Vanessa Rubin: Sheer Wisdom and a Depth of Experience
Vanessa Rubin is a jazz vocalist, composer, producer, and actress who has graced the jazz scene since the early 80s. She has worked with Etta Jones, Frank Foster, Lewis Nash, Patience Higgins, Kenny Burrell, Grover Washington Jr, and Steve Turre to name a few. Rubin studied under Barry Harris at …
Uri Gurvich: The Storyteller
James Louis Johnson once said, “Jazz is restless. It won’t stay put and it never will.” Although jazz originated in the Southern United States, its infectious rhythms and notes have spread throughout the entire world, encapsulating just about every culture it touches. Born and raised in Israel, Uri Gurvich was …
Tony Zawinul: Reporting on the Weather
Tony Zawinul is the son of Joe Zawinul, one of the founding members of the band Weather Report. He is the director for a documentary on the band called Calm Before the Storm. This documentary has been crowd-funded to respect the organic nature of the band’s music and the special …
Toeing the Second Line with Delfeayo Marsalis
“Trombones generally sit in the middle of the Jazz band. They keep the trumpets and saxes away from each other. There’s always that love and hate relationship between them.” – Delfeayo Marsalis The name “Marsalis” is synonymous with Jazz, like the name “Kennedy” is to American politics. No other …
Tia Fuller: The Angelic Warrior
Tia Fuller Quartet photo by Farrad Ali “My music has really been influenced and opened up by everyone’s perceptions. And not just my music, I would definitely have to say my life as well.” – Tia Fuller Blessed with beauty and grace, Tia Fuller continues to develop her reputation …
Theo Croker: A Tribe Called Jazz
Theo Croker is casually positioning himself to be the next important musician on the scene. If you’re not yet familiar with the twenty-something trumpeter/vocalist, don’t worry, because you’ve absolutely heard of his grandfather, the Grammy Award-winning trumpeter, Doc Cheatham. But don’t think the young talent will be riding his prestigious …
The Universal Insights of Tom Harrell
[/caption] “Jazz music is so universal that you can draw upon it; you can bring other cultural influences to jazz and it still remains jazz music.” – Tom Harrell Renowned composer, arranger and trumpeter Tom Harrell has sustained an impressive career that has spanned well over 40 years. He …
The Real Brian McKnight Pt. 2
It’s easy to believe that the advancement of social media is a key factor in Brian McKnight current predicament. Some may even think that it’s his naïve attitude toward the internet that contributed to the outrage of the “If You’re Ready to Learn” video. McKnight perhaps did underestimate the rapid …
The Real Brian McKnight Pt. 1
One of the worst kept secrets in history is that music has a way of affecting how we feel about people. Music also makes us feel a certain way about the artists that create the music. Whatever emotions the message and the melody conjure up for us, we subconsciously associate …
The Prototype: Betty Davis Lit the Spark That Ignited Today’s Music Inferno Pt. II
Betty Davis With a new task ahead, Betty Davis embarked on recording her first solo album. She had plenty of songs to choose from, including compositions meant for the Commodores, like “Game is My Middle Name”. As a writer, she would’ve entrusted Just Sunshine to distribute her songs to artists …
The Prototype: Betty Davis Lit the Spark That Ignited Today’s Music Inferno Pt. I
Betty Davis Brooklyn, NY. Saturday, October 6, 2012. It’s 8:45pm just outside the doors of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium, located on the third floor of the Brooklyn Museum. Many people congregated there to witness a celebration of rare and innovative music. The auditorium was located on the …
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 …