Detroit’s Planet D Nonet are in town tonight and tomorrow night, performing the music of Sun Ra, whose music they recorded on the recent We Travel the Spaceways: the Music of Sun Ra. The group aren’t simply avant-garde fans; they see the connections between big-band conceptualists across the spectrum, including Duke Ellington and and Fletcher [...]
Tag Archives: jazz
Glen David Andrews, Live at Three Muses (Independent)
February 1, 2012 – 12:59 am
Anyone who’s witnessed Glen David Andrews on a good night knows he is capable of being the most charismatic performer in New Orleans. Up until now, you had to be there to appreciate his talent, though. His 2004 Dumaine Street Blues demonstrated his capabilities playing traditional jazz and New Orleans street favorites quite well but [...]
Esperanza Spalding, Radio Music Society (Heads Up International Records)
February 1, 2012 – 12:52 am
Intended as the companion to 2010’s Chamber Music Society, Esperanza Spalding’s latest release explores pop and its power on radio. For an artist whose credentials are questioned by various jazz cops, this is a rather frank way to tackle the question of “crossover.” If the previous album was uploaded by the mainstream through whatever mechanisms [...]
Kidd Jordan, On Fire (Engine Records)
January 1, 2012 – 12:55 am
The art of listening, whether on the bandstand or in daily life, is a highly underrated skill. As Kidd Jordan continues his formidable yet underappreciated career, his playing shows more and more how much he values listening to and complementing his fellow players. This has always been evident in his music, but now it has [...]
Kathleen Lee, Coming Up For Air (MTT Records)
January 1, 2012 – 12:53 am
Many of us in New Orleans have listened to Kathleen Lee’s swing music show on WWOZ for years. What a nice surprise, then, for us to hear her sing on this debut disc. If some of the covers (“All of Me,” “Fever”) are a little shopworn, other cuts are anything but ordinary. Her powerful take [...]
The Wee Trio, Ashes to Ashes: A David Bowie Intraspective (Bionic Records)
January 1, 2012 – 12:52 am
In 2011, Cliff Hines brought together young jazz and indie rock musicians for a night of music by David Bowie at One Eyed Jacks. James Westfall was among the musicians assembled, and he and the Wee Trio were already considering an album examining Bowie’s music from a jazz perspective. Ashes to Ashes suggests that if [...]
Sun Ra, This Planet is Doomed: The Science Fiction Poetry of Sun Ra (Kicks Books)
January 1, 2012 – 12:20 am
Few people know that Sun Ra, besides being an avant-black futurist big band leader, was also a poet. He and his band would recite chants and poems during and between songs at performances, and now, thanks to Kicks Books—Norton Records’ publishing imprint—many of Ra’s works of words are collected in the appropriately titled This Planet [...]
The Original Tuxedo Jazz Band: What’s in a Name?
January 1, 2012 – 12:03 am
This year’s Gretna Heritage Festival prompted the question: When there’s only one original member, is Lynyrd Skynyrd still Lynyrd Skynyrd? A New Orleans version of this question arose when it was announced that drummer Bob French would be stepping down as bandleader of the Original Tuxedo Brass Band, to be replaced by his nephew, Gerald [...]
YouTube du Jour: Sarah Quintana
December 22, 2011 – 1:10 pm
Sarah Quintana is an unsung singer in New Orleans, with a haunting voice and an ear for a pretty melody. A NOCCA grad schooled in jazz guitar, she sings original folk-jazz compositions and French chansons. An album of her work is much overdue, and Quintana hopes to change that with her current Kickstarter campaign, looking [...]
Jazz Fest: On the Ledge
December 14, 2011 – 9:45 am
Quick response to this year’s Jazz Fest talent roll out: – It feels old to complain about the lack of contemporary jazz at Jazz Fest, but this year’s lineup looks like the jazz bookers threw their hands in the air and quit, opting almost entirely for locals. I see Esperanza Spalding, David Sanborn and Joey DeFrancesco, smooth [...]
