARTISTS HAVE AS STRONG A BIG BAND JAZZ PEDIGREE AS TED NASH. HIS TROMBONIST FATHER AND ALTO SAXIST UNCLE WERE BIG NAMES IN THE SWINGING SESSION DAYS OF HENRI MANCINI AND LES BROWN. DURING AN ERA WHEN MOST JAZZ…
JOE BONAMASSA’S BLUES
DURING AN INTERVIEW WITH LEGEND JOHNNY RIVERS, I ASKED WHO AMONG THE PRESENT GENERATION OF ARTISTS CARRIES THE BLUES ROCKING TORCH. WITHOUT HESITATION, “JOE BONAMASSA” WAS HIS RESPONSE. ONE OF THE GREATEST COLLECTORS OF BOTH GUITARS AND GUITAR RIFFS, JOE…
MIKE STERN’S TRIP
“It was good that I was afflicted, so that I may know your decrees.” King David Psalm 119:71 THERE ARE MANY WAYS PEOPLE RESPOND TO ADVERSITY. SOME GIVE UP AND DESCEND INTO LIVES OF BITTERNESS. OTHERS RETREAT INTO ISOLATION AND…
JULIAN LAGE’S MODERN LORE
THE WORD ‘LORE’ IS BEST DESCRIBED AS TRADITIONS PASSED FROM PERSON TO PERSON. OBVIOUSLY, FOR THESE LESSONS TO BE CONTINUED, A SERIES OF RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN EACH MEMBER MUST BE CREATED. GUITARIST JULIAN LAGE HAS SPENT THE GREATER PART OF HIS…
DAYNA STEPHENS’ GRATITUDE
ONE OF THE BEST NEWER ARTISTS IN JAZZ, SAXIST DAYNA STEPHENS HAS CARVED OUT AN INTRIGUING CAREER, USING HIS MUSIC TO REFLECT HIS STAGES IN LIFE AND HEALTH. ETCHING OUT AN IMPRESSIVE COLLECTION OF STINTS WITH THE LIKES OF VETERAN…
JOHN LODGE: ISN’T LIFE STRANGE?
CELEBRATING IT’S 50TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY IN 2017, THE MOODY BLUES ALBUM DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED, LIKE THE BAND ITSELF, HAS HAD A FASCINATING RUN. AS BASSIST JOHN LODGE EXPLAINS IN THIS INTERVIEW, THE ALBUM WAS A MAJOR SHIFT FROM THE…