The Latin Side of McCoy Tyner is Conrad Herwig’s latest reimagination of music from his musical heroes, and in this case, former boss on the bandstand. Backed by a band that includes his closest friends and long-time collaborators, including Craig Handy (tenor & baritone saxophone), Alex Norris (trumpet & flugelhorn), Bill O'Connell (piano), Ruben Rodriguez (bass), Robby Ameen (drums), and Camilo Molina congas & bata), the new album is a worthy companion to previous entries in the “Latin Side” series, Luques Curtis and Eddie Palmieri sit in on a track each.   Well-known as an ..read more

The Latin Side of McCoy Tyner is the latest installment in a critically-acclaimed series that started in 1996 with The Latin Side of John Coltrane. It's the work of Conrad Herwig, a musically gifted, bilingual artist, a master trombonist who grew up admiring jazz's greatest practitioners but, at the same time, cutting his Latin Jazz teeth with legends such as Mario Bauza, Tito Puente, Paquito D'Rivera and the great pianist and composer, Eddie Palmieri.   Herwig called McCoy Tyner his boss for a number of years, so bringing his reimagination skills to the legendary pianist’s music is a nat ..read more

An early highlight of the summer for jazz fans in the US Northeast is always the Freihoer's Saratoga Jazz Festival, held on the grounds of the lovely Saratoga Performing Arts Center ("SPAC"). This year's lineup should please almost any jazz fan, bringing ta wide ranging lineup to two stages on June 29 and 30. Want the inside scoop on the festival? listen to Podcast 979 as festival organizer Danny Melnick talks about the acts, the scene and the background on a great weekend of music. The Festival scehdule (subject to change) is: Saturday, June 29th Amphitheater Stage ·    &n ..read more

Those who cover music love to categorize the music and musicians we focus on. I put myself all too often into this group. What should I call it? Is it Acid Jazz? Post Bop? Downtown Loft? But far too often muscians fall in between the cracks of these often arbitrary categories, and we are left looking for new descriptive words.  Often the words fail us. The UK-based duo Edy Forey are definitely in those cracks, even if they call their music “Urban Jazz.”  What does that sound like, and where does it come from? Listen to Podcast 978, my conversation with Edy Forey and find out,  V ..read more

""In a world where it's easy to be cynical and bitter, what strikes me most about Nicola and his music is the pure joy and excitement that he brings and carries with him at all times. To be present in the euphoria of this art form is the most difficult skill the way I see it and many young artists seem to ignore that simple and powerful fact. Nicola, in addition to being an accomplished instrumentalist and composer, possesses  that ineffable quality that draws us to his music." - Rio Sakairi, the artistic director of The Jazz Gallery, NYC,  In one of the best debut recordings of ..read more

Zaccai Curtis continues to be one of the most engaging piano players of the past decade. Whether as a band leader (alone or with his brother Luques) or backing the likes of the late Ralph Peterson, Lakecia Benjamin and Cindy Blackman Santana, his strong sense of rhythm and deep knowledge of Latin and Afro-Cuban sounds and Bebop chords make him a cornerstone of those artist’s sounds. Cubop Lives! is an album that stands as the culmination of his work as a composer/arranger, performer, and educator steeped in the Afro-Cuban Jazz tradition. Backed by Willie Martinez (drums, voice, timba ..read more

Podcast 975 continues my conversation with the great Charles McPherson. A giant of the saxophone, Charles is a product of the rich jazz city of Detroit, where he was mentored by the late Barry Harris. His closest childhood friend was the future trumpeter Lonnie Hillyer; the two later played together with the iconic Charles Mingus, with whom McPherson would tour and record for more than a decade. McPherson and Hillyer lived just blocks from the famed Blue Bird Inn, a renowned jazz club where the house band included Harris, Pepper Adams, Paul Chambers, and Elvin Jones. His new album Reverence&nb ..read more

You’ve probably seen Linda Purl act more often than you’ve heard her sing.  Besides being Richie Cunningham’s girlfriend and Fonzie’s fiancée on Happy Days, Matlock’s daughter Charlene Matlock, and Pam’s Mom/Steve Carell’s girlfriend on The Office, she has had stints on Homeland, True Blood, and Hacks. She has starred in over 45 made-for-TV movies and is currently recurring on The Bold and the Beautiful. She’s been on the Broadway stage and a number of Off-Broadway productions, performing roles from Shakespeare to the one-woman theatrical presentation of Joan Didion’s The Year of Mag ..read more

Since Yellowjackets’ eponymous 1981 debut album, the group has hewed its own creative path, influencing colleagues with enviable compositional craftsmanship and an ever-shifting blend of influences. In many ways Yellowjackets embody both continuity and renewal, with founding­ pianist/keyboardist Russell Ferrante providing the four-decade thread first joined by Will Kennedy­, who took over the drum chair from 1987-99 and returned to the fold in 2010. Bob Mintzer, a Jacket since 1990, contributes on tenor and soprano saxophones and EWI.  The bass chair in ..read more

Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal’s Bossa Nova-themed animated film They Shot the Piano Player will be in wide release nationwide from Sony Classic Pictures this week. Trueba and Mariscal are the duo behind the 2012 Academy Award nominated Chico and Rita, and their latest work features a who’s who of the best of Brazilian music, including João Gilberto, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Vinicius de Moraes, Milton Nascimento and Paulo Moura. The film follows a New York music journalist who goes on a quest to uncover the truth behind the mysterious disappearance of young Brazilian p ..read more