Category Archives: AACM
An Interview with Alvin Fielder, July 2002
Following up on the previous post, which contained a couple of interviews with Kidd Jordan, here’s one with drummer Alvin Fielder that I initially conducted for what I’d hoped would be a Downbeat feature on the pair. DownBeat wanted to … Continue reading
Filed under AACM, Alvin Fielder, Cadence, Chicago, Drummer, Uncategorized
A Pair of Interviews with Bassist Fred Hopkins (R.I.P.) on his 64th Birth Anniversary
Few bassists ever played with the energy, drive, and virtuosic derring-do projected by Fred Hopkins (b: October 10, 1947; d: January 7, 1999), who made his mark playing Henry Threadgill’s compositions in the collective trio Air and in Threadgill’s Sextet, … Continue reading
Filed under AACM, Bass, Fred Hopkins, WKCR
A WKCR Interview with Lester Bowie (R.I.P.) and Don Moye (and Lester and Malachi Favors) on Lester’s 70th Birthday
Although my late mother wasn’t aware of it, she shared a birthday with several of my jazz heroes — drummers Art Blakey and Billy Higgins, the AACM trumpeter Lester Bowie and the AACM bassist Fred Hopkins. During my years on … Continue reading
Filed under AACM, Don Moye, Lester Bowie, Malachi Favors, WKCR
In Honor of Joseph Jarman’s 74th Birthday, a WKCR Interview from 1987
These days, Joseph Jarman is as widely known for his activities as the founder of the Brooklyn Buddhist Association and head sensei of its affiliated aikido dojo as for his distinguished career as a creative musician. The latter activity was … 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
Ethan Iverson Interviews Henry Threadgill
If you’re linking to this very young blog, you probably know “Do The Math,” the forum in which Ethan Iverson, best known as the formidably creative pianist in The Bad Plus, expresses his omnivorous interests. But if you don’t, I … Continue reading
Filed under AACM, Ethan Iverson, Henry Threadgill, Interview
The Pile (#2): Two Recent Releases by The Cream of the AACM First Wave
The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians means a lot to me. I encountered a number of the members as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago in the middle ’70s. The Art Ensemble of Chicago had recently returned … Continue reading
Filed under AACM, George Lewis, Muhal Richard Abrams, Piano, Roscoe Mitchell, Tenor Saxophone, Trombone
