By Laurence Svirchev, on June 16th, 2017 Photo Courtesy of Arnaud Boubet
On the evening of Monday July 27, 1959, Thelonious Sphere Monk took his working quartet (Charlie Rouse, Sam Jones, Art Taylor) and guest saxophonist Barney Wilen into the Nola Penthouse Sound Studios at 111 W. 57th St., New York City. There he taped eight compositions for the . . . → Read More: Thelonious Monk: Les Liaisons Dangereuses 1960 CD and Movie Review
By Laurence Svirchev, on February 26th, 2017 “Folk songs transcended the immediate culture” -Bob Dylan
©Laurence@Svirchev.com
Give or take a few hundred, two thousand seven hundred years ago there was a blind man who rambled through kingdoms, mountains, and plains, probably swayed to the rhythm of waves on the Mediterranean Sea. He earned his bread, vegetable, . . . → Read More: Bob Dylan & The Nobel Prize for Literature
By Laurence Svirchev, on September 17th, 2016 Moderne: Georg Graewe at the 2016 TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival (I)
Rimbaud: “il faut être absoluement moderne.”
Richard Feynman: “Poets do not write to be understood” from Six Easy Pieces.
Georg Graewe’s invitation to the 2016 TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival was felicitous: he had not been . . . → Read More: Moderne: Georg Graewe at the 2016 TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival (I)
By Laurence Svirchev, on June 7th, 2015
At the 2010 Vancouver Festival, Eric Boeren’s 4Tet of Michael Moore (reeds), Wilbert deJoode (bass), and Han Bennink (drums) glided through an early Ornette Coleman (1930-2015) repertoire segmented into six pieces. Each piece contained multiple compositions and interpretations that made the difficult music seem as easy to execute as understanding the elegant explanation . . . → Read More: Eric Boeren: All Ellington and 4Tet at the 30th TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival
By Laurence Svirchev, on March 1st, 2015
Special Notice: Sheila Jordan and Cameron Brown in Concert on Tuesday March 3 at the Ironworks, Vancouver, sponsored by the Coastal Jazz & Blues Society: http://www.coastaljazz.ca/sheila_jordan_and_cameron_brown
On August 27, 1962 a thirty-four year old Sheila Jordan stepped into Riverside’s New York Studio for the recording session of composer/pianist George Russell’s . . . → Read More: Book Review: Jazz Child, A Portrait of Sheila Jordan by Ellen Johnson
By Laurence Svirchev, on September 9th, 2014 In an exemplary display of programming fortitude, the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival began its with a musical equivalent of the Big Bang: the opening set at Performance Works with 20 musicians in John Korsrud’s Hard Rubber Orchestra followed by 17 musicians in Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society. The Hard Rubber Orchestra played . . . → Read More: TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival Concert Review: John Korsrud’s Hard Rubber Orchestra June 20, 2014 Part I
By Laurence Svirchev, on August 4th, 2014
Essays by Stuart Broomer, Brian Morton, and Bill Shoemaker about Musicians
Appearing at Jazz em Agosto 1984-2012
Publisher: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon Portugal, www. musica.gulbenkian.pt/jazz
Becoming Knowledgeable about Jazz
Becoming knowledgeable about jazz is a sly proposition. You have to hear . . . → Read More: Commentary & Book Review: Arrivals/Departures – New Horizons in Jazz
By Laurence Svirchev, on June 20th, 2014
There are times when we wish for what could be and mourn for what is lost. It takes time to become reconciled with the loss of a person who so personified the spirit of making the music come alive. When we lose an important person in our lives, their memory lingers on so . . . → Read More: Looking for Carl
By Laurence Svirchev, on April 14th, 2014
An Essay on Randy Weston and Billy Harper’s Roots of the Blues, a CD on SunnysideRecords.com
by Laurence Svirchev
To get an idea of the breadth and depth of Roots of the Blues, take a look at a map of Africa. Geographically, the compositions cover the rivers Nile and . . . → Read More: The Roots of the Blues: Randy Weston & Billy Harper
By Laurence Svirchev, on October 5th, 2013
©Laurence Svirchev
With Zep Tepi Randy Weston demonstrates why he continues to be one of the elite musicians of the international stage. He has seen every change in the jazz world from the end of the swing and big band era, right through the be-bop period and the periods of free . . . → Read More: “ZEP TEPI” Randy Weston and His African Rhythms Trio (2006): CD Review and Commentary:
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