With the holiday season in full swing, this is likely the last busy live music week of the season (in terms of national touring bands), so find a show while you can. The weather is cooperating so far too, with temps swinging up from the 60s down to the 20s, but more constant cold and snow & ice will be more of a thing soon. Here’s what’s happening in the Kansas City metro December 5th-11th.
Read more Kansas City Music Guide. The final month of the year is already here!...
Read more Kansas City Music Guide. The weather’s definitely changed, so take care getting out...
Read more Kansas City Music Guide. (Apologies for the website difficulties and picture-loading of late-...
Read More Mumford & Sons After a brief health-related delay that caused them to miss...
Read more Kansas City Music Guide. Rocktober! Traditionally, this Fall month has been one of...
08/20 Chastity Brown at First Avenue Read More Chastity Brown Chastity Brown played almost everything...
Read More Meghan Murphy The Woman’s Club of Minneapolis is proud to present Meghan Murphy...
Read more Minneapolis Music Guide 05/20 The Mountain Goats with Will Sheff at First Avenue...
01/18 Wynton Marsalis at Lied Center Read More Wynton Marsalis Wynton Marsalis has been a...
01/05 Wicked The Musical at Music Hall 01/08 Geneviève Racette at Wenske House 01/15 Jeff...
A Jazzy Christmas. This year, Putumayo is releasing Jazz Christmas, an uplifting collection of mostly instrumental jazz for the holidays. If you like World Music, chances are, you probably own a Putumayo album. They are known for compiling some of the best music from around the world.
Read More Mt Kimbie If you’re not familiar with Mount Kimbie, the duo consisting of...
The Midnight Hour Setlist The Midnight Hour Theme Black Beacon Gate 54 Redneph in B...
American singer Nancy Wilson has died on December 13th. I know we’re late to mention the news, but her contribution to blues and jazz is so important that we had at least acknowledge the sad news of her passing.
Setlist Walk With Me Old Man (Neil Young cover) Somewhere Down the Mystic Real Life...
It was a weekend in Minneapolis where Woody Allen could be found in multiple places-...
Setlist Croker Courtbullion Iko Iko Big Bass Drum (On A Mardi Gras Day) Wild Honey...
Song of the Jasmine Program Book Details In India, the jasmine flower traverses the world...
Read More Donald Fagen Steely Dan co-founder Donald Fagen's book Eminent Hipsters is coming out...
The Baltimore-born Chestnut, who cut his chops playing piano for the likes of Terrence Blanchard, Wynton Marsalis, and Betty Carter assuredly led his Trio (bassist Eric Wheelerbass and 19-year old drummer Evan Sherman) through an enjoyable 100 min set of standards, covers, and playful original compositions, on a perfect Saturday evening under the stars at St. Paul’s Mears Park.
What makes New Orleans not only a musician’s town but also a place that produces musical families? Take the Marsalis family. There’s Wynton, one of jazz’s more tireless promoters. Then you have Branford, Delfeayo and Jason. Plus, don’t forget the man who started it all, Ellis.
If you want to know why I love jazz, look at the aside picture. It’s Art Blakey and he is smiling. In fact, any picture of him behind a set of drums wielding a pair of sticks has a beaming face. That’s unless he’s brandishing a lit cigarette. Then, with lips pursed he reveals a sly grin.
Sometimes I wonder if jazz musicians are born to continually hone their craft. For them, music isn’t an arc where a creative flourish is followed by future reunion tours. Instead, it’s a rise and expansion of musical proficiency and knowledge. For example, take a look at bassist, Dave Holland.
I’m not a big fan of hastily put together cover albums, especially when the musical cannon comes from the Disney Vault. It seems every song that has been done has been covered again. Do we really need another rendition of “It’s a Small World” after hearing Slim Whitman and The Baha Men? But even with my reservation, I have to say I am pleasantly surprised with Everybody Wants to be a Cat.
There is a lot of great music in the Crescent City. More than any other New Orleans is a musician’s town. After all, how many other cities have their airport named after a trumpet player?
When TV Creator, David Simon, chose to set his new HBO series in post-Katrina New Orleans, critics wondered if he was going to bring the same Dickensian scope he brilliantly illuminated in The Wire. The short answer is no.
Michael is a name that means "Who is like God". If we can afford it, we would love to head down to the annual New Orleans Jazz Festival someday. I suppose the next best thing is to get music from the New Orleans area, and like various tributes, Dr Michael White, a clarinetist, basically dedicate his fifth album to the city with Adventures in New Orleans Jazz, Part 1. I have put in a request for the album to be reviewed (Dave has agreed to review it), but I wanted to pass on the news that his album is coming out on June 21st. I have posted a preview track, "West African Strut" for you to check out. As the song title suggests, the song's melodies were influenced by African rhythm, but if you listen some more, it definitely also feels like a fun 50s bop.
We here at We Heart Music are big fans of Putumayo and their focus on music from around the world. They are like a cool friend who makes really great mixed tapes. Forget splapdash and haphazard, the selections they chose have something to say and blend so well with the others.
If you need someone to blame every time you hear “The Girl from Ipanema” in a hotel lobby or office elevator, you can take it out on Stan Getz. But how did a Jewish kid from the Bronx usher in a new global sound?