Monthly Archives: August 2011
Blindfold Test (Uncut) From 2002 With Branford Marsalis, Who Turned 51 Yesterday
Anyone who knows Branford Marsalis, even a little bit, knows that he is never loath to speak his mind. That being said, Marsalis—who celebrated his 51st birthday a day early at the unveiling of the Ellis Marsalis Center Of Music … Continue reading
Filed under Blindfold Test, Branford Marsalis, DownBeat
Wayne Shorter is 78 Today — A “Jazziz” Profile from 2002
For Wayne Shorter’s 78th birthday, I’m offering a feature piece that I wrote about him for Jazziz in 2002, a year or so before the publication of Michelle Mercer’s excellent biography, Footprints. His amazing quartet with Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, … Continue reading
Filed under Jazziz, Wayne Shorter
Brad Mehldau’s Blindfold Test From 2000 (Uncut) — He Turned 41 Yesterday
Eleven years ago, I had an opportunity to do the DownBeat Blindfold Test with Brad Mehldau, then 30, and in residence at the Village Vanguard for a week-long engagement. It was conducted in Mehldau’s hotel room on the Upper West … Continue reading
Filed under Blindfold Test, Brad Mehldau, DownBeat
Uncut Blindfold Test With Vernon Reid, Who Turns 53 Today
To mark guitar giant Vernon Reid’s 53rd birthday, I’m posting the uncut proceedings of a DownBeat Blindfold Test that he sat for a few years back on the occasion of the release of Birthright, an unaccompanied Ulmer recording that he … Continue reading
Filed under Blindfold Test, DownBeat, guitar
Two Interviews with Mal Waldron on The 86th Anniversary of His Birth
For the 86th birthday anniversary of the pianist-composer Mal Waldron, I’m offering a pair of interviews conducted during the last 16 months of his life. Our first encounter occurred in late August of 2001, when Waldron was performing at the … Continue reading
Filed under DownBeat, Interview, Mal Waldron, Piano
Interview From 1999 with Pat Metheny, Who Turns 57 Today
On September 18th, five weeks from today, Pat Metheny will embark on a 2-1/2 month tour, the first leg in duo with bassist Larry Grenadier in various U.S. venues, with the second leg comprising six weeks of one-nighters in Europe … Continue reading
Filed under bn.com, Pat Metheny
An Interview with Dave Brubeck, July 23, 2007
A recent press release from the Detroit Jazz Festival stated that 90-year-old Dave Brubeck, advised by his doctors that it would be a bad idea for him to travel, had cancelled his scheduled concert, A vivid force in American music … Continue reading
An Interview With Abbey Lincoln from 2001
Yesterday was the 81st birthday anniversary of the singer Abbey Lincoln—also known as Aminata Moseka, and born Anna Marie Wooldridge—who died last August 14th. Like her inspiration, Billie Holiday, Lincoln was never out to prove that her voice was a … Continue reading
Two Interviews with Roscoe Mitchell from 1995 on WKCR
n 1995, I had the opportunity to interview the master saxophonist/woodwindist/composer Roscoe Mitchell on two separate occasions on WKCR. Although the transcripts have been up for a number of years on the Jazz Journalists Association website, www.jazzhouse.org., the occasion of … Continue reading
Two WKCR Interviews With Greg Osby, Who Turned 51 Three Days Ago
A heavy workload and some traveling have kept me away from the blog for several days. Hence I missed the shared August 3rd birthday of saxophonists Greg Osby (51) and Roscoe Mitchell (71). One of the pleasures of tracking jazz … Continue reading
Filed under Alto Saxophone, Greg Osby, Interview, WKCR
