Music
Trumpeter Arturo Sandoval is a big personality and in this performance he was almost as much raconteur, comedian and ringmaster as musician.
From intense solo recitals to big band rumbles, Satoko Fujii can not only be counted on for exploratory zeal — she also has the chops to pull off whatever she attempts.
Toots Hibbert’s voice expresses both his Jamaican country church upbringing and his deep love of American R&B and soul.
“Our intention was something other than being famous. When you create art from that place, a song is going to connect with people.”
Although his choice of material doesn’t always work for me, for my money, Kurt Elling is the most important jazz vocalist of the last twenty years.
One aspect of Newport I treasure is that it shows me, every time, how much I don’t know.
The author of this Sonny Rollins bio promises us “A Journey into his World of Spirituality” — and that sets high expectations.
Overall, this was classy cello playing. Colin Carr relied on, and brought out, the inherent architecture of the Bach suites.
Vocalist Allegra Levy is at her strongest when purveying certain specific moods — melancholy, playful, even lightly ironic.
Ronnie Cuber makes the high-speed acceleration sound lyrical as well as virtuosic; the band obliges with solos that come off as much more than your standard bop band running the changes.
The Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll at Mid-Year: Warming Up a Riff — How It Happened, and Why It Matters