‘Sittin’ In’ at golden-era jazz clubs 1
bird & friendscourtesy of jeff gold These days, every self-respecting college and civic performing arts center has a subscription jazz series. It’s no surprise, then, that many people see jazz as concert music. But it wasn’t always so. 1930s and ‘40s jazz musicians mostly worked in ballrooms with dance bands, but they stretched out and ...
Jazz serendipity: Alan Broadbent Trio’s ‘Trio in Motion’
The longstanding professional relationships of the Alan Broadbent Trio might indicate that the recording at hand is the result of a comfy, well-worn process. Nothing could be further from the truth. Each selection of their new album, Trio in Motion (Savant) is a journey, and the performances are travelogues that sometimes surprise the musicians as much ...
Bird Lives — to 100 — at CAP UCLA
Mar
2
2020
Urban legend has it that the Kansas City native, alto saxophonist and legend, Charlie Parker, copped the nickname “Bird” (shortened from “Yardbird”) due to his hankering for southern fried chicken. We’ll buy that; and while that finger-licking dish comes from a bird that rambles close to the ground, the self-taught virtuoso of American jazz who ...
Now’s the time … for Kyle
May
3
2017
Because he has such stellar musical chops, choreographer Kyle Abraham will undoubtedly dig the allusion to Charlie Parker’s be-bop anthem “Now’s the Time.” The title of Bird’s composition resonates like a call to action. Abraham, like Parker, is very much an artist of his time. Abraham’s swell dance company, Abraham.In.Motion, will perform this weekend at ...
Reading tap 1
Dancing, like writing, is a craft before it is an art. Rare is the professional who excels at both; the thousands of hours of practice necessary to make an artist rarely allow time for rigorous training in another genre. Somewhere between the craft and the art, though, lie scholarship and criticism, and the world is ...
Thelonious Monk, dancer
Just as James P. Johnson, George Gershwin, Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington took musical inspiration from New York City, it’s impossible to divorce pianist/composer Thelonious Monk’s music from Gotham. In Monk, the erotic and the athletic intertwine at the Savoy Ballroom, subways vibrate with propulsive rhythms, congregational choirs shake church foundations, young girls skip rope ...
Let’s learn more about Sonny Rollins
Mar
7
2011
Video tracks four historic Prestige recordings between Miles Davis and Rollins, who accepted the 2010 National Award of Arts from President Obama last week.