.jpg)
.jpg)
Articles
 |
Playboy Jazz Festival feat. Hugh Hefner, Bill Cosby, Buddy Guy, Terence Blanchard, Fourplay, Dianne Reeves, Hurbert Laws, Walter Beasley, Stanley Jordan, Naturally 7 and The Roots. |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
Photos By: Mann Jan. 26, 2010 |
GRAMMY Salute to Jazz: Honoree Kenny Burrell By: Art Jackson |
|
Honoree: Kenny Burrell
Anthony Wilson Hubert Laws
GRAMMY President/CEO Neil Partnow
|
To kick-off the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards week, jazz guitarist virtuoso Kenny Burrell was honored at the beautiful GRAMMY Museum in downtown Los Angeles by the academy as the first of a week long celebration before the live broadcast from STAPLES Center. The evening was dedicated as a tribute to jazz, one of the great American musical forms. The President's Merit Award was presented to prominent jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell for his outstanding achievement and contributions to the jazz genre and the music community. Being a bit under the weather, Kenny provided some levity as he sat down to do a candid interview in his dressing room before his performance where he promised to try and not get his handkerchief in the picture. Also in the dressing room were GRAMMY nominated jazz artists guitarist Anthony Wilson and flautist Hubert Laws, who provided background music as he warmed up on his flute, giving the room a very mellow ambience. Having been in the industry for over six decades, the guitar was not Kenny’s first instrument of choice. Both his older brother and his mother played the piano and he gravitated toward it also, and with sheet music available to him, his emphasis was not on jazz but more on learning how to improvise and just play music. He learned by doing a lot of ear training, a lot of rule of thumb and watching others play. I always felt that there was no such thing as making it as a jazz performer. A jazz musician has to work hard and practice in order to maintain skills and master an instrument. Jazz mastery comes from being technically good as well as being able to articulate what you hear and feel. You have to be able to express your ideas, with emphasis on them being YOUR ideas. As musicians, we play a lot of different things and songs. You tend to play like this or that person or maybe even your influences. For me, it was Charlie Parker, which I’m sure you can hear in my music. But in the 1950’s when I was in my early 20’s, I began to play the music that I was feeling inside and it became my voice, my sound. I was able to express who I was and it was the beginning of me finally feeling like I could make it as a jazz musician. Now a professor at California State University – Los Angeles, Kenny teaches jazz improvisation of Duke Ellington. He sees there has been one constant throughout the years for jazz musicians. The big problem for jazz musicians has always been to make a great living and that hasn’t changed. “It wasn’t great then and it’s not great now. The nature of the business has not evolved to keep pace with the great strides that has happen in the music industry.” The tribute was hosted by KJAZZ radio personalities and close friends of Kenny, Tommy Hawkins and Bubba Jackson and they were joined by the GRAMMY Jazz Ensembles — a group of 28 talented high school musicians selected from across the country The GRAMMY Recording Academy President/CEO Neil Portnow, gave the honoree a warm introduction as he relived fond memories of his youth, reflecting upon his own budding attempts to be a guitar player trying to emulate Kenny’s music. |
.jpg)
|
Photos By: Mann |
Bumpin' Brian By: Art Jackson October 24, 2009 |
|
See Video clips of Brian from Bass LIVE and KSBR Birthday Bash. |
Brian Bromberg It Is What It Is What happens when you get over 20 artists together to make a CD? You get a jam session and that’s what Brian Bromberg’s new CD, “It Is What It Is”, turned out to be. Brian’s CD is comprised of an a list of musical all-stars from George Duke, Dan Siegel, Patrice Rushen, Gerald Albright, Rick Braun, Paul Jackson Jr., Eric Marienthal and Jeff Lorber to just name a few, of which you are sure to have some of their music already in your collection.
As we dissected several of the songs and placed them in categories ranging from Dance, Funk, Romance to Smooth Jazz, it was evident that the passion for each song was still over-whelming for Brian. He said they all tell a story from within. He critiqued the melodic songs like “Life” and “Heaven”, the funkier songs of “Mr. Miller” and “Slap Happy” and one that Smooth Jazz lovers will definitely enjoy is the melody of, “Anticipation”. And what category would Brian put the title track in, “It Is What It Is!" |
|
|
||||
| Long Beach Jazz Festival August 9, 2009 | ||||
|
Long Beach, CA Touted as 'The Ultimate Summer Groove'. The Long Beach Jazz Festival now in its 22nd year covers three-days with some of the best smooth jazz and smooth vocal talents which entertained about 30,000 party goers over the weekend. Nestled in the beautiful Rainbow Lagoon Park this location is a perfect outdoor venue. |
||||
|
Los Angeles, CA Feburary 03, 2009 The 51st Annual Grammy Awards The Grammys Salue to Jazz hosted by Natalie Cole, honored Blue Note Records label with The Recording Academy’s President’s Merit Awar. Herbie Hancock, Cassandra Wilson, Terrance Blanchard, Joe Lavano MORE... |
||||
