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NPR: Wayne Shorter Announces ‘Emanon,’ Multiverse-Inspired Triple Album
July 27, 2018Wayne Shorter was 15 when he first wrote and illustrated his own comic book, in blue ballpoint pen. That was in 1949, and Shorter has traveled great distances since, becoming an influential saxophonist, a 10-time ...
NPR: John Coltrane’s Lost Album A ‘Buried Treasure’ For Jazz Fans
June 24, 2018On March 6, 1963, John Coltrane and his quartet arrived at Van Gelder Studios in New Jersey to record an album. It was a busy time for the group, which featured pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison and ...
NPR: Bobby McFerrin And His Daughter Make Music A Family Affair
June 14, 2018The love of music has been passed down in the McFerrin family for generations. Bobby McFerrin is likely best known for his 1988 hit “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” and has been entertaining audiences with ...
Lorraine Gordon of Village Vanguard Club dies at 95
June 10, 2018New York’s Village Vanguard may come closer than any other club to embodying the spirit of jazz. For nearly 30 years, the guardian of that spirit has been the Vanguard’s formidable impresaria, Lorraine ...
Kennedy Center jazz honors bassist Charlie Haden
June 5, 2018It takes a vast concert to encapsulate the vast legacy of bassist Charlie Haden, who died in 2014 at age 76. “A note to our regular attendees: There is an intermission tonight,” Kevin Struthers, the Kennedy Center’s ...
Melbourne International Jazz Festival: Women musicians seek to change the jazz world’s boys club
June 3, 2018By Joanna Crothers Gender bias in musical instrument selection has stopped Australia’s jazz scene from having more women leading shows and ensembles, according to industry experts. Traditionally instruments ...
Jeff Goldblum To Make Jazz Debut on Decca Records
May 31, 2018A pianist for more than 50 years of his life, Jeff Goldblum has signed with Decca Records to produce his debut jazz album. Goldblum, beloved for his roles in the Jurassic Park franchise, Independence Day and The ...
VOA: Turkish Ambassador’s Home Has Deep Jazz Roots
May 30, 2018In 1935, Turkey’s second ambassador to Washington, Mehmet Munir Ertegun, moved into Everett House. He and his two sons – Ahmet and Nesuhi – had a great love for jazz music. They wanted to experience it with ...
HBCU Bands Recreate Music of Harlem Hellfighters
May 29, 2018They were perhaps the best military band ever and they were also a band of brothers: the 369th Regiment Harlem Hellfighters of World War One. Now their music is being recreated 100 years later by young jazz ...
Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis says rap and hip-hop are ‘more damaging than a statue of Robert E. Lee’
May 23, 2018In a discussion with The Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart, Wynton Marsalis discusses issues of race, Confederate statues, and the impact of rap music’s language that he feels damages community and ...