A wonderful Charles Mingus documentary was aired on PBS earlier this month. It features a performance by the Mingus Big Band interspersed with conversations on the life and music of this jazz icon. For Hartford jazz fans, you will recognize several familiar faces of University of Hartford alumni/faculty that have appeared around town over the [...]
Congratulations to the NEA Jazz Masters recipients for 2023. Among the highest honors bestowed upon jazz musicians, journalists or producers is the National Endowments of the Arts, Jazz Masters. The artists honored this year were all raised in Detroit, Michigan, and have gone on to make extraordinary contributions within jazz. These honorees will be [...]
The Louis Armstrong Department of Music Therapy | Mount Sinai The Healing Power of Music: Johns Hopkins Center Marries Music and Medicine Music as Medicine – The Musical Recommended Daily Allowance Music as medicine? 30 minutes a day shows benefits after heart attack Keep Your Brain Young with Music Music as Medicine: The Power of [...]
Baby Grand Jazz Series at Hartford Public Library (2014-Present) Jazz Up Close Archive (2015-Present) Live At The Village Vanguard (2008-2014) Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz (2007-2018) Roulette Concert Archive (1978-2021) Fillius Jazz Archive and on YouTube
photo credit NEA Congratulations to the latest "class" of NEA Jazz Masters for 2022, Stanley Clarke, Donald Harrison, Jr., Billy Hart and Cassandra Wilson. I will not attempt to go into the bio's of each of these legendary jazz artists, as that has been chronicled in these fine articles by the NEA [...]
(l to r) Mario Pavone and Don DePalma. photo credit: Rosemarie Foote Roy The Connecticut jazz scene mourned the passing of two of its greatest legends in one weekend (May 17-18, 2021); bassist Mario Pavone and pianist Don DePalma. There have been so many losses in the jazz world over the last year, but [...]
image from Wikipedia Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was a grand master of jazz; a creative force that like his mentor Miles Davis, constantly pushed the envelope ever evolving the jazz genre. Perhaps best known as a Jazz/Rock Fusion pioneer, he was much more than that. From [...]
In 1965, Franzo and Marina King witnessed a live performance of John Coltrane in San Francisco. For them it was truly a religious experience that eventually lead to the founding of the "Church of Saint John Coltrane". This excellent National Public Radio documentary will recount the story behind the Church of Saint John Coltrane, built [...]
A recently found article from the Hartford Courant, tells the story of the founding the the Hartford Jazz Society. Beautifully written by Herbert J. Stoeckel, this piece of Hartford history recounts the very beginnings of what was to become the jazz scene in our city. Excerpts: It was a balmy, fragrant midsummer night in 1961... [...]
by Ken Laster In 1967, bassist Paul Brown brought world famous musicians to downtown Hartford for free concerts during July and August. Monday nights were ideal to book these artists, because gigs in NYC were sparse on that day of the week. For the first concert, saxophonist Cannonball Adderley performed on Barbour Street. "PB" had [...]