Jazz

Coming Attractions: Jazz Week Special Edition

April 23, 2010
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By J. R. Carroll Coming Attractions in Jazz for April 2010 unfortunately was washed away by the Waters of March (“It’s the mud, it’s the mud”), but we couldn’t let this year’s Jazz Week slip by without highlighting a few of the numerous events taking place in the Boston metro area from Friday, April 23,…

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Coming Attractions in Jazz: March 2010

March 1, 2010
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By J. R. Carroll March is the month for Elder Statesmen—and drummers. Bassist Buster Williams has played and recorded with, well, damn near everyone, and currently leads his own Something More Quartet; they’ll be coming to Scullers on March 2 at 8 p.m. Photo by Mandy Hall, available under a Creative Commons Attribution license. Drummer…

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Coming Attractions in Jazz: February 2010

February 1, 2010
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There may not be any Lester Young tributes scheduled for Presidents’ Day, but the entire month of February is nothing less than a valentine to jazz piano. By J. R. Carroll Pianist Jason Moran hasn’t yet encountered a piece of music (or even raw sound) that he couldn’t transform into a jaw-dropping improvisation. Johannes Brahms,…

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Coming Attractions in Jazz: January 2010

December 28, 2009
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By J. R. Carroll If January inspires a desire for warmer climes and a trip to the tropics isn’t in the cards, you can still come in out of the cornstarch and dry your mukluks as musicians who’ve brought their traditions to Boston from around the world turn up the heat. Zili Misik and their…

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Coming Attractions in Jazz: December 2009

December 1, 2009
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By J. R. Carroll December is always an exasperating month for jazz fans: The first week is crammed with more events than any human without self-cloning abilities can possibly attend; after that, the major clubs close their doors many evenings in order to host private parties (hey, something has to pay the bills). The upside…

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Coming Attractions in Jazz: November 2009

November 2, 2009
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By J. R. Carroll After the New England Conservatory’s well-deserved turn in the limelight last month in celebration of the 40th anniversary of their jazz studies program, the Berklee College of Music comes to the fore in November with a strong series of performances on- and off-campus. Photo by Jesus Angel Hernandez de Rojas, available…

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Coming Attractions in Jazz: October 2009

September 28, 2009
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For a genre that supposedly expired in the 1950’s, the big band’s vital signs seem remarkably robust here in Boston. By J. R. Carroll A welcome recent addition has been the compositions and arrangements of tenor saxophonist Florencia Gonzalez, which layer vivid sonorities and intricate counterpoint atop Afro-Uruguayan candombe and Argentinian tango. She brings her…

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Jazz Review: Mimi Rabson Premieres ‘The Berklee Violin Solos’

February 17, 2009
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By J. R. Carroll Violinists are a fortunate lot. Granted, many years of painstaking study and practice are required to master the instrument, but once achieved, that mastery can be taken in almost any direction–or in many directions. As part of what she describes as her “never-ending quest for new vocabulary,” Mimi Rabson has headed…

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Patricia Barber brings ‘The Cole Porter Mix’ to Massachusetts

February 10, 2009
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by J. R. Carroll Just a heads up to our readers that Patricia Barber will bring her quartet to the Regattabar for two shows on Wednesday evening, February 11th, and, for those in the Metro-West area, to the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton on Thursday evening, February 12th. We expect she and her compatriots…

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Music Review: Patricia Barber’s `The Cole Porter Mix’

August 24, 2008
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by J.R. Carroll “Singer/songwriter” is not a description often applied to jazz musicians, and generally with good reason: Jazz instrumentalists have demonstrated again and again that as wordsmiths they are, well, outstanding instrumentalists. At best, the typically after-the-fact lyrics strive uneasily for either social uplift or hipster knowingness; at worst, they are just embarrassingly lame.…

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