Davina & the Vagabonds have created a stir on the national music scene with their high-energy live shows, level A musicianship, sharp-dressed professionalism, and Sowers’ commanding stage presence. With influences ranging from Fats Domino and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band to Aretha Franklin and Tom Waits, the band is converting audiences one show at a time, from Vancouver to Miami and across Europe.
Check out the performance on WGN TV
This week, GQ Style reporter Nick Marino and photographer Christian Weber interviewed ten jazz masters on the relationship between their music and their style. Check out snippets from the profiles of TKA artist Chick Corea, Charles Lloyd, & Roy Haynes below!
Charles Lloyd on his modeling career: ““Yohji Yamamoto has made a lot of clothes for me and invited me to model in Paris and in Tokyo. We share an aesthetic sensibility.”
Chick Corea on living healthy: “About five years ago I went on a plant-based diet…I came down from a 44 waist to a 33 waist. None of my clothes fit me anymore; I had to get rid of them all. It felt so good.”
Roy Haynes on dressing well from an early age: ““Even before I had a good gig, I was having stuff made. Some people would come to my gig to see what I was wearing.”
Check out the full article and more photos at GQ Style
TKA is proud to recognize our artists who have been nominated for this year’s Grammy Awards!
2017 BEST JAZZ VOCAL ALBUM
“Harlem On My Mind” — Catherine Russell
“Sound of Red” — René Marie
“Upward Spiral” — Branford Marsalis Quartet With Special Guest Kurt Elling
“Take Me to the Alley” — Gregory Porter
“The Sting Variations” — The Tierney Sutton Band
——
2017 BEST IMPROVISED JAZZ SOLO
“Countdown” — Joey Alexander, soloist
“In Movement” — Ravi Coltrane, soloist
“We See” — Fred Hersch, soloist
“I Concentrate On You” — Brad Mehldau, soloist
“I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” — John Scofield, soloist
Tune in to the award ceremony airing on CBS on Sunday, Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. ET. James Corden will host the event, which will take place at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Find the full list of nominees and awards at the Los Angeles Times
Gary Walker for NPR –
Catherine Russell is a rarity. She can sing a story like no one else. Her song explorations on her sixth album capture the history and excitement of Harlem’s Apollo Theater, from her full-throated take on “Swing! Brother, Swing!” to the hushed affection of “The Very Thought Of You.” There’s a gin joint joy in Clarence Williams’ “You’ve Got the Right Key, but the Wrong Keyhole,” missing none of the spirit of Louis Armstrong or Virginia Liston. Alongside saxophonist Fred Staton, Russell makes the plaintive “Don’t Take Your Love From Me” her own.
Find the full list on NPR
Howard Reich for the CHICAGO TRIBUNE –
Leonine organist Joey DeFrancesco packed about three programs worth of music into his first set Thursday night at the Jazz Showcase — not in terms of duration but of content.
Had he played just the organ, or only the trumpet, or if he simply had sung, he would have given the crowded house a great deal to ponder. But he did all of that, his repertoire proving comparably wide ranging, from edgy new music to vigorous transformations of jazz standards.
One hastens to note, though, that DeFrancesco’s sovereignty at the organ is the reason music lovers queue up to hear him. At 45, he has dominated the instrument and the field as no one of his generation has.
But the innate musicality of his trumpet playing and the increasing finesse of his vocals were enhancements to the main attraction, rather than the minor distractions of years ago.
Still, it was DeFrancesco’s hyper-virtuosity and musical imagination at the organ that drove the proceedings, much of the music drawn from his newest release, “Trip Mode.”
(12/6/16)
Read the full review at the Chicago Tribune
Betto Arcos for NPR –
You can hear Harold Lopez-Nussa’s training when he plays. The 33-year-old pianist is reluctant to admit the classical influence on his jazz playing, but he’s quick to acknowledge that he, like many other great Cuban pianists, was classically trained. “This is the school that we have to learn music in Cuba; it’s classical,” he says. “I did all my stuff there from 8 years old to 25.”
Ned Sublette, author of the book Cuba and Its Music, From the First Drums to the Mambo, says the education Lopez-Nussa received in Cuban conservatories was unique. “He had a level of training that it’s really hard to get anywhere else,” he says.
Sublette explains that the Cuban Revolution in 1959 led to more investment in music education. “The new revolutionary government made culture a priority,” he says. He also points out that this robust system of conservatories is still operating. “You will meet Cuban musicians who have been trained from childhood to be competitive professional musicians — and most of them have a conservatory background,” he says.
But music school isn’t the only part of a musician’s education. Sublette, quoting British musicologist Geoff Baker, says Cuban musicians have four main streams of influence: “family, conservatory, street and religion.”
Harold Lopez-Nussa certainly draws on the first two. His grandparents were musicians, his father is a respected drummer and music educator and his mother was a piano teacher. “I have the music in my body and my blood,” Lopez-Nussa says. “Eighty percent of what I’m doing today and why I’m a musician is because of my family.”
(12/1/16)
CELEBRITY ACCESS — Jazz legend Chick Corea and the Elektric Band are teaming up with Béla Fleck & the Flecktones for a rare dual bill tour of North America next year.
The tour will hit the road with dates starting on August 5th and running through August 21st.
Chick Corea will be supported with his entire classic Elektroband quintet on stage: John Patitucci (Bass), Frank Gambale (Guitar), Eric Marienthal (Saxophone), and Dave Weckl (Drums).
—
Stay tuned to this space for future announcements and news about this incredible, once-in-a-lifetime tour!
Tom Vitale for NPR –
Jazz pianist Chick Corea is celebrating his 75th birthday this year with a marathon of live performances. He was on the road all summer and has finally settled into an eight-week run at the Blue Note Club in Greenwich Village in New York. The birthday bash features 15 different bands, playing music from every phase of Corea’s long career.
“I think of the piano like that,” Corea says. “Like a great big marimba. Or a percussion instrument. There’s so many possibilities of putting it together when you’ve got 10 mallets and 88 drums.”
Corea’s touch on the piano is what sets him apart, says New York Times music critic Nate Chinen. “It’s almost like his fingers bounce off the keys,” Chinen says.
(11/15/16)
Read the rest of the article at NPR Music
Earlier this month, John Sebastian sat down with Epiphone Guitars to discuss his history with the instrument and its influence on his career as a premiere songsmith and instrumentalist.
From Epiphone:
“More than any other American band in the 1960s, the Lovin’ Spoonful best exemplified the musical spirit of The Beatles. Led by songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and singer John Sebastian, the Lovin’ Spoonful’s sound was an original blend of folk, rock n’ roll, R&B and country that defied description. The ‘Spoonful were renown for tight harmonies, clean-toned guitars, and a slightly behind the beat groove inspired by southern R&B. The band’s mastery of the push & pull of American music styles inspired their contemporaries and earned them an induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1965, John Lennon included their single “Daydream” in his portable jukebox and both “I’m Only Sleeping” and “Good Day Sunshine” owe a debt to the ‘Spoonful’s sunny sound. “We were grateful to the Beatles for reminding us of our rock & roll roots,” said Sebastian, “but we wanted to cut out the English middlemen, so to speak, and get down to making this new music as an ‘American band.'””
Read the interview at Epiphone
The DownBeat Magazine Readers Poll announced its list of winners for 2016 and TKA is proud to recognize a number of our artists on their list. Check out our winners below!
81st ANNUAL DOWNBEAT READERS POLL WINNERS
Big Band: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra
Trumpet: Wynton Marsalis
Baritone Saxophone: James Carter
Piano: Chick Corea
Keyboard: Chick Corea
Organ: Joey DeFrancesco
Guitar: Pat Metheny
Vibraphone: Gary Burton
Miscellaneous Instrument: Béla Fleck (banjo)
Find the full list at DownBeat Magazine