jazz

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    Review: Shades of Blue from Madlib

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    He’s known by different names in different genres – Quasimoto, Otis Jackson, Jr., and the entire band in Yesterdays New Quintet. The man is Madlib, a DJ, producer, rapper, and musician who has making a name for himself in clubs, hip-hop, and jazz over the last five years. Blue Note recently gave Madlib access to…

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    Jazz Grammy Winners

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    History holds true as the Pat Metheny Group won the Best Contemporary Jazz award at the Grammy Awards on February 23. Metheny beat out excellent releases by John Scofield, Joe Zawinul, Yellowjackets, and Larry Carlton. Metheny didn’t win every award he was nominated for tonight, though. B.B. King took home the Best Pop Instrumental Performance…

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    In Praise of Liquid Soul

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    I saw Liquid Soul in concert at the Kansas City Blues and Jazz Festival in 1999. I had never heard of the band before. My then-wife and I were sitting on the lawn enjoying the day of music when the group hit the stage around 6 p.m. I wasn’t sitting after about 30 seconds. The…

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    Joshua Redman Quote

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    I read a quote from Joshua Redman in a recent Borders magazine. I thought it was appropriate for the first entry at this site. “Jazz is going in all different directions now, and most are wonderful. There are great musicians with really original things to say. The music is in a really wonderful, creative time….

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    Review: Warner Bros. Jazz Christmas Party

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    Warner Bros. gathered its jazz and contemporary jazz rosters to put together the label’s first holiday collection. But, unlike other label holiday albums, Jazz Christmas Party, doesn’t just feature submitted tracks from its artists. WB artists collaborated together on several songs on this album. Bob James and Béla Fleck duet on “White Christmas. Michael Franks…