Via Okayplayer Ndegeocello is known for her skill and creativity on the bass, as well as her unmistakable groove and ever-evolving songwriting. On this album she includes three bassists: Jake Sherman, Bruce, and Travis II. “I want to be a…
via Pitchfork First popularized by Chicago jazz singer Judy Roberts and recently resurrected on a compilation of obscure yacht-rock gems, Russ Long’s 1982 composition “Never Was Love” is a fascinating document of its time: as catchy and evocative as anything…
Cuban-born pianist and composer HAROLD LÓPEZ-NUSSA begins an exciting new chapter of his fascinating career with his Blue Note debut Timba a la Americana, a vibrant album teeming with joy and pathos that was inspired by the pianist’s recent decision to leave…
via Billboard Continuing its mission to honor “jazz and blues … one musician at a time,” the Jazz Foundation of America (JFA) celebrated the legacies of longtime industry executive Clarence Avant, tenor saxophonist Charles Lloyd and pianist-producer-composer Dave Grusin at its annual fundraiser on June 25. The combination…
via NPR Music Realness is a root position in The Omnichord Real Book, Meshell Ndegeocello’s expansive yet interior new album. That doesn’t make it the default. “I’ve been saying things I don’t believe,” Ndegeocello sings softly at one point, in a rueful…
via Garden & Gun Magazine Bobby Rush is one of the last men standing from a defining era of the blues. A Louisiana native who grew up picking cotton, he left for Chicago in the early ’50s to pay his…
Cécile McLorin Salvant, three-time Grammy Award winning singer, visual artist, and composer visits Amoeba Music in San Fransisco, taking part in the legendary video series where artists share music that’s important to their creativity, sound, and identity. Salvant is well…
via Pitchfork The Omnichord was developed in Japan in the 1980s as a musician’s electronic accompaniment, incorporating a drum machine with rhythm and tempo controls, a set number of playable chords, and a “futuristic” touch-sensitive synthesizer ribbon. And while it…
In 14th-century French mythology, Mélusine was half-woman/half-snake who was betrayed by her lover, turned into a dragon, and flew away. Mélusine is half French chanson/half idiosyncratic art song, which in its course reveals its own soaring majesty. With three Grammys…
World-spanning saxophonist, composer-improviser and band leader Charles Lloyd is hailed for his Lifetime Achievement in Jazz Career highlights of Memphis-born Lloyd, now 85, start with his barnstorming in post-War blues bands; taking part in Los Angeles’s 1950s’ modernist scene; recording Forest Flower, a best-selling…