iRock Jazz LIVE Archives

Poogie Bell is an American jazz drummer, composer, band leader and producer. Bell is best known as a drummer, working extensively with bassists Marcus Miller and as a sideman for other artists such as Erykah Badu, Victor Bailey, David Bowie, Stanley Clarke, Randy Crawford, Roberta Flack, Al Jarreau, Chaka Khan, …

Victoria Theodore received her Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Classical Piano Performance and Computer Music from Oberlin College / Conservatory of Music (where she studied piano with Sedmara Zakarian Rutstein), and her Master of Arts degree in Classical Piano Performance from Stanford University (where she studied …

Born in The Bronx to Puerto Rican immigrants, Spanish was Haslip’s first language and learned to speak English in kindergarten. His father, Jaime Haslip served in the United States Customs Service, beginning as a Merchant Marine until moving to patrolman and eventually deputy commissioner. Haslip moved to Huntington, New York …

A. Scott Galloway is a 20+ years veteran writer and music journalist with experience in print and radio. My specialty niche is liner note essays for over 300 music CD reissues of classic albums and compilations, several of which I produced. My work was commissioned by the companies Rhino/WEA, Universal, Sony …

Rufus Reid, one of today’s premiere bassists on the international jazz scene, with his reputation firmly established in the education arena, now adds composition to his vitae. Rufus participated in the BMI Jazz Composer’s Workshop for five years which has empowered him to move more deeply into the composing arena. …

Hailed by the New York Times as “a tenor saxophonist with an enigmatic, elegant and hard-driving style,” JD Allen is a bright rising light on today’s international jazz scene. His unique and compelling voice on the instrument – the result of a patient and painstaking confrontation with the fundamentals of …

Dele Sosimi stands out as one of the most active musicians currently on the Afrobeat scene worldwide. Dele’s career began when he joined Fela’s Anikulapo-Kuti’s Egypt 80, where he played keyboards for 7 years (1979-1986). Fela Anikulapo-Kuti was the founder of the style of music known as Afrobeat. The music …

James King, a 29-year-old Westhill High School graduate, has been performing with Mars since the singer’s 2011 appearance on “American Idol.” The spot was followed by a worldwide tour, as well as appearances on the Grammy Awards, “Saturday Night Live” and The Video Music Awards. King said the Super Bowl …

Snarky Puppy is truly a different kind of musical animal. The once Texan, now New York-based quasi-collective has gone from the best-kept secret to one of the most respected names in instrumental music. Although still “underground” in many respects, the band has earned high praise from critical stalwarts like the …

An award-winning classical pianist before jazz intervened “in the form of a Tommy Flanagan solo,” Houston, TX, native Helen Sung went on to graduate from the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance and win the Kennedy Center’s Mary Lou Williams Jazz Piano Competition. Since establishing herself in New York …

Bassist extraodinaire, composer, arranger, educator, curator and administrator, Christian McBride, has been one of the most important and most omnipresent figures in the jazz world for 20 years. Sometimes hard to believe considering this man is not yet 40. Beginning in 1989, this Philadelphia-born bassist moved to New York City …

Women love Will Downing. And men love the women who love Will Downing. In his two decade recording career, the Brooklyn native has carved for himself a solid career as one of the leading purveyors of unapologetic, unabashed romantic music. And while this has not translated to crossover success – …