Gretchen Parlato

Modernity has prescribed a certain mode of discourse when engaging this thing we call “jazz.” Tangible dissections of sound are cast aside for more abstract debates around authenticity and contextualization. Wherever you stand on the political spectrum, if you’ve at all discussed jazz in the present, you’ve most certainly discussed …

Drummer Otis Brown III – an invaluable sideman with the likes of Esperanza Spalding, Joe Lovano, Terence Blanchard, Oliver Lake, Somi, and others – has announced the release of his debut album The Thought of You, which will arrive September 23 via Revive/Blue Note, a new partnership between Revive Music and Blue Note Records. Pre-order …

I remember hearing Bitches Brew for the first time. I was new to the Jazz scene and it seemed appropriate to first navigate Miles Davis. Up to this point in my travels, I had made stops at Kind of Blue, ‘Around Midnight,’ and Sketches of Spain, but the moment I …

Derrick Hodge fell in love with the electric bass when he was seven at Beulah Baptist Church in Philadelphia, and has never looked back. He continued developing his talent at Temple University, and while touring with Jill Scott. He has collaborated on over fifty albums with other artists such as …

There are singers whose voices are soft, melodic, timeless and original, jazz vocalist Gretchen Parlato is the beholder of such a voice. Everything she creates turns in to a masterpiece. Her 2005 debut album Gretchen Parlato was named “5 Best Progressive Jazz CDs of 2005 by Jazz Nation” – KPR …

In a music industry often rife with shameless self promotion and ambitious arrogance, humility is a characteristic that is found in minimal proportions. Contrary to popular thought, humility is not the meek position some may think. It is the quiet strength of the humble that does not step on others …

Recording artists carries the awesome responsibility of translating the range of human experience through their gift of song. They must act as the voices of the voiceless. Esperanza Spalding, a Grammy winning bassist/vocalist has fulfilled that responsibility by writing observant lyrics over her vibrant melodies. Like so many others before …