contemporary jazz

  • back cover image from The Big Blast by Kombo
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    Kombo – The Big Blast 1999 Debut Recording

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    The Big Blast, the debut album by Kombo, is a rare but welcome musical happening: a “family” affair written, rehearsed, and recorded by two close friends. Propelled by Ron Pedley’s Hammond B3 organ along with vintage keyboards such as the Rhodes and Wurlitzer pianos, and Jon Pondel’s distinctive jazz-tinged guitar playing, The Big Blast recalls…

  • George Whitty playing keyboards

    Happy Birthday, George Whitty

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    Celebrating the birthday of George Whitty today, September 4! Whitty is a keyboardist, composer, record producer, audio engineer, and music educator. I know him best for his recordings with Michael Brecker and Randy Brecker, including two of my favorites: Return of the Brecker Brothers and Out of the Loop. Looks like he just wrapped a…

  • Stanley Jordan Magic Touch
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    Stanley Jordan Tops the Top Jazz Albums – August 3, 1985

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    ContemporaryJazz.com is looking back at the Billboard Jazz Chart from 40 years ago. This was published before the magazine split the chart into Top Contemporary Jazz Albums and Top Jazz Albums. There was quite a mix of artists on this chart: Sade to Maynard Ferguson to Yellowjackets to George Winston. Magic Touch, the debut recording…

  • Album cover of The Poetry of Jazz Live at Blue LLama by Allan Harris

    Allan Harris Blends Jazz and Verse in New Live Album

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    Allan Harris’s The Poetry of Jazz: Live at Blue LLama is more than a live album—it’s a vibrant homage to the power of jazz as a storytelling art form. Recorded at Ann Arbor’s Blue LLama Jazz Club, the album blends Harris’s signature vocals and guitar with an inspired mix of jazz standards, original compositions, and…

  • Father and child walk down a sunlit street with a guitar and instrument cases, alongside album covers of Geoff Mann’s Underground and Nathan & Noah East’s Father Son.
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    Fatherhood: Geoff Mann Salutes His Dad, Nathan and Noah East

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    Being a father has been the most rewarding role in my life and the one I’m most thankful for. The responsibility of being Dad has enriched me in ways that words can’t seem to convey. It’s simply been my favorite thing. It certainly can be challenging. Fatherhood, at its best, is an improvisation. It’s listening,…