Interview
From emerging talents to today's brightest stars, we interview musicians from around the globe.
A Conversation with Brad Mehldau
by AAJ Staff
This article was first published at All About Jazz in 2002. All About Jazz: Do you recall your first jazz record? Brad Mehldau: I think the first real jazz record I listened to was an Oscar Peterson and Joe Pass duo album, one of those Pablo things. A friend of my father's bought it for me when I was eleven years old. Oscar was really the first guy I really listened to. That was the one. ...
read moreMeet Drummer Danny Gottlieb
by Mike Brannon
This article was first published at All About Jazz in January 2001. If you don't know drummer Danny Gottlieb or you know him from only the earliest incarnations of the Pat Metheny Group, there's a lot you don't know about this talented, multi-faceted musician. Not complacent to rest on past laurels of any kind, Gottleib currently juggles percussion duties with more groups and ensembles than many work with in a lifetime, seeing it all optimistically, as a welcomed ...
read moreKim Parker: Reminiscing in Jazz
by Nicholas F. Mondello
Kim Parker is a marvelously talented jazz vocalist and the step-daughter of both Charlie Parker and Phil Woods. A sensitive, tasteful, and endearing jazz voice, Kim has recorded numerous albums as leader and others as an accompanying artist. She has a marvelously rich history in jazz both as a result of her famous families, as well as those legendary musicians she's encountered in her incredible life. Here, Kim shares memories and reflections in a fascinatingly honest and insightful manner.
read moreMeet Bobby Watson
by Craig Jolley
This article was first published at All About Jazz in October 1999. Background and early career... I started playing clarinet and piano in my grandfather's church. I played saxophone in junior high school: originally tenor and switched to alto when I got to high school. From there I got hip to jazz and tried to do as much as I could. I went to the University of Miami and got a degree in theory and composition. In 1976 ...
read moreMeet Brian Lynch
by C. Andrew Hovan
This article was first published at All About Jazz in March 2000.Though many of his peers have received far more attention from the public and press, the fact is that Brian Lynch is one of the most experienced and talented jazz trumpeters of his generation. Growing up in the Milwaukee area, Lynch took advantage of a healthy jazz scene there that found him playing professionally at the age of 16 and gaining valuable knowledge and seasoning through his ...
read moreRuth Goller: Basso Profundo
by Chris May
Altogether easier to talk to than is suggested by the stage makeup in the photo above, Ruth Goller reveals herself as totally down-home when, some ten minutes into this interview, the conversation turns to International Anthem, the Chicago-based label that has released her second solo album, Skyllumina. I feel so lucky to have them," says Goller. Because whenever I ask them something, the answer is always 'what's best for the music?' Never 'what's best for selling records?' or stuff like ...
read moreQuinsin Nachoff: The Science of the Sublime
by Lawrence Peryer
New York-based tenor saxophonist and composer Quinsin Nachoff creates at the intersection of jazz and classical music--and his work history demonstrates he is equally at home in both worlds. From saxophone concertos, chamber music and string quartet to his stellar group Flux--featuring David Binney, Matt Mitchell, Kenny Wollesen and Nate Wood--Nachoff is obliterating genre divides. It is in the context of two projects, his multimedia live work Patterns from Nature and album Stars and Constellations (Adyhâropa ...
read moreA Classic Jazz Curriculum with Label M's Joel Dorn
by Chris M. Slawecki
This article was first published at All About Jazz in April 2001. Ah, the classics. In every art form painting, literature, architecture, dance, music there are works which possess timeless beauty, works with themes that resonate emotionally across decades, through centuries, and are masterfully presented. Joel Dorn's name is indelibly written in the book of jazz classics, though he's never written, hummed, strummed, blown, or otherwise struck a single musical note. He produced albums, in the ...
read moreEddie Henderson: Polishing The Mirror of Truth
by Steven Roby
When a jazz musician rolls into jny: Denver for a performance, it's not often that a documentary film and immersive art exhibition await them. But jazz great Eddie Henderson is no ordinary musician, nor has he led an ordinary life. A few hours before Henderson played a two-show set at Denver's premier jazz venue, Dazzle, an exhibit called Time and Spaces: The Life of Eddie Henderson opened to the public at the CU Denver Experience Gallery in the ...
read moreMeet Grammy Award Winning Producer Joel Dorn
by Chris M. Slawecki
This article was first published at All About Jazz in 1997. The Song Remains The Same If you're a serious jazz fan, even if you're any kind of jazz fan at all, there's an excellent chance that in your collection you've got at least one piece of music that was produced by Joel Dorn. In the 1960s, Dorn parlayed his tenure as a disc jockey on WHAT-FM, a pioneer 24-hour jazz station, into a slot as ...
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