Larry Appelbaum
Larry’s Contributions
08/15/05 Concerts
Jazz em Agosto
In an increasingly globalized music business that commodifies culture for mass consumption, it’s reassuring that Jazz em Agosto upholds its distinctive identity and high artistic standards. The annual avant music festival takes place over nine days in Lisbon...
05/23/05 Concerts
Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival 2007
Over the course of three days and nights the 10th annual Mary Lou Williams Women In Jazz Festival paid tribute to its namesake while striking a balance between artistry, entertainment and a commitment to jazz education. The festival began with Japanese pianist...
04/02/05 Concerts
Billy Taylor's Final Performance
If Dr. Billy Taylor had merely played piano for the past six decades, he would have secured an honored place in the jazz history books for his skills and creativity. But Taylor has accomplished a great deal more during a distinguished career as composer...
03/21/05 Concerts
Dutch Jazz Meeting
The best way to be immersed in the Dutch jazz scene is to attend the three-day musical feast in Amsterdam known as the Dutch Jazz Meeting. Every couple of years the Dutch Jazz Connection invites concert producers from around the world to experience the best...
November 2004 Features
Dana Gioia & the National Endowment for the Arts: Can Jazz Matter?
Larry Appelbaum talks to the head of the National Endowment for the Arts, which is leading an organized charge to promote jazz to the American public.
09/16/04 Concerts
25th Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition
Gretchen Parlato won first place in the 17th annual Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition finals on Monday night at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Parlato, a New York City-based singer and power-yoga instructor who studied ethnomusicology...
08/02/04 Concerts
Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival 2004
Toronto is home to a jazz scene that rivals, and in most cases exceeds that of most other cities. One reason may be the sheer number of excellent musicians that reside there, but the city also has a cultural infrastructure that supports the music, including...
06/08/04 Concerts
Concerts — September 2004
This year’s Puerto Rico Heineken JazzFest was filled with surprises, both on and off the stage. First, while walking through the hotel lobby on the eve of the festival I heard a familiar guitar sound. It was an unbilled guest appearance by Steve Khan playing...
July/August 2003 Big Bands
Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band
Duke Ellington
Among serious jazz listeners, Duke Ellington is considered the greatest musician of the 20th century, and conventional wisdom has it that his greatest work was recorded with his early 1940s orchestra featuring bassist Jimmy Blanton and tenor saxophonist...
July/August 2003 Big Bands
At the Hurricane
Duke Ellington
Ellington's Blanton-Webster band was short-lived, as the bassist Jimmy Blanton passed away of tuberculosis at 23 in mid-1942. Ben Webster stayed on for a while longer, and he was one of the featured soloists when the Ellington Orchestra opened a six-month...
July/August 2003 Big Bands
The Treasury Shows, Volume 7
Duke Ellington and his Orchestra
Toward the end of World War Two, Ellington and his orchestra were featured on a series of radio broadcasts designed to promote the sale of U.S. Treasury Bonds. These Treasury broadcasts, "Your Saturday Date With the Duke," were issued some years ago on vinyl...
July/August 2003 Big Bands
Once Upon a Time
Earl Hines
Once Upon a Time (Impulse) is basically a 1966 Ellington date with Earl "Fatha" Hines at the piano and trumpeters Ray Nance, Cat Anderson, Bill Berry and Clark Terry; trombonists Lawrence Brown and Buster Cooper; saxophonists Johnny Hodges, Russell Procope...
July/August 2003 Big Bands
Duke Ellington/Sacred Music
Aardvark Jazz Orchestra
For more than 30 years, trumpeter and composer Mark Harvey has led his Aardvark Jazz Orchestra in the Boston area. Their performances and recordings show they're not afraid to take chances, so it's intriguing to hear what they've done on Duke Ellington/Sacred...
July/August 2003 Big Bands
We Do It Diff'rent
Frank Foster Loud Minority Band
Sometimes you just want a big band that'll knock your socks off. That's when you look for Frank Foster and the Loud Minority. Their 2002 date at the Jazz Standard in New York City was recorded by Pierre Sprey, and it's been released as We Do It Diff'rent...
July/August 2003 Big Bands
Hiroshima: Rising from the Abyss
Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin
In the summer of 2001, composer and bandleader Toshiko Akiyoshi presented a concert in Hiroshima commemorating the 56th anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bomb. This music, she says, "represents an anti-nuclear weapon, anti-atomic weapon and...
July/August 2003 Big Bands
Now Is Another Time
David Murray Latin Big Band
David Murray has made more than 90 recording dates as a leader, and the rough and tumble tenor man with the big chops shows no sign of slowing down. His latest, Now Is Another Time (Justin Time) features his Latin Big Band, along with long-time associates...
E-mail
Share
RSS
ReportAbout Larry Appelbaum
Larry Appelbaum is a Senior Music Reference Librarian and jazz specialist in the Music Division at the Library of Congress. He writes for various music magazines and websites around the world, curates a film series and hosts a jazz radio program for WPFW-FM in Washington DC.