“So you’re really into jazz?” says the man, aghast. The man, and the context, are interchangeable. Old or young, at a party or the Newport Jazz Festival, it’s the same. A positive response to this patronizing question is never evidence enough; I will be vetted for my bona fides—regardless of his credentials—until the man realizes…Read More
The Vision Festival, whose 22nd edition ran May 28 through June 3 in Manhattan, at its home base of Judson Memorial Church, is an enduring institution with a well-defined aesthetic and a loyal community. Organized by artistic director Patricia Nicholson Parker, this year’s fest included a lifetime achievement celebration for multi-instrumentalist Cooper-Moore, and a cathartic…Read More
For Poncho Sanchez, 65, growing up in the Los Angeles suburb of Norwalk felt like living in a “pretty white world.” Whether he was searching for Tito Puente or Cal Tjader albums at the local record store or looking for something beyond the standard guitars, saxes and trumpets at the music shop, his inquiries were…Read More
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival took place at the New Orleans Fair Grounds over the span of two weekends from April 27-May 6, and JazzTimes was on the ground to cover the sights and sounds. Enjoy these photos, by Joel A. Siegel, of the festival’s second weekend, held May 5-7. Check back at JazzTimes.com for our…Read More
Weekend two of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is underway, and JazzTimes is on the scene covering this American institution. Enjoy these photos, by Mark Robbins, of the festival’s first weekend, held April 28-30 at the New Orleans Fair Grounds. For tickets and more information on this weekend’s events, visit www.nojazzfest.com.…Read More
It took a while for the electric bass to find its footing as a jazz instrument. Monk Montgomery adopted the ax while in Lionel Hampton’s band during the early to mid-1950s, and jazz-trained R&B players made groundbreaking popular music with it during the ’60s. But it wasn’t until the fusion and funk era of the…Read More
I received a few sharp emails in response to my January/February column, which opened with barbs directed at President Trump. That rhetoric has no business in a jazz rag, these incensed readers argued, before the obligatory threat of a subscription cancellation. In many ways I agree with the pushback: Here they were, trying to unwind…Read More
For those unfamiliar with the vocoder, a shorthand description of the instrument could simply be “the robot voice.” That might come off as dismissive to an artist like Casey Benjamin, who has emerged as a modern master of the vocoder through his work with the Robert Glasper Experiment, if not for the fact that this…Read More
Maybe it was the sight of Cecil Taylor, resplendent in shiny fabrics, at one end of a cavernous gallery at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Maybe it was the pointed whimsy of another pianist, Jason Moran, as he led his trio in a sculptural reconstruction of the old Three Deuces stage. Or maybe it…Read More
Each year, our March issue is one of change, transition and reflection. Mostly this has to do with the magazine’s centerpiece, our annual collection of artist-to-artist tributes celebrating the lives and music of those we lost during the previous year. But this month there are other reasons for contemplation, and for thinking about how the…Read More
