Marsalis takes listeners along on his musical journey

Publication: The Herald-Sun
Author: Cliff Bellamy
Date: January 13, 2012

DURHAM – An audience at Motorco Music Hall heard everything from Miles Davis to Montiverdi during a listening session that tenor and soprano saxophonist Branford Marsalis led Thursday.

“It’s very cool that Branford lives in Durham,” said Aaron Greenwald, director of Duke Performances, who moderated the session. “It offers us some additional credibility.”

Marsalis also had some good things to say about Durham. The city reminded him of New Orleans, where he grew up, he told the audience. Too many cities are fragmented between the rich and poor, but Durham has “a lot of great economic diversity,” he said, and he wanted his child “to be mindful of people of all walks of life.”

In a wide-ranging talk, Marsalis answered questions from the audience, even joked about being mistaken for his brother and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, but the focus was music. Read more »

Submitted by Bobby on January 17th, 2012 — 10:56am

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Mirth and Melancholy with Branford Marsalis and Joey Calderazzo

Publication: St. Louis Jazz Notes
Author: Dean Minderman
Date: January 15, 2012

To see Dean’s video picks, visit his original blog post here.

 This week, our video spotlight shines on saxophonist Branford Marsalis and pianist Joey Calderazzo, who will be in St. Louis for a duo performance on Sunday, January 22 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

In June of last year, Marsalis and Calderazzo released Songs of Mirth and Melancholy, a duo CD on the saxophonist’s Marsalis Music label. This tour essentially is a followup to that recording, which received favorable reviews such as this one from Jazz Times’ Jeff Tamarkin and this one from AllAboutJazz.com’s Mark F. Turner. Read more »

Submitted by Bobby on January 17th, 2012 — 10:32am

Miguel Zenón Tops Rhapsody Poll

Publication: Rhapsody.Com
Date: January 11, 2012

Miguel Zenón’s Alma Adentro: The Puerto Rican Songbook earned the #4 spot for 2011’s jazz Record of the Year  in Rhapsody’s first annual Critics’ Poll, which included votes from over 120 national writers. Alma Adentro also topped the list as the Best Latin Album. 

For a full list of the winners and commentary regarding this year’s poll, please visit the Rhapsody.com blog. Read more »

Submitted by Bobby on January 12th, 2012 — 10:26am

Beacons of song: Marsalis/Calderazzo/Connick

Publication: Dark Forces Swing Blind Punches
Author: Hank Shteamer
Date: January 9, 2012

“If you give a soloist an open solo for thirty seconds, he plays like he’s coming from the piece that you wrote. Then he says, ‘What the hell was that piece I was playing from?’ And the next thirty seconds is, ‘Oh, I guess I’ll play what I learned last night.’ And bang! Minute two is whoever he likes. Which is probably Coltrane.”—Bob Brookmeyer (RIP), quoted in Ben Ratliff’s The Jazz Ear

I think about this quote a lot when I’m hearing jazz live. Often it’s because I’m thinking how much Brookmeyer’s cautionary anecdote applies to the situation at hand. Last night, thankfully, this was not the case.

The show was Branford Marsalis’s “A Duo of Duos” at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Allen Room (TONY preview here), during which he dueted first with Joey Calderazzo—his partner on 2011’s Songs of Mirth and Melancholy, over which I’ve already gushed extensively—and second with Harry Connick Jr., the latter of whom didn’t sing. So these were pure saxophone/piano duos, with Marsalis switching between tenor and soprano. Read more »

Submitted by Bobby on January 10th, 2012 — 03:58pm

Alma Adentro featured in New York Times Popcast

Publication: New York Times
Date: December 28, 2011

Listen to this week’s New York Times Popcast for a discussion on 2011’s best in jazz. Miguel Zenón’s latest album, Alma Adentro: The Puerto Rican Songbook is featured. Direct link here.
  

Submitted by Bobby on December 29th, 2011 — 11:05am