Jazz

Jammin’ the Blues By the time Norman Granz completed production work on Jammin’ the Blues, Warner Bros paid him $240 and banned him from their lot for the rest of his life.  Granz was only...

Jane Ira Bloom at the Dickinson Homestead in 2016 Last Friday, I had the honor of presenting to Jane Ira Bloom the Jazz Journalists Association 2017 Award for Soprano Saxophonist of the Year. Jane was...

I’m featuring Jay Hoggard in tonight’s Jazz a la Mode. The vibraphonist is performing this weekend in Middletown, CT, not far from the campus of Wesleyan University, where he’s been on...

There’s no shortage of jazz biography and other writings continually adding to the sagging shelves of my bookcases, and an even greater profusion of titles in blues, soul, gospel and folklore has arrived...

Tom Reney with Springfield Mayor Dominic Sarno Happy New Year! As we welcome the new year tonight, I’m devoting my final blog of 2014 to a “thank you” to everyone who made the celebration of Jazz a la...

Shaking the Rafters of Ozawa Hall I enjoyed a conversation about the recently deceased Gunther Schuller over lunch with my former NEPR colleague John Montanari on Tuesday. (Click here for my memorial...

A compendium of NEPR blog features on jazz in the City of Light In this week’s Jazz à la Mode, we’ll mourn the November 13 terrorist attacks against Paris and celebrate the special relationship that’s...

Bert Stern was “intrigued” and “amused” by the juxtaposition of “rich and poor,” as in rich Newport, poor jazz, when he decided to shoot a movie around the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958.  But...

Illinois Jacquet Scott Hamilton, the great tenor saxophonist and keeper of the flame, posted concert footage of Illinois Jacquet playing “Blues for Louisiana” on Facebook on September 6.  Scott’s...

Jimmy and Jeannie Cheatham