Up there with Tito’s Tacos, Bob’s Big Boy, Tommy’s Burgers, Vin Scully and Pinks Hot Dogs has to be salsa King Poncho Sanchez in terms of LA institutions. If you’ve never been to a club to hear, feel and take…
Category: Interviews
JOSHUA REDMAN’S COMPASS
In many ways, the life of a jazz musician is similar to the rest of us working stiffs. We start our careers ready to change the world, and somewhere along the path, we look back and wonder if the world…
MUHAL RICHARD ABRAMS: JUST FRIENDS
It’s almost impossible to imagine what the free jazz movement would have been like without the guiding hands of pianist/composer Muhal Abrams, who started the still active AACM which has been the breeding ground for such innovators as the Art…
POPE’S AUTHORITY
What is the most common advice given to aspiring musicians? It’s got to be the easier said than done, “Get your own voice.” While we all have our favorite musicians, and dream of playing just like them, the fact is…
STANLEY CLARKE: NO MYSTERY
If you look at the creative trajectory of most artists and non-steroidal athletes , it tends to slowly rise to a creative peak in the mid to late twenties, and then slowly descend or level off. The eternal struggle with…
BRIAN BROMBERG: JIMI-JAZZ-JOBIM
What is the line between music that is commercial and merely accessible. When is jazz “smooth” and when is it “smooth jazz?” There are a couple of ways to tell where an artist’s head is at: Look at his past,…
FRED HERSCH ALIVE AND DRIVING FORWARD
Pianist Fred Hersch is one of the few modern artists who has what every musician craves: his own identifiable sound. He’s used it on a plethora of various sessions lately. His recent Vanguard concert recordings is only the most recent,…
DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER: THE MIDNIGHT SUN NEVER SETS
In this musical era where you could throw a rock in any direction on the corner of Highland and Sunset and hit 5 aspiring jazz singers, Dee Dee Bridgewater has always remained one of the truly great vocalists. Never weighed…
GREGORY PORTER: LIVING WATER
Very rarely does an artist come “out of nowhere” to make an impressive debut. At age 39, when most singers are just finding their groove, Gregory Porter surprised everyone with a stunning debut Water. So many people were impressed that…
THE ALMA OF MIGUEL ZENON
When you see an artist perform, it’s easy to forget that not only are you getting the performer’s music, but his or her entire background as a human being. Alto saxophonist Miguel Zenon, who has a resume that includes Charlie…