Mar 25, 2018
The start of Holy Week for the Christian faith is my cue to put together a podcast of Spiritual Jazz. Whether it has specific religious overtones, as songs in this year's podcast do when referencing the Muslim or Jewish faith; or are built on Spirituals from the African-American lexicon, this is some of the...
Mar 24, 2018
Mark Murphy’s latest CD, Pocketful of Rainbows, continues a trend of merging the singer-songwriter sense with jazz sensibilities. On one level, there is Mark’s smooth voice and lilting acoustic guitar performing songs written by Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan and Hank Williams. On another there is the richness...
Mar 20, 2018
While Winter may officially be dead today, it sure doesn't seem like Spring in my neck of the woods. Here in Western Massachusetts we're bracing for another heavy winter storm tomorrow, the fourth in the past month. It seems like the song of the day will be "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year". Or maybe "Spring...
Mar 19, 2018
A new album from vocalist Kurt Elling always gives his listeners a chance to follow him further on his unique musical journey. The 13-time Grammy nominee (he won in 2009 for his tribute to the classic album John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, entitled Dedicated to You) never fails to go deeper into the musical canon in...
Mar 1, 2018
You don’t pass up and opportunity to speak with Bill Frisell. The legendary guitar player has been among the most talented and versatile musicians of the past twenty years, performing in almost any jazz idiom, his trademark telecaster creating a sound that is uniquely his. Most of Frisell’s recorded output for the...