Bill Meredith
Bill’s Contributions
June 2008 Overdue Ovation
Bunky Green: Teachin’, Tourin’, Kickin’ A#%
Alto saxophonist Vernice “Bunky” Green already had degrees from Northwestern University and Chicago State University in 1989, yet that’s when he chose to go back to school while in his mid-50s. To teach, that is. That school was the University of North Florida...
June 2008 Gearhead
Zildjian K Custom Hybrid Cymbals
There are new additions to the Avedis Zildjian Company’s K Custom Hybrid Series, the award-winning line designed with Japanese drummer Akira Jimbo. A fusion specialist, Jimbo said in a press release that “brilliance and darkness co-exist” in his 21st-century...
June 2008 Albums
Fuzzy
Oz Noy
Guitarist Oz Noy faced an uphill battle on his new CD Fuzzy, simply because it follows his intense 2006 release Oz Live. But if the prevailing notion was that Noy’s second studio effort would wilt by comparison, it gets proven wrong by mid-disc. Fuzzy starts...
June 2008 Albums
Aqua
Jeff Richman
Los Angeles-based guitarist Jeff Richman has produced, arranged and appeared on a string of Tone Center all-star compilations and tributes (to John Coltrane, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Miles Davis, Steely Dan, Santana and Jeff Beck) since 2002. His solo-recording...
June 2008 Albums
Incandescence
Bill Stewart
Among the modern pride of relatively young lions in jazz drumming, Bill Stewart’s name isn’t mentioned often enough. The 41-year-old Iowa native has excelled both live and in the studio with guitarists John Scofield, Pat Metheny and Jonathan Kreisberg, and...
June 2008 Albums
Lifecycle
Yellowjackets featuring Mike Stern
Yellowjackets started out as the backing band on a solo project for Robben Ford, the guitarist who in turn added spice to the band’s first two releases, still two of their best. Ford also made a guest appearance on the group’s last CD with a guitarist, 1993’s...
May 2008 Features
Stanley Jordan: The Healer
Stanley Jordan’s home in Sedona, Ariz., provides the guitarist with ample living, practice and office space, but if you ask him about its best feature, he literally looks outside the box. “I can pretty much walk out the door, pick a direction and go hiking...
May 2008 Albums
Rediscovering Lonnie Johnson
Blues Anatomy with Jef Lee Johnson
Rediscovering Lonnie Johnson honors Alonzo “Lonnie” Johnson (1899-1970), the blues star of the 1920s who’s generally regarded as the creator of the now-common single-note guitar solo. Johnson was also a vocalist, and second only to Blind Lemon Jefferson...
May 2008 Albums
In Two Minds
Bill Bruford & Michiel Borstlap
Roughly midway through his current 40-year recording career, drummer Bill Bruford released the explorative duo albums Music for Piano and Drums and Flags with former Yes keyboardist Patrick Moraz. The drummer searched for 15 years for the right keyboardist...
April 2008 Albums
I Got Your Mantra
Carl Filipiak & the Jimi Jazz Band
Maybe Maryland-based guitarist Carl Filipiak doesn’t covet stardom, or maybe it’s his artistic decisions that have kept him from guitar-hero status during a 20-year solo recording career. He’s never lacked the technical talent, or the surrounding cast. Yet...
April 2008 Albums
Strange News From Mars
Jon Larsen
Norwegian guitarist Jon Larsen started out as an unlikely candidate to release a CD inspired by the work of Frank Zappa. Larsen was primarily a painter in the 1970s, after which he formed the successful Django Reinhardt/Stephane Grappelli-themed Hot Club...
March 2008 Artist Profiles
Maceo Parker: A Brand New Bag
Shouts of “Maceo!” by James Brown, both onstage and on albums, preceded solos by saxophonist Maceo Parker from the 1960s to the 1980s, giving him rare first-name fame. Parker’s fiery playing with the Godfather of Soul didn’t hurt his recognition either...
January/February 2008 Albums
Roots & Grooves
Maceo Parker
Saxophonist Maceo Parker has a 45-year recording career built upon being the ultimate sideman, especially to James Brown. Parker’s occasional solo releases have never changed that legacy, or even appeared to try to. Until now. The live double-CD Roots...
December 2007 Overdue Ovation
Ira Sullivan: Family First
Ira Sullivan is as animated, worldly and versatile in conversation as he is on a vast range of wind instruments, so the 76-year-old hardly comes across as the retiring type. But when he left Chicago in the early 1960s after dominating the Windy City’s jazz...
December 2007 Albums
School of the Arts
T Lavitz
Keyboardist T Lavitz’s fusion credits include the Dixie Dregs and Jazz Is Dead, but he gets extra points for craftiness in putting together this collective. Lavitz seemed to realize that an electric fusion outing by this cast would be deemed predictable...
December 2007 Albums
Everything’s Liquid
Oko Jumu
Key West, Fla., the southernmost city in the United States, has the kind of tourist-driven music scene that thrives on cover bands playing Jimmy Buffet’s “Margaritaville.” The listless pop hit has provided the image of the Key West experience since its release...
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ReportAbout Bill Meredith
Native Floridian Bill Meredith started a career as a freelance journalist in 1992, seven years after beginning his career as a drummer, percussionist and vocalist. Aside from occasional sportswriting, his two musical careers have paid the bills ever since. In 2006, he opened for B.B. King with blues band the Hellhounds, a few months after his second interview with Chick Corea. Meredith has also written for Jazziz, City Link and Closer, and his various bands have opened for Ani DiFranco, Johnny Winter and Warren Hill.
Bill Meredith joined the JazzTimes community on Jan 31, 2008