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Jazz singer Rene Marie: Living Her Truth

Anyone recently introduced to the music of award winner Rene Marie would find it difficult to believe this jazz vocalist did not begin her professional singing career until the age of 42. Marie’s story is one of courage to follow a dream. She married at 18, and focused on raising …

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Jeff Lorber Fusion at Yoshi’s Jazz Club San Francisco (Show Preview)

iRock Jazz recently caught up with acclaimed keyboardist, composer, producer, and jazz fusion trailblazer, Jeff Lorber, in between touring and his upcoming performance January 23, 2012 at Yoshi’s Jazz Club in San Francisco to promote his latest recording, Galaxy, the follow up recording to his Grammy nominated 2010 album Now …

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Dee Dee Bridgewater at CSO

Dressed in a bright green sequined, ankle length gown, Dee Dee Bridgewater was as dazzling visually as her show was fierce at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She was a gracious and energetic performer, thanking the listeners for coming out in the snow and complimenting her quartet who, as she says …

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Roy Hargrove

Roy Hargrove Quintet at Yoshi’s, San Francisco

Clad in his now trademark suspenders and bowtie, renowned trumpeter and bandleader, Roy Hargrove, was both fashionable and fashionably early for his 6pm set at Yoshi’s Jazz Club in San Francisco. Greeting the audience with a friendly “hey”, the adventurous horn master and leader of the Roy Hargrove Quintet, wasted …

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Corea, Clarke & White – Forever

Pianist Chick Corea, bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White – each a powerful force of nature in his own right – have done more in recent decades to redefine jazz-rock fusion and push the limits of its potential than any other musicians today. Together they formed the core of …

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Maurice Brown

Maurice Brown Effect at Jazz Showcase, Chicago

Outside, its 40 degrees with an occasional drizzle and no chance of a white Christmas in Chicago. But inside the Jazz Showcase, it’s warm, cozy and festive where a nearly full house is enjoying the holiday jazz/funk performance of the Maurice Brown Effect. Chicago’s beloved trumpeter has come home gift …

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Hot 8 Brass Band at Yoshi’s, San Francisco

Mardi Gras came a bit early this year as the Hot 8 Brass Band brought the sweltering heat and soulful bounce of New Orleans to Yoshi’s Jazz Club in San Francisco.  The historic Fillmore District was transformed into the musical revelry born on the streets of the Crescent City.  True to their reputation of …

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Ravi Coltrane Trio and John Scofield Quartet

The Chicago Symphony Center recently hosted a double billed performance by The Ravi Coltrane Trio and The John Scofield Quartet. Modern jazz saxophonist, Ravi Coltrane, the son of saxophone legend and musical genius, John Coltrane and pianist, Alice Coltrane has followed his own path in music establishing himself as a …

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Omar Sosa Afreecanos Quartet at Yoshi’s, San Francisco

It is said that home is where the heart is. At Yoshi’s Jazz Club in Oakland, multi-Grammy nominated Cuban pianist and composer, Omar Sosa and his Afreecanos quartet performed to a full house or what seemed to be a house full of friends.  As he walked out, draped in a …

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