By Don Heckman Herb Alpert’s at it again, encouraging young talent to display their skills by acknowledging their abilities with supportive rewards. Today, in a lunch at the Herb Alpert Foundation in Santa Monica, the 21st annual Herb Alpert Award in the Arts was presented to five exceptional mid-career artists. The awards recognize past… Read More The Herb Alpert 2015 Award in the Arts
By Norton Wright Some final words about the KJazz benefit concert at Disney Hall providing much needed financial funding for KJazz Radio, the station which in various incarnations has been serving the southern California listenership for over 30 years. Here are ten, perhaps little known facts about the station provided by Station Manager, Stephanie Levine… Read More Radio: Further Thoughts About KJAZZ
By Michael Katz The 55th Monterey Jazz Festival announced its complete schedule yesterday, adding Tony Bennett and Michael Wolff (leading his Cal Tjader tribute band) to a program already rich with stars that include Pat Metheny, Showcase Artist Jack DeJohnette, Esperanza Spalding, Trombone Shorty, Bill Frisell and Artist-in-residence Ambrose Akinmusire. More on all that later.… Read More News: The 55th Monterey Jazz Festival Final Line Up.
By Don Heckman The summer jazz season in Los Angeles had its annual kick-off party yesterday at the Playboy Mansion. February may seem like an early start, but the media get-together, which takes place in a circus-sized tent pitched in Hugh Hefner’s luxurious back yard, has become a traditional introduction to the events planned for… Read More News: The 34th Annual Playboy Jazz Festival… Read More News: The 34th Annual Playboy Jazz Festival
By Michael Katz This is the time of year when Monterey Jazz Festival diehards pour over the newly released lineup, plotting strategy for seeing as many of the 500 + artists spread over six venues as humanly possible. This year’s 54th Monterey Jazz Festival, September 16-18, promises to be one of the best. To begin… Read More News/Preview: The 54th Monterey Jazz Festival
Had he lived, Sam Cooke would be 80 on January 22, 2011. Though his tragic death, at the age of 33, deprived successive generations of new music from Cooke, known as ‘the man who invented soul,’ his legacy and influence endure. A feature film biography, based on Peter Guralnick’s critically acclaimed book Dream Boogie: The Triumph of… Read More News: Sam Cooke’s 80th — January 22, 2011
By Don Heckman SFJAZZ today announced that long-anticipated plans to build a permanent home for the 28-year old San Francisco organization have finally come to fruition. The SFJAZZ Center will be located in the Hayes Valley neighborhood, at 205 Franklin Street, a few blocks from Davies Symphony Hall and the San Francisco War Memorial and… Read More News: SFJAZZ Builds A Home
By Don Heckman Some unique Jimi Hendrix items have arrived at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. for the exhibition “Up Where We Belong: Native Musicians in Popular Culture,” opening July 1. Hendrix’s grandmother was a Cherokee Indian. The items, which were accompanied by his sister, Janie Hendrix, consist of a full-length coat made of… Read More News: Jimi Hendrix’s personal items arrive at the Smithsonian’s Museum of the American Indian
By Fernando Gonzalez Saxophonist and composer Sonny Rollins has been awarded the Edward MacDowell Medal by The MacDowell Colony, the nation’s leading artist residency program. The prize has been awarded annually since 1960 to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to his/her field. Since the inception of the medal, the Colony, based in Peterborough,… Read More News: Sonny Rollins Is Awarded the Edward MacDowell Medal
By Don Heckman The line-up for this year’s Playboy Jazz Festival was announced yesterday at the Playboy Mansion, with Hugh Hefner, Bill Cosby, producer Darlene Chan and a full crowd of media in attendance. Two significant aspects of the 32nd annual event – which takes place June 12 and 13 at the Hollywood Bowl —… Read More News: The 32nd Annual Playboy Jazz Festival
The International Review of Music 