 This
Month's Featured Article |
 Herbie
Hancock, Cassandra Wilson Headline the 2008
Monterey Jazz Festival
 The
Monterey Jazz Festival launches its
second half-century as the West Coast's premier
live jazz event September 19-21, 2008, on the
familiar oak-studded and beautiful grounds of
the Monterey Fairgrounds. Among this year's
headliners: Cassandra Wilson, Ledisi,
Kurt Elling, Nancy Wilson, Wayne
Shorter, Joshua Redman, Ledisi,
Maria Schneider, Christian McBride,
Bill Frisell, Matt Wilson, and Herbie
Hancock. Tickets are on sale now, so see who
else will be performing Sept. 19-21... |
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News
& Feature Articles |
International
Association of Jazz Educators Files for
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
 International
Association of Jazz Educators board president Chuck
Owen announced this week that the IAJE, the world's
largest jazz education organization, has filed for Chapter 7
bankruptcy. The organization has been promoting jazz and
jazz education for 40 years. See
Owen's entire message... |
Jazz
at Pearl's Gets 11th Hour Reprieve with
New Owners, Will Stay Open
 Jazz at Pearl's
has received an "11th hour
reprieve" from local jazz lovers, and
the club will remain open for
business. The club's new owners haven't
been announced, pending the transfer of
ownership. Local jazz fans and musicians
are breathing a huge sigh of relief... |
SFJAZZ
Kicks Off Ninth Annual Spring Season with More
than 40 Jazz Concerts
 The
San Francisco Jazz Festival celebrates
its ninth popular Spring Series March 6 through
June 20 with more than 40 concerts, featuring Keith
Jarrett, McCoy Tyner, Brad Mehldau,
Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, James Moody, Charles Lloyd,
Dianne Reeves,
Hiromi (left) and more. Get the full line-up... |
Cal
Performances Announces Spring 2008 Jazz
Concerts at Zellerbach Hall
 Sonny
Rollins and Joshua Redman (left), Wynton Marsalis
and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, West
African singer Angélique Kidjo, the SFJAZZ
Collective, and the Monterey Jazz Festival 50th
Anniversary band are on tap at this spring's Cal
Performances concerts on the UC
campus... |
The
Manifestation of St. John Coltrane
 Each
year in San Francisco, John Coltrane is
remembered with a special tribute by the members
of St. John Coltrane African Orthodox Church.
Only
a few years ago, many doubted whether this
San Francisco institution would survive
being forced from its original Divisadero
Street location.
Ross Perlin reports...
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JazzWest
Takes You to the 50th Monterey Jazz Festival
in Words & Pictures
 Diana
Krall, Sonny Rollins, Ornette
Coleman, Terence Blanchard (left), Dave
Brubeck, Jim Hall, Los Lobos, Issac
Delgado, Gerald Wilson, John
McLaughlin and more than 500 other jazz
artists performed this year at the 50th
anniversary of the Monterey Jazz Festival,
September 21-23, 2007...
Visit the MJF/50
Photo Gallery | Read the MJF/50
Open Blog |
At
78, Jazz Vocalist Ed Reed Beats the Odds
of Prison and Heroin Addiction
 In an era awash in
twentysomething jazz chanteuses and wannabe hipsters,
Ed Reed is an anomaly in more ways than one. At age 78, Reed finds himself entering the spotlight at the point when most singers are winding
down, with his debut album,
"Ed Reed Sings Love Stories." Forrest Bryant
has the story... |
Flutist
John Calloway: Making a Musical Impact
Onstage... and in the Classroom
 Jazz
flutist, arranger and percussionist John
Calloway knows his music is making an
impact on a crowd of dancers at the San
Jose Jazz Festival. Bright sun and fresh
air, good food, lively salsa and
Afro-Cuban music... what more could a
crusading jazz musician ask for? Bill
Murphy reports from the front lines... |
Intersection
for the Arts, de Young Museum Present
Sunday Jazz Concert Series
 For the second consecutive year,
Intersection for the Arts and the de Young Museum join forces to present eight free family-friendly outdoor
Sunday concerts at the museum's sculpture garden, featuring some of the most exciting Bay Area jazz musicians
performing newly-commissioned compositions... |
SFJAZZ
Marks 25th Anniversary with 40+ Concerts
Beginning September 22
 The
San Francisco Jazz Festival
celebrates its 25th anniversary in a
series of jazz concerts that run from
September 22 through November 30,
featuring performances by Ornette
Coleman, John McLaughlin, Dee
Dee Bridgewater, Ahmad Jamal, Caetano
Veloso, Dr. John, Fred
Hersch, and more... |
Conguero,
Bandleader & Educator John Santos:
Back in the Game
 Eight
months after the breakup of Santos'
acclaimed big band, the Machete
Ensemble, and only two months after he
was laid low by hip replacement surgery,
the percussionist's calendar is once again
jam-packed. The San Francisco native chats
with Forrest
Bryant about his newest projects... |
Gypsy
Jazz Is Alive & Well in the SF Bay
Area
 It's been 70
years since Belgian guitarist Django
Reinhardt first solidified the sound of
"gypsy" jazz, fusing small-group swing
with Parisian musette and gypsy folk music to
create something new and irresistible. Forrest
Bryant checks in with the latest news
from the Bay Area's "gypsy jazz"
scene... |
Saxophonist
Hal Stein: One of the "Great Unsung
Heroes" of Jazz
 No one can accuse Berkeley saxophonist Hal Stein of rushing into the studio.
On the other hand, reports jazz scribe Andy Gilbert, Stein doesn't have any
vacation plans either. "Music is what I do," says the 77-year-old Stein,
who in 2006 released "Spirit!," his first album as a leader in five
decades... |
Paula
West: Inside the Art
of a Musical Alchemist
 Paula
West hasn't made "New York, New
York" part of her repertoire yet, but the
San Francisco-based jazz singer is carrying on a
torrid affair with the city that never sleeps.
What's gratifying for her Bay Area fans is that
the passion is entirely mutual. Andy Gilbert
has more... |
Smith
Dobson V: Charting the Path of a Rising Star
 Smith Dobson V
— drummer, vibraphonist and scion of one of the
region's most illustrious jazz families — is eager to discuss his life in
music. But whenever he begins to talk about himself,
says Andy Gilbert, Dobson seems
to get sidetracked by his plaudits for
his fellow players... |
Pat Martino: Reflections on a Life Almost Lost
 Pat
Martino has had two careers. A popular,
successful, up-and-coming jazz guitarist,
he suffered a severe brain aneurysm in
1980, and had to rebuild his life, his
memory and his ability to play guitar. The
success he's had provides
a compelling story he
shares with writer Jerry Karp... |
Int'l
Jazz Educators Create a Swirl of Energy as
Thousands Gather in NYC
 The
annual IAJE conference is officially
an educators' party. But
thousands of other folks show up, too — musicians
who lead clinics, perform, or sit on panels;
journalists who hobnob and talk shop; and jazz enthusiasts
who come to hear the music. Forrest
Bryant reports from this year's
gathering in New York City... |
— Coming
soon... the JazzWest Archives —
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| For
Musicians Only |
Dmitri
Matheny: The Music Biz
(coming soon... the entire 15-part series)
 Get
a crash course in The
Music Business with flugelhornist,
composer, and recording artist Dmitri
Matheny. Each installment in Dmitri's
series explores a different facet of
succeeding in the biz, from guerrilla
marketing strategies to packing your
suitcase for your first tour... |
Finding
Themes and a Collective Voice: A Short
Guide to Jazz Improvisation
 Group
improvisation is the allowance made for
degrees of disciplined expansion and
contraction of a given theme. The big
shapes are provided by the composer of the
theme, for example, the basic melodic,
harmonic and rhythmic components of a
certain song. Musician Jim Slansky
explains... |
Recording
Your First CD (or, How to Spend Your 401k
in Seven Easy Steps)
 Making
and releasing your first record can and
should be a life-altering experience, says
jazz singer and recording artist Barbara
Adamson. It's an act of taking
yourself totally seriously as an artist,
and should be the ultimate expression of
you as a musician and as a human being... |
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