Overdue Ovation
December 2008 By George Varga
Mundell Lowe: Man of Few Notes, Many Stories
It was a great life,” says Mundell Lowe. “It still is.” It certainly is for this esteemed guitarist, composer and arranger, whose résumé includes stellar collaborations with enough legends to fill at least one jazz museum. His discography includes albums...
November 2008 By Mike Joyce
Alvin Queen: Improving With Age
Small wonder Alvin Queen sounds so happy, speaking from his home in Geneva. The New York-born drummer has just spent his 58th birthday doing something he cherishes: photographing the magnificent Swiss Alps. A resident of Switzerland for nearly 30 years now...
October 2008 By Mike Joyce
David Berger: Remembering Harry Warren
He wrote countless songs between 1928 and 1981, often with indelible melodies, mostly for films, including the Busby Berkeley spectacular 42nd Street, and had more pop hits than any of his peers—Berlin, the Gershwins, Porter, Carmichael, et al. But as far...
September 2008 By Chris Kelsey
Jerry Bergonzi : Living and Learning
I’m still here, and I’m not a miserable S.O.B.!” says 58-year-old Jerry Bergonzi with a laugh when asked what he considers his greatest accomplishment. Certainly, the Boston-born-and-bred tenor saxophonist has reason to be content. Not only has he earned...
August 2008 By Bill Milkowski
Joe Diorio: Rehabilitation & Reinvention
One of the great jazz guitarists since the 1960s, Joe Diorio has flown under the radar of the vast majority of jazz fans. But to the hordes of working guitarists today who studied with him at Hollywood’s Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT) from 1977-97...
June 2008 By Bill Meredith
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...
May 2008 By Christopher Loudon
Keely Smith: Out From the Shadows
She can be counted, alongside bandleader/trumpeter Louis Prima, among the earliest architects of Las Vegas showmanship. When the very first Grammy awards were handed out in 1959, she was up for two, losing Best Female Vocal Performance to Ella Fitzgerald...
April 2008 By Bill Milkowski
Reggie Washington: Groove Instincts
The scene was much more nurturing 20 years ago,” says bassist Reggie Washington, a former stalwart of the M-Base Collective and a ubiquitous figure on New York’s jazz, funk and creative music scene through the ’80s, ’90s and into the first half of the ’00s...
March 2008 By Don Heckman
Azar Lawrence: Enlightened in the New Age
When Azar Lawrence grabs you for a handshake, your fingers quickly know they’ve met their match. He may be past the mid-century mark, but the veteran Los Angeles tenor saxophonist still has the sturdy look and powerful presence of a first-string linebacker...
January/February 2008 By John Murph
Steve Reid: Walking with Giants
When Steve Reid talks about his fascinating life as a drummer or waxes philosophical about the state of jazz, three words pop up routinely in the conversation: cycle, rhythm and dance. Those terms also provide apt modifiers for describing Reid’s circuitous...
