The Idaho-born trumpeter Jim Rotondi is now based in Graz‚ Austria‚ as the opening track off of his new album Dark Blue can attest. In fact‚ “In Graz” is a good summary of Rotondi’s overall sound on this record: it’s complex and urbane post-bop. Rotondi’s trumpet steers his four bandmates (Joe Locke on vibraphone‚ David Hazeltine on piano‚ David Wong on bass‚ and Carl Allen on drums) through complex compositions‚ seven of which are his own band’s. Rotondi’s Dark Blue fits its title and album art;
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Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko already gave us enough reasons to trust his idiosyncratic music. Deeply associated with the ECM Records‚ Stanko‚ whose sonorous creativity is almost tactful‚ has one foot on the adventurous modern creative jazz and the other on a relaxing‚ sometimes-cerebral post-bop. His Polish quartet‚ which included the pianist Marcin Wasliewski‚ was active from 2002 to 2006‚ being responsible for great albums such as The Soul of Things‚ Suspended Nights‚ and Lontana. In 2013‚ Stanko
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Even though jazz music was developed from mixed cultures at the beginning of the 20th century‚ and rock music came about in the 1950’s and was a combination of blues‚ country‚ and jazz‚ they both have similarities and differences. Some of these similarities and differences can be found in the way each of these two music genres use improvisation‚ the atmosphere they create‚ and their sound. For example‚ it is true that jazz is known for its improvisation‚ but rock can also improvise; Jimmy Page‚ from
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Utah State Big Bands presented a tribute to Pepper Adams on Wednesday‚ April 5th at the Performance Hall with two groups performing we were sure in for a wonderful evening full of Jazz. The first group‚ the Jazz Ensembles‚ was led by Greg Wheeler. The first piece was “Lost Mind” the stand out of this piece was the Alto Saxophonist‚ Kyle Merrill. He stood out and grabbed my attention more so than the other soloist during this piece. His solo had a rich sound‚ along with a smooth and swingy rhythm
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George Gershwin: “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” When thinking about significant American composers‚ one name in particular came to me: George Gershwin. Influenced by French composers of an earlier time‚ George developed his own style‚ mixing jazz with the popular music of his time and creating something unique. Though he was met with mixed reviews in most of his endeavors‚ he kept writing‚ producing songs and plays for no purpose other than because he loved doing it. He started off as a song-plugger
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In the 1980s‚ Cassandra Wilson was one of the most ingenious‚ original‚ and enthralling musicians working in the progressively difficult-to-expound world of jazz. Cassandra Wilson won two Grammy awards; One for her album New Moon Daughter in 1996‚ and one in 2010 for her song Loverly. The American jazz musician and Grammy award winner released an album in the year of 1999 called Traveling Miles. Traveling Miles is purportedly Cassandra’s salute to Miles Davis‚ who was a well respected American jazz
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"It don’t mean a thing if‚ it ain’t got that swing." Considered one of the best jazz writers ever‚ Duke Ellington had a huge effect on the prevalent music of the late twentieth century. Among his more than two thousand melodies are such hits as "In A Nostalgic Mind-set‚" "Refined Woman‚" "I Got It Awful And That Ain’t Great‚" and "I’m Starting To See The Light." For nearly fifty years‚ he visited the world as a band pioneer and piano player. Today his recordings stay among the most prevalent jazz
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Lester Young: The “Sweet” Jazz Saxophonist Influential jazz tenor saxophonist‚ Lester Young led a revolution that changed the way the saxophone is played until this very day. He Inspired through his bright and airy tunes that sharply contrasted the loud and boisterous sounds of his counterparts (Pener 121). Young was known for many of his groundbreaking tunes such as “All of Me”‚ and “Lester Leaps In”. As a result of his very different approach to playing the tenor saxophone‚ he influenced many
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The Beat Generation‚ a literary and artistic movement that emerged in the United States in the late 1940s‚ after the Second World War and in the early days of the Cold War‚ owes its name to street slang. The term "beat" (borrowed from street jargon‚ and meaning down and out‚ poor or homeless) perpetuated the romantic‚ bohemian myth of the “lost generation.” The Franco-Canadian writer Jack Kerouac‚ whose novel On the Road (1957) contributed to giving the movement its mythical aura‚ added a contemplative
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B.B. King performed a full blues concert‚ but based off his performance and the crowd reactions‚ you would not think he was performing anything sad. Though his style is traditionally blues‚ each song performed‚ with the exception of “Love Me Tender”‚ had an upbeat vibe to it. He played a total of nine songs with almost all of them ending with the same melody that the Blues are known for. The acoustics of the venue‚ Nick’s Uptown‚ were pretty good. There was only a slight echo‚ but for the audience
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