Nov 25, 2011
When jazz lovers like myself talk about "the new standards", we're usually talking material written in "the Rock Era" that entices jazz musicians to record unique or different versions of the song. Well established singer-songwriters like James Taylor, Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon have been recorded by jazz musicians...
Nov 24, 2011
Forty-two years ago today, a little known record label called ECM (short for “Encounters in Contemporary Music”) booked time at Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg to record what would become its first release, a trio album by Mal Waldron. entitled Free at Last. Perhaps only the label's founder Manfred Eicher, could have...
Nov 19, 2011
Guitarist Rez Abbasi was born in Karachi, Pakistan, and grew up in California listening to rock music. Today, he mixes the sounds of his native Southern Asia – particularly devotional Qawwali music – with jazz and classical sounds to create true world music. Whether he is playing with the electric Rez Abbasi’s...
Nov 10, 2011
Most jazz fans have been exposed to the rhythms and melodies of Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992), the Argentine tango master who melded his native music with jazz and modern classical sounds in the second half of the 20th century. Albums of his music have been recorded by jazz stalwarts like Gary Burton, Paquito D’Rivera...
Nov 9, 2011
On June 28, 1965, John Coltrane convened a recording session that marked his move from straight-ahead jazz titan to avant-garde explorer. He described the sound as a “big band thing”, and in fact it was a very big band that met in Rudy Van Gelder’s New Jersey studio that day. Along with Coltrane’s long-time...