Category Archives: Chicago
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
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
Vernell Fournier on Ahmad Jamal, WKCR, 1990
Yesterday’s Ahmad Jamal birthday posting included a conversation with New Orleans drum master Herlin Riley, Jamal’s drummer of choice during the ’80s. Today I’m sharing an interview that I conducted in 1990 on WKCR with Riley’s famous New Orleans antecedent, … Continue reading
Filed under Ahmad Jamal, Chicago, Drummer, Interview, WKCR
It’s Ahmad Jamal’s 81st Birthday
A few weeks ago, the unfortunate news went semi-viral that the U.S. government had blocked Ahmad Jamal, who turns 81 today, from receiving a $10,000 fee for a forthcoming performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, citing the bank transfer as … Continue reading
Filed under Ahmad Jamal, Chicago, Interview, Piano, WKCR
Andrew Hill’s 80th Birthday Anniversary
“When I was a child, I was able to write music without hearing it,” Andrew Hill told me in the spring of 2000, during one of several conversations for a DownBeat article that ran later that year. “I’d write it … Continue reading
NEA Jazz Masters 2012: Von Freeman
For the thirtieth and perhaps final installment of the National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Masters Awards, the NEA selected a quartet of hardcore individualists, who have steadfastly followed their own path through the decades: Drummer Jack DeJohnette, tenor saxophonist … Continue reading
Filed under Chicago, Interview, Tenor Saxophone, WKCR
