Jazz
Ray Charles had one of the great voices of the 20th century, and even the best singers have very large shoes to fill when paying tribute.
Read MoreUpdated Sept. 19. Performances tonight and tomorrow evening by the Fred Hersch Trio and the Jeremy Pelt Quintet at Scullers have been cancelled due to a power outage at the DoubleTree hotel. Also, a late addition to the schedule: poet Robert Pinsky and pianist Laurence Hobgood at Club Oberon; plus, a reminder that Brazilian guitarist Rogerio Souza is at Ryles tonight. (For details, see below.) As autumn approaches, Berklee celebrates Ray Charles, NEC kicks off 40th anniversary festivities for its Contemporary Improvisation department, and New England jazz boasts a series of spectacular duo performances, Brazilian music in a variety of flavors, release events for new CDs, and some all-star quintets.
Read MoreRalph Peterson is interested in furthering a complex, post-bop legacy. His music can be hard to count: it’s also rip-roaring fun.
Read MoreFrom the Berkshires to Cape Cod, and with a major stop in Beantown, Massachusetts is the place to be for the autumn jazz festival season.
Read MoreBy J. R. Carroll Even on the Labor Day Weekend, September 2012 gets off to strong start with a Billy Strayhorn tribute in Hyde Park and some special visitors from Brazil. Saturday, September 1, at 2 p.m. at the Martini Shell on Truman Parkway, the third annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival offers a triple bill…
Read MoreThe plans to serve the jazz community that WGBH offered to JazzBoston during the meeting, from an internet jazz station to making Eric Jackson more visible on the station’s talk shows, are only part and parcel of the strategic dithering, a cover for lowering standards and doing little.
Read MoreA rare visit from trumpeter and composing improviser/improvising composer Arthur Brooks, a farewell evening of Ecuadorian fusion by ÑAWI, and trumpeter Brian Lynch’s “Unsung Heroes” project are the high points in a surprisingly full second half of August.
Read MoreBassist Michael Feinberg has done many things right in his richly varied tribute to the great percussionist Elvin Jones.
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Updated Aug. 9 at 3 p.m. In the second week of August, the power of percussion is much in evidence, with Mikael Ringquist and Marcus Santos, Manolo Mairena, Gary Fieldman, and Vicente Lebron. New Orleans adds some flavor with Christian Scott and Galactic, and Berklee Summer in the City just keeps rolling along.
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Arts Commentary: Rich in Creativity — But Nothing Else