Mostly the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival ends up being about the multiplicity and infinite variety of cultures and traditions, including generic funk.
Jazz
Jazz Interview: Composer/Pianist Anthony Coleman — On Being “Avant-Garde”
As part of its 150th anniversary celebration, NEC commissioned Anthony Coleman to compose a large-scale work he has named Streams.
Jazz Commentary: Survival of a Scene in Boston
Local music venues — especially those with “off” music like jazz — are caught in a vice, with real estate escalation on one side and corporate-dominated digital technology on the other.
Book Review: “This is Hip” — The Trials and Tribulations of Jazz Singer Mark Murphy
Jazz singer Mark Murphy was just too much for most audiences during that period; too intense, too varied, too unpredictable.
Music Interview: Stanley Sagov — Doctor Jazz
Stanley Sagov never wants to play a piece the same way twice. He’s always engaged in a “search for freshness.”
Film Review: “Chasing Trane” — Telling the Story of a Jazz Legend
This documentary about John Coltrane serves up skillful, sensitive storytelling and an appropriate sense of reverence.
Film Review: “I Called Him Morgan” — A Superb Jazz Documentary
I Called Him Morgan has been lauded as one of the best films of the year, and rightfully so.
Jazz CD Review: Dominique Eade and Ran Blake’s Personal Vision of Americana on “Town and Country”
The throughline of “Town and Country” is folk — austere, hardscrabble.
Fuse Remembrance: Vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson — Making the Imagination Run
“When you think about music it’s got to be that way. Just the thrill of being able to play another note, not to win anything or get a trophy.”
Book Review and Commentary: Testaments to the Wonderful Ears of Ralph J. Gleason
A writer has to write for the now or to write for the ages. Gleason almost always chose the now, but his best moments go deeper.