Brian Blade

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Ten live jazz gigs to catch in early 2011

All flavors of great jazz
Next week we'll tell you all about the tenor saxophonist Charles Lloyd, who brings his great band with Jason Moran, Reuben Rogers, and Eric Harland to the Regattabar January 21-22. In the meantime, here are 10 other primo jazz acts to catch live this winter.
By JON GARELICK | December 29, 2010

Does jazz have a melody problem?

Phil Sargent and Daniel Bennett try a new approach
It seems lately that every other jazz musician I talk to under 40 wants to talk about melody — how it’s the thing they all care about.
By JON GARELICK | June 02, 2010

Steampunk and Lima Beans

Darcy James Argue's Secret Society and the Bert Seager Trio
The hook for Darcy James Argue's Secret Society — who come to the Regattabar Thursday the 25th — is that they're a "steampunk big band."
By JON GARELICK | February 09, 2010

2009: The year in jazz

In and out
Here, in no particular order, are some of my favorite things from among the people, CDs, and concerts I wrote about in 2009.
By JON GARELICK | December 21, 2009

Slow hand

Jeremy Udden’s rocky jazz path
In his Village Voice review of Jeremy Udden’s Plainville (Fresh Sound New Talent), Jim Macnie recalled how a friend of his tried to file it as “jazz for Wilco fans.” As Macnie explained, that’s not the whole story with Udden or Plainville , but it’s not a bad starting point.
By JON GARELICK | October 21, 2009

Slow hand

Teachers and students

NEC and Berklee set the jazz stage
Several of this fall's promising jazz performances are clustered around the week of October 18. That marks the 40th-anniversary celebration of the jazz-studies program at New England Conservatory, which, created by Gunther Schuller, established NEC as one of the international twin beacons of jazz education in Boston along with Berklee College of Music.
By JON GARELICK | September 14, 2009

More than guitar

Julian Lage's talent isn't just in his fingers
"I like using songs to change the environment — to get the listener's ear to be a little skewed."
By JON GARELICK | September 08, 2009

By | January 01, 0001

Review: Joshua Redman's Compass

Nonesuch
Redman's previous CD, 2007's Back East , was front-loaded with high-concept expectations.
By JON GARELICK | January 12, 2009

Fully loaded

Joshua Redman, Cassandra Wilson, Lionel Loueke, and more
One of the most hotly anticipated concerts of the season will be JOSHUA REDMAN's "Double Trio" concert at Berklee on January 22.
By JON GARELICK | January 05, 2009

Alone together

Wayne Shorter Quartet, Berklee Performance Center, December 3, 2008
How can a jazz band play no swing rhythms, no grooves, and, really, no songs, and hold 1200 people rapt for an hour and 25 minutes, with virtually no breaks in the music?
By JON GARELICK | December 05, 2008