iRock Jazz Partners with Concord Music Group on Jazz Discovery App for Spotify
iRock Jazz provides music recommendations for Stylus, the first jazz discovery application for Spotify Stylus™, a music application specially designed for leading music streaming service Spotify, premiered as a fun, easy and exciting way for listeners to explore and discover the best of classic and contemporary jazz from among an …
Gary Bartz: Talks About Drug Use Among Jazz Greats
Grammy Award winning jazz saxophonist Gary Bartz first came to New York In 1958 to attend the Julliard Conservatory of Music. Just 17 years old, Gary couldn’t wait to come to the city to play and learn. “It was a very good time for the music in New York, at …
iRock Jazz LIVE with Dr. Watkins, The Jazz & Democracy Project® Founder
The Jazz & Democracy Project® manifests a hypothesis that Wesley J. Watkins, IV, Ph.D. has been investigating since he was an undergraduate: a music-centered curriculum with genuine links to the other subject areas can increase student identification with school, impact academic engagement, and have a subsequent positive effect on overall academic …
iRock LIVE! with Trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis
Delfeayo Marsalis is one of the top trombonists, composers and producers in jazz today. Known for his “technical excellence, inventive mind and frequent touches of humor…” (Leonard Feather, Los Angeles Times), he is “…one of the best, most imaginative and musical of the trombonists of his generation.” (Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner.) In …
iRock Jazz LIVE! with Saxophonist Marcus Strickland
The great Miles Davis once said, “The thing to judge in any jazz artist is, does the man project and does he have ideas?” If these are indeed the canonical essentials of a jazz artist at his best, then saxophonist Marcus Strickland is one of today’s truest exemplars. Triumph of …
iRock Jazz Live! with Saxophonist Najee
Born in the Greenwich Village in New York City and raised in Jamaica, Queens, Najee’s musical pursuits began in grade school. “As a kid I was into the R&B and Jazz music of my time,” he shares. “I familiarized myself with different kinds of music all the time. As I …
Will Downing: Celebrating Silver
Celebrating 25-years as a professional musician, Will Downing continues to please his audiences around the world with his distinct baritone vocals. Downing is a vocalist, songwriter, and producer. He has also published Unveiled Series I, which showcases his photography. This Brooklyn, NY native has established himself as one of the …
Marc Cary: Abbey Lincoln Without Lyrics
Marc Cary’s name can be synonymous with the D.C. sound of music known as go-go. His music embodies a style that will capture the listener, connecting them to the sound. At the age of fourteen he became a member of the High Integrity Band, which played go-go music. He graduated …
Raydar Ellis: No Longer Defined By My Origin
Jazz, born in the narrow streets of New Orleans evolved into America’s original art form eventually finding its way into nearly every boulevard and avenue round the world. Hip-hop, born in the concrete jungles of the South Bronx by youth desiring a creative outlet to combat social ills is now …
Roy Haynes: Still Keeping Time
Eighty years after picking up the drumsticks, Roy Haynes has inspired and influenced generations of musicians. Keeping with his credo, “now is the time,” Haynes has stayed current and innovative across decades in an ever changing art form. During his illustrious career as a jazz drummer and bandleader, he is …
T.S. Monk: Jazz is Driven by the Root Philosophy to the Music
Of those that studied under Thelonious Monk – a list that includes Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Bud Powell amongst many others – T.S. Monk may be his most successful pupil. Now before you cry foul, understand this: Education is not simply the accruement of knowledge, but its application. If …