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Jazz connotations (some meta-blather about shifty, loaded, lazy and vague words)
Today I’ll be porting some of mainstream journalism’s semantic rigour over to jazz writing. Really. I’m not kidding. In my newsroom, anyway, we do try to bring a certain amount of precision and...
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Butch Warren's beat goes on
NPR last week had a fine story about the veteran jazz bassist Butch Warren. I didn’t know that Warren, whose sturdy playing graces such excellent albums as Dexter Gordon’s Go! Joe Henderson’s Page One...
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Live from D.C., the Thelonious Monk Jazz Piano Competition semi-finals
Barring technical difficulties, you should be able to tune in below from 1 pm to 5 pm today (Sept.11, 2011) to watch the semi-finals of the Thelonious Monk Jazz Piano Competition: Streaming video by...
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Monk’s story, featuring Denzel Washington?
It says here that Denzel Washington is interested in playing Thelonious Monk in a biopic. The Guardian‘s Alex Clark reported this week that “the role [Washington would] really like to play is that of...
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Jazz crankiness comes in threes
Noted over the last few days: 1) Critic Phil Freeman drops the f-bomb on Lee Konitz, Bill Frisell, Gary Peacock and Joey Baron for recording a CD of hoary standards. “You wanna know why jazz albums...
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Messing with Monk (CD reviews)
Happy Birthday Thelonious Monk! The High Priest of Bebop Jazz, Period would have turned 95 today had not left us in 1982. It’s trite to say that his music endures, but what remains, — oddly, perhaps —...
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Almost, but not quite, the jazz corner of the world
Behold, at right, a common but nonetheless egregious typo. Thanks to guitarist Miles Okazaki for sharing this via Twitter. To me, the Red Hand in the photo is saying, “Stop spelling ‘Thelonious’ as...
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Two second-hand “what-Monk-said” stories
These could be apocryphal. But so what? 1. Ottawa pianist Brian Browne told me that he heard from someone who was there that Monk was characteristically silent throughout the lengthy photo shoot that...
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Playing for all the marbles tonight at the 2013 Monk competition
The semi-finals of the 2013 Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition were held Sunday, and the three young horn players below — Tivon Pennicott, Melissa Aldana and Godwin Louis — emerged...
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Melissa Aldana wins the 2013 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone...
Melissa Aldana, a Chilean-born, New York-based tenor saxophonist, took first place Monday night at the 2013 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition finals. For her victory, Aldana,...
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Faster, higher, stronger
What if there were a jazz Olympics? I could see the speed-piano champion being Eldar Djangirov. The all-time, unshatterable high-note trumpet record holder would be Maynard Ferguson. The gold medal...
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Steve Lacy: A genius is the one most like himself
Much thanks to Bad Plus pianist Ethan Iverson and his blog to end all jazz blogs, where the document below was recently posted: As scrupulous a student of jazz as he is a pianist, Iverson affirms that...
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Brand New Little Red Wagons (Everybody Digs Thelonious Monk)
On his radio show tonight, Bernard Stepien’s tackles a meat jazz topic — the malleability of Thelonious Monk tunes. Rabble Without A CauseCKCU-FM 93.1http://ckcufm.comOn Air Phone: 520-CKCU...
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Hans Groiner's improving on Monk again
Much-awaited by the hippest of jazz connoisseurs, HG’s new podcast is here. It features his composition Five Past Twelve, which put a big smile on my face when I heard it. Thanks to guitarist Reg...
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Monk Must-Read
Speaking again of Thelonious Monk after this post and then this post, I have to mention that the new book shown at left looks mighty fine. Robin Kelley, the author of Thelonious Monk: The Life and...
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For Canadian iTunes users, a windfall of classic jazz compilations at...
Don’t know what to get your jazz-loving friends or yourself for the holidays? If they or you use iTunes in Canada, then I can suggest that a gift card will come in very handy, along with the...
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Concert review: Abdullah Ibrahim "Mukashi" Trio in the NAC Studio
Abdullah Ibrahim “Mukashi” Trio TD Ottawa International Jazz Festival NAC Studio Tuesday night Tuesday night, the South African jazz legend Abdullah Ibrahim might have played the fewest notes of any...
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Steve Boudreau, on tackling the Thelonious Monk canon
Ottawa pianist Steve Boudreau turns his attention to the one-of-a-kind music of Thelonious Monk this Friday night. At GigSpace (953 Gladstone Ave.), Boudreau will convene a powerful quartet that...
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Fred Hersch Trio CD reviewed
Sunday Night at the Vanguard (Palmetto) Fred Hersch Trio It takes a good measure of moxie for a jazz pianist to title his or her new album Sunday Night at the Vanguard, as Fred Hersch did with his disc...
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