Let’s get this out of the way: The Savannah Music Festival is not a jazz festival. Held over the course of 17 days in late March and early April at variouss throughout the picturesque coastal venue Georgia city, the festival features just about every genre of American music—folk, classical, blues, soul, bluegrass, gospel, and, yes, … Read more
By Lee Rice Epstein As a certain high profile artist touts his own foray into prog rock, these small groups recently released albums featuring their own proggy jazz. Each of these features guitars and/or synths in the foreground, but the individual approaches of the groups shows just how much variety there is in the wide … Read more
In our growing series in which jazz musicians do a deep (and entirely personal and selective) dive into the music of their idols, pianist Liam Noble writes about Duke Ellington as pianist: Duke Ellington. Photo source: New York Public Library A musician once told me he thought that Ellington “couldn’t really play the piano”. I … Read more
In November, the Ben Allison Quartet finished a sold-out three-night stint at Birdland. The performance featured music from the bassist’s latest offering, Moments Inside. Allison wrote seven of the album’s eight songs. Their laid-back grooves could easily appear on playlists at jazz stations across the US, but if they air on AM/FM radio he’ll only … Read more
By Paul Acquaro In 2017, my wife and I visited Munich’s Haus der Kunst, an imposing concrete building set on the edge of the English Garden, and next to the Eisbachwelle, the mission to see the FMP exhibition. We did not have much time on the vacation, so we skipped documenta 14 in Kassel, even … Read more
An Interview with Markus Müller about the book FMP: The Living Musicreviewed here. By Martin Schray and Paul Acquaro Mr. Müller, the FMP exhibitions in Munich in 2017 and in Berlin in 2018 were a wonderfully created and fantastic look back at the wok of FMP. How and when did the decision to also do … Read more
You’ve undoubtedly heard the old adage “practice makes perfect.” And you’ve probably also heard the saying “perfect practice makes perfect” too. That’s all fine and dandy, but both imply that motor learning occurs only during practice. That how We practice – our practice strategies, methods, and techniques – is the primary determinant of how quickly … Read more
BBC Radio 3 After Dark Festival(Sage Gateshead. Festival Report by AJ Dehany) The audience at Sage Gateshead for the BBC R3 After Dark Festival. Photo credit: Barry Pells/ BBC Sage Gateshead’s first all-night event, After Dark, was an ideal insomnia, a mind-expanding, time-bending 12-hour program of music and more to mark the spring equinox. It … Read more
For the LJN “10 Tracks I Can’t Do Without” series, in which jazz musicians do a deep (and entirely personal and selective) dive into the music of their idols, Liam Noble writes about Bill Frisell: Bill Freesell. Photo credit: Photo: Monica Jane Frisell Bill Frisell is that rarity, a musician with avant garde leanings who … Read more
Novak/Kamins/Ewen/Smith/Bryerton – Groundwater Recharge (Balance Point Acoustics, 2021) Billed as “improvised music for quintet (+trios)” this is an excellent example of what’s meant by collective improvisation. All five players (six with Aluana Rubin joining on clarinet for one track) are given, and give, space to explore and collaborate. – LRE DS: Groundwater Recharge is a … Read more