Apr 9, 2022
Broadway musicals have been the source of many notable jazz standards, so it should come as no surprise that the DIVA Jazz Orchestra’s latest release is DIVA Swings Broadway. The 15-piece band, fast approaching its 30th year as a performing group, lends their seemingly boundless talents to nine songs, some well known,...
Jun 21, 2021
It's a pleasure to be able to say that there is a two day live jazz festival happening this weekend, June 25-26, in upstate New York. After a one-year hiatus, the Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz Festival is back!
Scaled down in size due to health restrictions, nonetheless Danny Melnick, the festival producer is happy with the...
Apr 29, 2021
Saxophonist Tobias Meinhart has been living in New York for the past decade, often summering in his native Bavaria or in Berlin. That is, until the COVID-19 pandemic closed off the E.U. from overseas travelers, leaving him on the outside looking in.
During the pandemic, he used his time to work on new compositions, and...
Dec 19, 2018
It’s the time of the year when all the “Best Of” lists start to appear, and Straight No Chaser is no exception. Well, maybe a little exception, since I prefer to call this Podcast “A Few of My Favorite Things 2018.” I decided a few years back that it wasn’t prudent to compare a new release by say, Kamasi...
Aug 1, 2018
If summer begins with the Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival and the Montreal Jazz Festival, then it reaches its apex with the Newport Jazz Festival. Year after year, for three days at Fort Adams State Park in lovely Newport, Rhode Island, three stages (and more!) are constantly filled with the best performers the...