Jazz Jottings June 2018
Lew Shaw
June 1, 2018
For the past four years, Pete and Will Anderson have devoted the month of April to a cross-country tour of concert and school performances. Their
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For the past four years, Pete and Will Anderson have devoted the month of April to a cross-country tour of concert and school performances. Their
Writing about the 60th anniversary of the Queen City Jazz Band got me to wondering where they ranked among the longest continuous-performing trad jazz bands
A study conducted in the U.K. contends that regularly attending live musical events can help extend one’s lifespan. The research determined that 20 minutes at
Ellis Marsalis, Jr., New Orleans, pianist, educator, NEA Jazz Master and the patriarch of a musical family, heads the list of 2018 Jazz Heroes who
Basketball legend and author Kareem Abdul-Jabbar spoke of his love of jazz in his keynote address at the first annual Jazz Congress, held in New
With the continual announcements regarding jazz societies and festivals shutting down, it would appear that the good ship TradJazz is sailing in turbulent waters. But
It was about 15 years ago that I first began to hear rave reports about a young Canadian trumpet player who was taking the Dixieland
Located just off of Interstate 5 in Carlsbad, California, 30 miles north of San Diego, the Museum of Making Music describes itself as the only
The Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band is one of only about a half-dozen bands that can say they have been playing traditional jazz festivals for more
Four generations of reedman Evan Arntzen’s family have been merry music makers. Covering more than 100 years. Evan’s great-grandfather came to North America from Norway
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has officially designated April 30 as International Jazz Day to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role
I was introduced to song stylist Wesla Whitfield at one of her numerous appearances at the Plush Room, a popular San Francisco cabaret, and immediately
The Greatest Jazz Story Never Told, a new documentary film produced by MCG Jazz in Pittsburgh, features the talents of international Jazz Masters George Benson,
KENNETH DIEHL, 96, on Jan. 18 in Scottsdale, AZ. A co-founder of the Arizona Classic Jazz Society, he served as the Society’s first President (and
After 32 years of service, John Edward Haase has stepped down as Curator of American Music at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and
The traditional jazz society in Sacramento lives to see another day! It’s just in a different format. The Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society officially went out
In 2012, Gary Church wrote a 135-page book which he titled The Autobiography of a Nobody: The Life and Times of a Sideman. Hardly an
Following the announcement of the cancellation of the 2018 Sacramento Music Festival, the decision by the Board of Directors of the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society
Marlene VerPlanck, one of the best-known interpreters of the American Popular Songbook died Sunday, January 14, 2018, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital after a brief illness.
Writing in his The Age of Roosevelt three-volume series, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. referred to the Depression days of the early 1930s as
MUNDELL LOWE, 95, Died on Dec. 2 in San Diego. Considered one of the most sophisticated guitarists in jazz, he was known for his impeccable
GEORGE AVAKIAN, 98, died on Nov. 22 in New York City. One tribute on his passing stated, “The story of George Avakian is the story
JOHN COATES, Jr., 79, died on Nov. 22 in Scranton, PA. Phil Woods said “People don’t know how good a pianist John Coates is.” Coates
JON HENDRICKS, 96, died on Nov. 22 in New York City. A member of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, he was one of the originators of
