Category: i) Reviews
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All in the Same Throat
Polyphonic overtone singing demonstrated by Anna-Maria Hefele: (My cat became very interested, and a singer has already been back to me about getting on to the union…)
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Frankly My Dear… He Gives a Damn
If you haven’t heard of pianist Dave Frank, this is your lucky day. He’s a formidable, eclectic performer; a former Piano Prof at Berkelee, before he founded his own school in NYC; author of two books and a DVD (published by Hal Leonard); and a genial, incredibly generous and prolific video educator. Check out his stuff…
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Jack Massarik
Sad to report that Jack Massarik, the London Evening Standard’s jazz critic, died on 13 July at the age of 74. The dreaded C. He was very passionate about jazz and wrote knowledgeably and entertainingly on the subject. He was until almost the end a regular and friendly presence at all sorts of gigs. Usually sitting quietly near…
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The Silver Bullet
Adios then, Señor Blues. We did a couple of numbers as tributes to Horace Silver on the gig last Monday. Didn’t even know someone had written lyrics to Nica’s Dream. Cool though. Horace came up in the bebop era, but really hit his stride in the aftermath. Hard bop – the more accessible, downhome, bluesy,…
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Marian Reforms
Marius “Butch” Nordal probably needs no introduction from me, but if you haven’t heard of him I strongly advise you to check him out. He’s got a lot of stuff on YouTube – his nom de toob is radiokid2, but the main website is here: http://mariusnordal.com. He’s my kind of musician and writer – tells…
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Anita Wardell and Vocalese
We had the pleasure of singer Anita Wardell performing with our house trio last week. I’ve always had bags of time for this lady and it was a really enjoyable gig – thanks Neets, it was a blast. Any time you’re free, our arms are open wide. There’s a jazz vocal practice that Anita is…
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Super Locrian Meets the Dastardly Half Diminishedo
What do you play on a minor II in, say, C minor? D half-diminished, some kind of Ab7 or some kind of D7? Do you know the difference? Or, perhaps more importantly, do you know the similarity? This week I’ll look at some ideas from Bill Evans (jazz’s very own Clark Kent, and okay I’ll…
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Branford Shoots From the Hip
Someone recently flagged me this 2012 Jazz Times interview with Branford Marsalis. I’ve always loved Steepee’s stuff, and certainly no pianist can afford to ignore the contributions of the late Kenny K and the current Joey C. Didn’t come as that much of a surprise, but it was certainly a pleasure to see that he takes no prisoners when…
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The Death of the Death of David Debrizzi, Paul Micou
I simply cannot understand why this wonderful novel is out of print and languishing at 1p second-hand on Amazon. My own copy has been reread so often that it’s falling apart more than my Real Book is (and that looks like confetti). Actually, I can understand why. The current trend in fiction publishing seems to…
Jason Lyon Music 