PASTE: 12 Women Influencing the Future of Jazz – Featuring Brandee Younger, Grace Kelly & Ellen Rowe!

April 18, 2019Features, Press Reel
PASTE: 12 Women Influencing the Future of Jazz – Featuring Brandee Younger, Grace Kelly & Ellen Rowe!

Bill Milkowski, Paste Magazine  Brandee Younger, Soul Awakening (brandeeyounger.com) Photo by Erin O’Brien The classically trained harpist and fearless improviser follows in the footsteps of jazz harpist pioneers Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane on her beautifully crafted fourth release as a leader while showing some decidedly modernist twists along the way. The stirring opener, “Soulris,” composed by … Read More

BILLBOARD: How Asia-Born, U.S.-Based Women Are Ushering In a New Big Band Era, Featuring MEG OKURA!

April 5, 2019Features, Press Reel
BILLBOARD: How Asia-Born, U.S.-Based Women Are Ushering In a New Big Band Era, Featuring MEG OKURA!

Dan Ouellette, Billboard The Harlem-based violinist Meg Okura, who leads her 10-piece Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, says that when growing up in Japan, she experienced egalitarian support where her creativity was celebrated. “We were encouraged to embrace anything we’d choose,” she says. “We were free to explore jazz as an art form deeply rooted … Read More

PREVIEW: Hot House Features Sivan Arbel Ahead of April 3 Performance at Nublu

March 28, 2019Features, Press Reel
PREVIEW: Hot House Features Sivan Arbel Ahead of April 3 Performance at Nublu

by Stephanie Jones, Hot House Layered performances featuring original compositions, percussive explorations and invitational dance breaks are part of singer-composer Sivan Arbel’s mission to challenge preconceptions and unite a community of artists and listeners. Her lyrics, both in Hebrew and in English, often reflect glimpses into the human condition, and she navigates odd meter sections … Read More

Soulbounce: Vivian Sessoms’ Video for “I Can’t Breathe” Featured

March 27, 2019Features
Soulbounce: Vivian Sessoms’ Video for “I Can’t Breathe” Featured

by Suzy Sonshyn, Soulbounce After releasing the video for her stirring rendition of “Strange Fruit” in December, Vivian Sessoms has more to say about the killing of Black people. Her latest single and video, “I Can’t Breathe (for Erica)” from her forthcoming album, LIFE II, is co-directed by prolific producer, director and writer Epic “DC” Coles and uses intense imagery to chronicle … Read More

WALL STREET JOURNAL: Vanessa Rubin Sings Tadd Dameron – A Tribute to the Romanticist of the Bebop Movement

March 20, 2019Features, Press Reel, Reviews
WALL STREET JOURNAL: Vanessa Rubin Sings Tadd Dameron – A Tribute to the Romanticist of the Bebop Movement

‘The Dream Is You: Vanessa Rubin Sings Tadd Dameron’ Review:  Vocalist Vanessa Rubin honors Tadd Dameron with an album that highlights his compositional genius. By Martin Johnson, The Wall Street Journal  The great composer and arranger Tadd Dameron (1917-1965) wrote “If You Could See Me Now,” one of Sarah Vaughan’s signature songs, but until now … Read More

JAZZIZ BACKSTAGE PASS: Jeff Coffin & David Liebman’s “On The Corner Live: The Music of Miles Davis”

March 16, 2019Features, Press Reel, Radio/Podcasts
JAZZIZ BACKSTAGE PASS: Jeff Coffin & David Liebman’s “On The Corner Live: The Music of Miles Davis”

Brian Zimmerman/Matt Micucci, Jazziz Listen to podcast here. Dave Liebman, Jeff Coffin: On the Corner Live: The Music of Miles Davis (Ear Up Records) Release date: March 1 Saxophonist and NEA Jazz Master David Liebman began his musical relationship with trumpet legend Miles Davis in the summer of 1972 when he participated in the recording date … Read More

FEATURE: No Treble on “ON THE CORNER LIVE”

March 16, 2019Features, Press Reel
FEATURE: No Treble on “ON THE CORNER LIVE”

by Kevin Johnson, No Treble Saxophonist David Liebman hit it big when he joined Miles Davis in 1972 for the recording of the album On The Corner, subsequently gigging with the jazz legend during his rich electric period that left a lasting impression on music as a whole. “‘On The Corner’ has been sampled, copied, discussed … Read More

FEATURE: Ellen Rowe Featured by University of Michigan News

March 1, 2019Features, Press Reel
FEATURE: Ellen Rowe Featured by University of Michigan News

by Sydney Hawkins, Michigan News When Ellen Rowe was a young girl growing up in Ridgefield, Connecticut, there weren’t many women making jazz music. Through her success as a world-renowned jazz pianist, composer and pedagogue, she’s spent the better part of the last 35 years trying to change that. Her latest effort comes in the … Read More