The hearts and influences of its members are visible on its collective sleeve. Clearly a pop vehicle, MoChester jams effortlessly outside the safety of pop’s sugar walls with apparent, and perhaps some not-so-apparent, roots. There’s reggae, there’s jazz, even some darker leanings toward the blues. But the band’s gentle song-based aesthetic gives it a unique […]
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Steve Katz
Some of us remember the time as if it were yesterday. Sitting in the bedroom of a friend’s home in the mid-1960’s, taking the brand new record from the album cover with the five hip-looking guys on it, and playing “Projections” by The Blues Project. A few years later we were putting the needle down […]
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OBIT: Remembering jazz legend Marian McPartland
Marian McPartland, a beloved figure in the jazz world locally, nationally and internationally, died Tuesday, August 20, at the age of 95. She died of natural causes at her Long Island home. McPartland was best known as the host of the National Public Radio show “Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz,” which ran for more than 30 […]
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MUSIC FEATURE: Steve Gadd
Most drummers would acknowledge that Steve Gadd is among the most dynamic percussionists in the world. The rest just call him Steve God. But when he talks, Gadd is no cymbal crasher; he’s disarmingly soft-spoken. The man whose brilliant solo adds the exclamation point to Steely Dan’s “Aja,” whose fife-and-drum-corps lines on Paul Simon’s “50 […]
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INTERVIEW: Pink Martini
With equal dashes Esquivel lounge and Martin Denny exotica, chilled on retro rocks and poured into a Camelot-era America glass, Pink Martini is the ultimate in sophisticated pop cool and classic, jazzy swing. Since 1994, this ensemble from Portland, Oregon, has traveled the world plugging into orchestras along the way. It’s breathtaking. It’s an elegant […]
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INTERVIEW: Anat Cohen
When Israeli clarinetist Anat Cohen steps out of her Brooklyn home, she finds herself between two worlds. Cohen resides in Williamsburg, a vital neighborhood in the New York jazz scene. But Williamsburg is also a center of Hasidic Judaism in the United States. “I live right on the border,” says Cohen. “I make a left […]
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INTERVIEW: Rudresh Mahanthappa
It’s not unusual for a jazz artist to lead several groups, but Rudresh Mahanthappa just might hold the record. He leads or co-leads 10 different ensembles. “I’m always hearing a different sound in my head,” says Mahanthappa. “My artistic vision is not necessarily about having one group and keeping it together for 10 to 20 […]
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MUSIC PREVIEW: International Society of Bassists Convention
Don’t be alarmed if you hear a deep vibration emanating from downtown Rochester next week. It’s not an aftershock from the recent Ottawa earthquake; it’s hundreds of bassists meeting at the Eastman School of Music. “When I play certain low notes on my bass in the orchestra, you can feel it in your skeleton,” says […]
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MUSIC FEATURE: Joel Harrison
Guitarist Joel Harrison may have made his name in the jazz world, but when you go to hear him don’t expect perfect bebop runs. “I approach the guitar as an orchestral instrument in the group, not as the star soloist,” says Harrison, who plays at the Bop Shop on Friday, April 26, “so when I’m […]
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MUSIC FEATURE: Houston Person
Houston Person still remembers the day in 1950 that changed his life. He was a typical 16-year-old in his hometown of Florence, South Carolina. He sang in the high-school choir and glee club, but he was mostly interested in football and basketball. Then, Christmas morning, his parents gave him a surprise gift: a tenor saxophone. […]
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Exodus To Jazz goes on semi-hiatus
Citing low turnout for earlier shows in the season, promoter Jose DaCosta announced today that the Exodus to Jazz series is going on a semi-hiatus while the schedule is reconsidered. That means that the E.J. Strickland and Rene Marie concerts, originally scheduled for Saturday, October 27, and Thursday, November 15, respectively, are being postponed due […]
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CD Review: Roni Ben-Hur, Santi Debriano “Our Thing”
With a melting pot of musical influences that spans four continents, they have recorded one of the most exciting jazz albums of the year
