George Cables is one of the world’s greatest jazz pianists, one who helped define the sound of the instrument as we know it today. He’s been making unostentatious music at the keyboard for decades. His new release, “In Good Company,” though focusing on people Cables has known in the past, is not a tribute album …
Category: KCCK Blog
New Music Monday for July 27, 2015
Norwegian trumpeter Mathias Eick pays tribute to the North American Midwest on a new CD of intensely melodic compositions which reflect thematically upon journeys and homecomings both literal and spiritual. The original inspiration for “Midwest” came during an arduous tour of the U.S. and Canada. “We’d started on the West Coast and were driving long …
New Music Monday for July 20, 2015
Pianist Donald Vega’s origins were in Sandinista-era Nicaragua, where he spent the first fourteen years of his journey. His mother then brought him to Los Angeles, where he would eventually meet drum icon Billy Higgins. Higgins nurtured Vega’s will to swing, to play jazz without a ‘Latin accent,’ turning him on to Bud Powell and …
New Music Monday for July 13, 2015
In a musical world where keeping a working band has been difficult for many bandleaders, drummer Steve Smith has managed to keep three bands working for the past three decades. His jazz-rock band Vital Information has been touring and recording for more than thirty years, while his straight-ahead groups Buddy’s Buddies, made up of Buddy …
New Music Monday for July 6, 2015
Charenee Wade is not one to hold back or let fear stand in her way. The first artist ever to enter two Thelonious Monk Vocal competitions, she walked away from the second in 2010 with instant buzz and second place to her new friend Cecile McLorin Salvant. Known for expert vocal improvisational ability and her …
New Music Monday for June 29, 2015
Ten years after making his Blue Note Records debut, and following two Grammy Award-winning volumes of his critically and commercially successful rhythm-and-blues-oriented “Black Radio” albums, Robert Glasper has announced a return to his acclaimed acoustic jazz trio for his new CD, “Covered.” Along with Glasper on piano, the trio features Vicente Archer on bass and …
New Music Monday for June 22, 2015
The Bad Plus has almost exclusively performed as a trio for its nearly 20-year existence. Guests occasionally join the band in concert, but only one of their previous 10 discs has included a fourth member. In 2011, bassist Reid Anderson, pianist Ethan Iverson and drummer David King invited saxophonist Joshua Redman to join them for …
New Music Monday for June 15, 2015
There are certain venues that become a home away from home for many musicians. Places where the vibe is right, the crowd is always involved and management is friendly. The Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz, California is one of these places and the favorite venue of pianist Benny Green. Returning to the site where …