Blog
Mar 06, 2010
MJF All-Stars: Inspired Collaborations & Elling the Standout
At their best, jazz festivals gather a roster of international talent for a weekend of musicmaking, creating a crucible for collaborations between musicians who don't normally play together In this spirit, the Ferst Center for the Arts at...
Feb 25, 2010
Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour: All star collective
Within the very first minute of Tuesday night's show in the Carpenter Theater at CenterStage, Kurt Elling was scatting and, like a flash, they were off Wasting no time, like an exposition that just had to be told, the band's featured members...
Feb 22, 2010
An evening of inspired and eclectic sounds
Monterey Jazz Festival is the west coast younger sister of the Newport Jazz Festival Both were founded a few years apart from one another in the 1950s Great music has taken place at both festivals over the years Monterey's festival, however,...
Feb 20, 2010
Jazz Singer Kurt Elling Shines, Speaks Candidly
Grammy-nominated Jazz vocalist Kurt Elling and his quartet had just mesmerized a swollen crowd of 767 at the College of DuPage's McAninch Art Center In the lobby now, with his four year-old daughter coloring at a table merchandising his CDs, he...
Feb 17, 2010
Festival Hits the Right Note with Eclectic Jazz
Celebrity jazz concerts are often dreary affairs—museums of dusty music where real jazz goes to die Think of beige nights at Lincoln Center, the players wearing stiff suits, anxious to showcase their cool virtuosity while neglecting to...
Feb 14, 2010
Jazz without the pizzazz
Is it possible for jazz to be too tasteful, too classy, too perfect If it is, then it was A group calling itself Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour played politely for more than two hours to a near-capacity audience Thursday night at Berklee...
Feb 13, 2010
MJF All-Stars show needs more improvisational fire
If followers of music lore were expecting the hot-blooded spirit of jazz festival legends such as Sonny Rollins and Dizzy Gillespie to wash over the Berklee Performance Center stage during Thursday's Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour all-star...
Feb 11, 2010
Mechanics Hall swinging as Monterey All-Stars play
California's 53rd annual Monterey Jazz Festival won't take place until mid-September, but apparently it's never too early to advertise that fact The Monterey Jazz Festival All-Stars did just that Monday night at Mechanics Hall, for a crowd of...
Feb 06, 2010
Kurt Elling on History, Vocalese, and the Opportunities of a New Art Form
Blues guitarist John Hammond once said the blues was largely about borrowing and lending Kurt Elling feels the same way about jazz "You definitely want the sound of the history of your instrument to be present in what you play,†Elling...
Jan 29, 2010
Kurt Elling: At The Grammys, Always The Bridesmaid …
Kurt Elling is one of today's leading jazz vocalists, and this Sunday, he's co-hosting the Grammy Awards Ok, it's the Grammy Pre-Telecast Ceremony, but the event, which presents many of the awards that aren't seen in the main ceremony, is...
Jan 26, 2010
2010 Nightlife Awards: Awards Already Known, Winners Present a Show
Christine Ebersole, described as "the Meryl Streep of cabaret,†was named outstanding cabaret vocalist in a major engagement at the New York Nightlife Awards on Monday evening at Town Hall Accompanied on piano by John Oddo, the winsome,...
Dec 10, 2009
Elling Elevated the Words Like Bebop Solos
Singer Kurt Elling brought a much-needed musical and theatrical presence to the LA Philharmonic's tip of the beret to the 1950s poets who created an artistic base in San Francisco For too much of the night, the two jazz bands dominated with...