AFTER OVER HALF A CENTURY OF SINGING AND SWINGING, THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER HAS DECIDED TO STOP TOURING, WITH THEIR LATEST ALBUM, FIFTY, IS A SALUTE TO THE TWO AND A HALF SCORE OF MUSICAL SCORES IN THEIR CATALOG. LOVED BY POP FANS…
Category: Interviews
DAVE MASON: STILL FEELING ALRIGHT AFTER 50 YEARS
IT’S IRONIC THAT DAVE MASON WAS RECENTLY LISTED BY MUSIC BLOGMEISTER RICK BEATO HAS BEING A “ONE HIT WONDER” OF THE 1970S BECAUSE OF HIS 1977 HIT SINGLE “WE JUST DISAGREE”. MASON, AT 76 YEARS OLD, MAY BE A WONDER,…
ALEX ACUNA: SPIRITUAL GIFTS
“But to each of us gifts have been given, as God apportioned it” Ephesians 4:7 In the Bible, the word “grace” literally translates into the word “gift”, as everything we have is part of God’s grace to us; it is…
MONTY ALEXANDER: LOVE NOTES TO AMERICA, GOD AND MILES
ONE OF THE OVERLOOKED STRENGHTS OF AMERICA IS THE RICHNESS OF ITS HERITAGE. SURE, SOME OF US LIKE TEARING DOWN OUR HISTORY. BUT THOSE PEOPLE HAVE NEVER LIVED ANYWHERE ELSE. MUSICIANS AND PEOPLE LIKE PIANIST MONTY ALEXANDER EMBODY ALL THAT…
CYRUS CHESTNUT: A BODY OF SOUL
SINCE HITTING THE JAZZ SCENE IN THE EARLY 1990s, PIANIST CYRUS CHESTNUT HAS BEEN ONE OF THE FEW ARTISTS TO SUCCESSFULLY MELD JAZZ WITH TRADITIONAL CHRISTIAN MUSIC, BOTH MUSICALLY AND PERSONALLY. ALL OF HIS ALBUMS, NO MATTER IF CHESTNUT IS…
TORD GUSTAVSEN: MAXIMIZING THE MINIMALISM
WHENEVER WE THINK OF THE MIX OF JAZZ AND RELIGION, WHAT USUALLY COMES TO MIND ARE BLACK SPIRITUALS OR “HOLINESS” MUSIC OF THE PENTECOSTAL CHURCH. NORWEGIAN PIANIST AND COMPOSER TORD GUSTAVSEN IS ABLE TO MELD THE TWO IDEAS OF MODERN…
TOM GRANT INTERVIEW: THE SECRET LIFE WITH TONY WILLIAMS
WE ALL HAVE SECRET PASTS THAT EVENTUALLY COME OUT WHEN YOU LEAST SUSPECT IT. I REMEMBER TRAVELLING WITH MY FAMILY IN ITALY, RETURNING TO ROME WHERE I ONCE WORKED. WHILE TAKING A TAXI THROUGH TOWN AND CONVERSING WITH THE TAXI…
MICHAEL LEAGUE : IN OF HIS OWN
BASSIST MICHAEL LEAGUE IS A MEMBER OF SOMETHING THAT SHOULD ACTUALLY BE TERMED AN OXYMORON THESE DAYS, NAMELY A ‘POPULAR JAZZ BAND’. USUALLY WHEN YOU THINK OF A JAZZ GIG, YOU THINK OF THE OLD JOKE THAT “ROCK AND ROLL…
PAUL WINTER: THE WINTER OF OUR CONTENTED CONSORT
RARE IS THE ARTIST THAT HAS ACTUALY CREATED A MUSICAL GENRE, BUT THAT AWARD CAN DEFINITELY BE GIVEN TO PAUL WINTER. AT FIRST AN ALTO SAX PLAYER IN THE BEBOP TRADITION, WINTER BECAME THE FIRST JAZZ MUSICIAN TO PLAY AT…
MARK TURNER : A MARSHY RETURN FROM THE STARS
ONCE BEST KNOWN AS THE TENOR SAXIST OF KURT ROSENWINKEL’S CREATIVE QUINTET, MARK TURNER HAS OVER THE YEARS BECOME ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS OF TODAY’S GENERATION. NOT ONLY BEING A PART OF THE TRIO FLY, TURNER HAS LED AND…