It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Tony Middleton on February 7th, 2024 in Poughkeepsie, NY. Tony was unable to make it to his 90th birthday milestone. His mother graced this world for an astonishing 106 years. Tony is survived by his wife of 70 years, …
Zev Feldman’s reputation preceded him. When, serendipitously, Frank Marshall found in his garage a fifty-year-old tape recording of Chet Baker and Jack Sheldon, he realized its significance. Yes, he is the Frank Marshall. The producer of the Indiana Jones movies, the Bourne movies, Schindler’s List, the Back to the Future …
Michel Legrand won three coveted Academy Awards and an impressive collection of five Grammy accolades. Furthermore, he garnered recognition for his outstanding talent with an Emmy nomination. In 1969, he achieved his first Oscar victory for the unforgettable melody “The Windmills of Your Mind”. Subsequently, he crafted extraordinary musical compositions …
In his early thirties, Yusef Lateef converted to Islam, changed his name from William Emanuel Huddleston, and began his studies of music without boundaries. Dr. Lateef disliked the word “jazz” to describe his music because he believed that its connotations didn’t encompass the spiritual nature of music. He developed the …
For more than 50 years, the fervent B-3 organ jazz musician, Tony Monaco, has remained unwaveringly dedicated to the instrument’s soulful tradition. In 1975, none other than NEA Jazz Master Jimmy Smith called the 16-year-old Monaco to provide encouragement. In 1979, Smith invited Monaco to perform at his supper club …
NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. – Stuart Mack is a trumpeter and composer based in New York who is rapidly rising through the ranks of top-tier musicians. At a point in life where many people would just be starting their careers, Mack has already carved a name for himself with some …
While visiting a friend in the Detroit area, I took a friend to 4M Restaurant, a restaurant in Ann Arbor that we’d visited before. There’s been live music during our first visit, an evening of pleasant jazz but more in a background style. It was the venue and food that …
Anyone who thinks jazz is fading or dying needs to go see Jim Clayton. Not just listen to him; they need to go experience a show. Last Wednesday, during one of my frequent visits to Toronto, a friend invited me to a show at a local distillery. She lives nearby …
“I think jazz needs to expand. It needs to continually evolve,” said producer Gregory Howe in DownBeat’s article about his determinedly independent label, San Francisco-based Wide Hive Records. Avoiding commercialism and limitations about the boundaries of jazz, Howe has developed organically a coterie of musicians, known as the Wide Hive …
Lionel Hampton, Red Norvo, Milt Jackson, Terry Gibbs, Roy Ayers, Bobby Hutcherson, Peter Appleyard, Jay Hoggard, Gary Burton, Joe Locke, Steve Nelson, Stefon Harris, Warren Wolf, Joel Ross. The list of major jazz vibraphonists is brief, but their jazz contributions to the instrument’s status progressed through the generations as their …
