With the Grammies done for another year, I have to add my two cents. Each of the nominees in the Jazz Vocal Album category released an exceptional album in 2015. And what if the winning Tony Bennett/Bill Charlap album (The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern) had been cast into the “Jazz Vocal” rather […]
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There is no question that there are great women players in jazz. And a recent series of shows in the Bay Area not only emphasized this fact, but left many yearning for more. Despite some progress in the scope of prominent women players active in the music, there still remains the situation of deep gaps […]
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Well behaved women seldom make history. — Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (1976) The long-running Big Band Night at Jazz Central Studios brings at least four area big band ensembles into the basement gallery every month, every Tuesday night. When there’s a fifth Tuesday, like this month, there’s often a new or unusual ensemble on the schedule. […]
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One of the pleasures of Patty Peterson’s March 21 tribute to her mother, Jeanne Arland Peterson, was hearing her nephew, Jason Peterson DeLaire, on piano, saxophone and vocals. Multi-instrumental talents are not exactly rare within the Peterson clan–brother Paul played bass and piano on that same night, and is also an accomplished drummer and vocalist. […]
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When British Pop legend David Bowie died unexpectedly this past winter, it rocked the music world, to say the least. Bowie had a fingerprint in just about every genre of music imaginable including Jazz. His songs have been covered by Brad Mehldau, Geoffrey Keezer and many others. His final recording was likened to Jazz, though […]
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