Cannabinoids, Cummerbunds & Contact Highs: Brooklyn’s Afro-Punk Festival 2012
The Afro-Punk Festival sure has come a long way. What once started in a basement in Lower Manhattan, soon spilled over to the Brooklyn Academy of Music, until even BAM could no longer accommodate its increasing attendees. Now, after eight years, it’s grown into a mammoth celebration of freedom. To …
The Worlds’ Best Come to Play at the Detroit Jazz Festival
Now in its 33rd year, the Detroit Jazz Festival continues to live up to its reputation as North America’s largest free public jazz festival. It occupies a whopping two million square feet of downtown Detroit, culminating into a large soundstage at the beautiful Campus Martius Park near Cadillac Square. …
Paul Carrick Brunson: Matchmaker or Love Coach?
Whether you call him “Matchmaker” or “Love Coach,” “he’s blowing up big time” on OWN TV and on tour in a city near you “Paul is much more than a matchmaker, he’s a life coach.” -Oprah Winfrey “Every experience that is ever had is a culmination of our current …
Sonny Rollins: In Search of the Man in the Music
“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” –Victor Hugo Saxophonist, bandleader and composer Theodore Walter “Sonny” Rollins was born on September 7, 1930, and grew up in Harlem, New York in a community that was known also as Sugar Hill, …
Kris Bowers: Success within Range
Musicians are often lauded for their ability to display a certain level of technical range, which translates into the total amount of notes a specific instrument can produce. Others equate range as the capacity to exhibit vast dexterity, enter into varying terrains of styles and reach both niche and …
Making A Memory Out of Three Songs: A Photo Essay of the Jacksons Live at the Apollo Theater
Three songs. As I emerged from the A-train and swiftly made my way down 125th Street, the words “three songs” echoed in my mind. As I crossed the stoplight at Frederick Douglas BLVD, the big red neon letters became clearer and clearer with every swift step: A-P-O-L-L-O. I squinted …
Jimmy and Albert “Tootie” Heath—a jazz perspective over six decades in the making Pt. I
Heath Brothers On a recent Sunday morning, the iRock Jazz team caught up with two members of the legendary Heath Brothers, Jimmy and Albert “Tootie” Heath. Over a span of six decades or more, the brothers have collectively performed with a “Who’s Who” among world-renown jazz performers. The list …
Jimmy and Albert “Tootie” Heath—a jazz perspective over six decades in the making Pt. II
IRJ: You all are in Chicago now. What brings you two to Chicago? JIMMY: We’re playing now at a place called the Jazz Showcase. We’re the Heath Brothers Quartet. My older brother passed away and I’m in the middle. I’m older than Tootie. We’ve been here for four days. We …
The Passion of Terri Lyne Carrington
“Keep supporting Jazz. Its a great art form that should never be forgotten.” These are a few words from Terri, letting us know how much her passion is for Jazz; it still rises in her. Terri Lynne Carrington, a 2011 Grammy award winner for her CD, The Mosaic Project, has …
A Journey into Jazz with Helen Sung – Part I
“I don’t consider myself to be the bravest person….I went through some pretty embarrassing moments, falling on my face and making mistakes. But there’s something about the music. Like I said before, it’s so alive.” – Helen Sung Helen Sung is a pianistic virtuoso whose musical beginnings have allowed …
A Journey into Jazz with Helen Sung – Part II
“To me, jazz is still taught from the master to the apprentice. It’s not just communicating technical information or knowing theory or knowing which scales to play on which chords. To me, jazz encompasses life, too. It’s a world view. It’s an attitude.” – Helen Sung Women of jazz …