Jun 30, 2012
The recent release of Live at Art D'Lugoff's Top of the Gate by Resonance Records offers listeners a table at the front of the stage for a stellar performance by one of jazz's greatest trios. It's October 23, 1968 in Greenwich Village, and legendary pianist Bill Evans is joined by bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Marty...
Jun 28, 2012
I first heard Hailey Niswanger when she played the Gazebo Stage at the Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival two years ago. Barely out of her teens, she played with great poise and elegance, using her alto sax to lay out long, lyrical solos and leading a quartet with great aplomb. The audience loved her.
Two years later,...
Jun 22, 2012
My musical summer can begin on June 30th, with the 35th annual Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival takes place at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) in New York. If New Orleans is “The Big Easy”, then this festival should be known as “The Big Hang”, with two days of wonderful vibes, two stages of...
Jun 18, 2012
Paul McCartney’s latest CD, Kisses on the Bottom (insert rear end joke here) was not really a jazz record, but with support from Diana Krall and her band, including Christian McBride, it was above-average Standards crooning. Calling it “the songs which inspired the songs”, he selected tunes that a young McCartney...
Jun 15, 2012
Hey Rim Jeon has been on the radar for a number of years as a pianist, composer and educator to watch. That promise is being fulfilled as Ms. Jeon has just released Introducing Hey Rim Jeon, her first set for NCoded Music and distributed by RED, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. In conjunction with the release,...