Issue Articles
The Oldest Mardi Gras Indian on the Streets
Thomas Sparks, Sr., Big Chief of the Yellow Jacket Mardi Gras Indian gang, marks a unique milestone this month. On February 17, Mardi Gras Day, he celebrates his 83rd birthday. […]
Kyle Roussel, Rookie of the Year (Independent)
Kyle Roussel opens Rookie of the Year, his debut release as bandleader, with great power and determination. It’s as if the keyboardist and composer is declaring “I am here; I […]
Lifetime Achievement in Music: Ellis Marsalis
Ellis Marsalis makes it clear that his impressive, 60-year-plus career as a musician was not planned. The noted pianist, educator and patriarch of the musical Marsalis family still remembers years […]
Heartbeat Award: Pat Jolly
A December day in the life of Pat Jolly included attending the Jefferson City Buzzard’s Christmas party and a stop at the McKenna Museum for the opening of the Mardi […]
Nicholas Payton, Numbers (Paytone Records)
Nicholas Payton can be, or perhaps more accurately enjoys being, unpredictable. He moves to the beat of his own inner drummer. Considering that on his brilliant 2013, Sketches of Spain, his […]
Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse Band, A New Orleans Creole Christmas (Basin Street Records)
Trumpeter Irvin Mayfield’s and his bandmembers’ musicianship and their expressive interpretation of familiar holiday classics set A New Orleans Christmas apart from the many seasonal albums available. From the onset, […]
Delfeayo Marsalis, The Last Southern Gentlemen (Troubadour Jass Records)
In his thought-provoking liner notes for The Last Southern Gentlemen, Delfeayo Marsalis quotes trumpeter King Oliver’s renowned drummer Baby Dodds saying, “Sometimes we played so softly you could hear the […]
Branford Marsalis, In My Solitude: Live at Grace Cathedral (Marsalis Music)
Branford Marsalis begins his solo performance at San Francisco’s historic Grace Cathedral paying homage to master soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy on the latter’s composition “Who Needs It.” It’s a brilliant […]
Norbert Slama Romances the World
It’s rather an understatement when Norbert Slama says, “I’m moving all the time—I have to move all the time.” As revealed in his recently published memoir, Norbert Slama: How a […]
Jason Marsalis’ Eager Curiosity
Drives the Constant Student
When drummer/vibraphonist Jason Marsalis and his brother, trombonist Delfeayo, met with noted journalist and musician Leonard Feather in 1992 to participate in a “Before & After” article for JazzTimes magazine, […]
