SFJAZZ also presents Ahmad Jamal on June 13!
“He performs for us at Davies Symphony Hall with a seamless quartet whose grooving sound is flavored by the New Orleans style of drummer Herlin Riley and bassist Reginald Veal and the polyrhythmic pop of Puerto Rican-born percussionist Manolo Badrena.”
Hear Blue Moon on iTunes.
(via Catherine Russell - Kuumbwa Jazz Center - Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Santa Cruz jazz fans, don’t miss Catherine Russell live at Kuumbwa Jazz on June 22! Get your tickets now.
See her full West Coast tour schedule.
(via harmonia mundi store :: New Releases Tokyo String Quartet, Ravi Shanker, Philip Glass)
Take a look at our New Releases in the catalog and get 20% off purchases at our webstore until May 18! The coupon code at checkout is MAY14.
I went to Jazz@Lincoln Center on consecutive evenings last weekend. Friday night, at the club, Dizzy’s, I caught one of my favorite female singers, Catherine Russell, with her band, doing a jazz and blues set. (Catherine is also top-tier backup singer for bands like Bowie’s and Steely Dan.) The daughter of Luis Russell, was Louis Armstrong’s long-time musical director, she sure is schooled in the history of the music, and picks out chestnuts from the past which you can’t believe you’ve not heard before. She makes them her own, at least as far as I can tell, being unfamiliar with the originals, but they sure do sound great with her band (and of course, against the background of Columbus Circle at Dizzy’s). I first discovered her because Terry Gross is a big fan and then I caught her singing with the Donald Fagen/Boz Scaggs/Michael MacDonald band, where she pretty much stole the show. See the woman if you can, or at least check out her cds. I think there are two of them.
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Why Won’t Congress Follow? | The Nation Actually there are four! Here’s Catherine’s discography on iTunes. |
Valdes’ every dancing intro, incisive fill and storming chordal eruption on piano is always irresistable, and his solo opener on the breathless Congadanza is a nine-minute exposition of exactly why he remains one of jazz piano’s most majestic virtuosos.
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Chucho Valdés and the Afro-Cuban Messengers: Border-Free – 4 STARS | guardian.co.uk Coming to the US on Jazz Village in July! |
Catherine Russell comes to California next month! Jazz and swing fans, mark your calendars!
June 22 at Kuumbwa Jazz in Santa Cruz
June 23 at Yoshi’s San Francisco
June 26 at Los Gatos Jazz on the Plazz
Check out a fun clip from her sold-out Dizzy’s Club series!
Catherine Russell plays the Capital Blues Red Hot Blues ‘n BBQ in Glen Echo, MD on May 25! Get Strictly Romancin’ on iTunes.
![(via Kyle Eastwood, Larry Coryell and Sons - A Magical Guitar Night at The Blue Note | GuitarInternational.com)
“…Eastwood’s band at The Blue Note was tight, top-notch and obviously loving playing together. Eastwood’s playing is strong and supple, featuring a wide vibrato that almost makes him sound like he’s playing a fretless instrument at times—shades of David Sylvian and Japan…
Debra Devi: Can you tell me about the Gibson bass you designed?
Kyle Eastwood: It’s not really a Gibson per se, it was designed by Bunny Brunel and myself and a guy at the Gibson Custom shop made five or six prototypes, two of which I kept and customized some more myself. It’s still the bass I use – I shaped the neck so it’s skinnier under the higher strings and it’s just balanced ergonomically the way I like. I try a lot of other basses but never seem to find one I like quite as well…
Debra: How did you get into African influences?
Kyle Eastwood: I’ve been exposed to a lot of African music living in France and I did some research into South African music when I was writing music for the film Invictus. And living in France I’ve had the chance to travel a lot through North Africa. There are also a lot of Senegalese musicians in France – I haven’t been to Senegal but I’ve gotten to hear a lot of Senegalese music…
Debra: Any jazz influences that come to mind for this album?
Kyle Eastwood: I’m drawn to Charles Mingus and other jazz payers from the fifties and sixties. He’s a great role model for me as a bassist who was also a bandleader and composer. Art Blakely’s groups, too, from the late fifties, early sixties I’ve always liked that sound, and writing for a group with two horns, like mine. Without having to actually travel around with a big band! [laughs]
I grew up listening to sixties and seventies funk and really digging it. That’s the stuff that made me want to pick up the bass. I started teaching myself those songs…”](http://24.media.tumblr.com/e681afe3fc3ff7e54ba94eb84250ee4d/tumblr_mmjhumXLuQ1qlwm53o1_500.jpg)
“…Eastwood’s band at The Blue Note was tight, top-notch and obviously loving playing together. Eastwood’s playing is strong and supple, featuring a wide vibrato that almost makes him sound like he’s playing a fretless instrument at times—shades of David Sylvian and Japan…
Debra Devi: Can you tell me about the Gibson bass you designed?
Kyle Eastwood: It’s not really a Gibson per se, it was designed by Bunny Brunel and myself and a guy at the Gibson Custom shop made five or six prototypes, two of which I kept and customized some more myself. It’s still the bass I use – I shaped the neck so it’s skinnier under the higher strings and it’s just balanced ergonomically the way I like. I try a lot of other basses but never seem to find one I like quite as well…
Debra: How did you get into African influences?
Kyle Eastwood: I’ve been exposed to a lot of African music living in France and I did some research into South African music when I was writing music for the film Invictus. And living in France I’ve had the chance to travel a lot through North Africa. There are also a lot of Senegalese musicians in France – I haven’t been to Senegal but I’ve gotten to hear a lot of Senegalese music…
Debra: Any jazz influences that come to mind for this album?
Kyle Eastwood: I’m drawn to Charles Mingus and other jazz payers from the fifties and sixties. He’s a great role model for me as a bassist who was also a bandleader and composer. Art Blakely’s groups, too, from the late fifties, early sixties I’ve always liked that sound, and writing for a group with two horns, like mine. Without having to actually travel around with a big band! [laughs]
I grew up listening to sixties and seventies funk and really digging it. That’s the stuff that made me want to pick up the bass. I started teaching myself those songs…”
Gilad Atzmon & the OHE, Songs of the Metropolis: Seeking to embody the sounds of cities in his music, Atzmon leads a quartet through a series of tunes that vary in expression as differently as do the cities themselves. Atzmon on alto & soprano saxes, clarinet, and accordion. Frank Harrison on piano, Rhodes, synths, harmonium, and glock. Yaron Stavi on bass and Eddie Hick on drums. The tunes that adopt a thoughtful tone are the winners on this nifty album.
