Picture sax player Ricky Parrell bobbing and weaving on his bike throughout the boulevard-width streets right outside Washington DC. When it’s time for a breather he locks up his bike. The key he uses? It’s become fodder for his jazzy imagination. Inspired by the significant keys he’s owned and loved, this DMV (DC/Maryland/Virginia)-based musician... Continue Reading →
Somehow, smiling while keeping his embouchure as he plays sax, Audley Reid is a sight to behold and a feast for the ears. The groove and funk spilling from his horn catches the audience in an acoustic vise. He’s performed internationally including in his native Jamaica. A strong figure in the Chicago smooth jazz scene,... Continue Reading →
It can be the cool “So What” by Miles Davis or the thoughtful jazz chestnut “On Green Dolphin Street” or something fast and spicy. No matter: Claudio Roditi’s trumpet speaks in a way that fills a room with sweet honey sounds. He left his native Rio de Janeiro while in his early 20s to study... Continue Reading →
There are no fewer than 20 top-notch musicians in Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band. Founded in 1999, Goodwin’s idea was to assemble a band to record an album “and nothing more.” It wasn’t his intention to get gigs for the band but that’s what happened; first, on the request of his alma mater, and then... Continue Reading →
Composer/pianist/teacher Phillip Keveren, who earned his musical pedigree from Cal State U and the University of Southern California, was driven to re-interpret the fugues and cantatas of Bach into jazz. Sample it here: Why morph JSB into jazz, one may ask? Phillip says to blame it on the Swingle Singers. This early acapella group from... Continue Reading →
“Cease and desist or I will have my lawyer contact you!” These are the words that froze my heart and sucked the breath from my lungs. Moments later, when I regained composure, I read the rest of an email that was curt, poorly composed and just plain stupid. Legally speaking. My first book was a... Continue Reading →
Bob Bernotas might not be a jazzy household name, but he’s been writing about the genre for many years. With a successful monthly newsletter and as the host of a show by the same name on an East Coast college radio station, he’s dabbled in clarinet and sax but holds a soft spot for the... Continue Reading →
My first book was non-fiction. It's a cool little paperback about the jazz scene in the Delaware Water Gap in Pennsylvania (there are some international jazz masters living there and I interviewed them). Moderate success on that front. Without a clue and lacking prior experience, I taught myself the discipline of writing a book and... Continue Reading →
Classical pianist and humorist Victor Borge (1909-2000), born in Denmark, was one of early television’s first musicians to perform a stunning variety of classical pieces for a rapt audience, all while injecting a wonderful, dry humor into his performances. In “My Favorite Comedies in Music” (Franklin Watts Publishing/1980) Borge offered his observations of the masters... Continue Reading →
