From The Checkout via NPR/music: Live Wednesday: Warren Wolf + Lage Lund In Concert

Josh Jackson hosts The Checkout at WBGO, Jazz 88, Newark

“A vibraphonist from down the turnpike in Baltimore; a guitarist from across the pond in Norway. Both have dedicated themselves to hard-swinging jazz of the highest order, and both journey to downtown Manhattan to lead bands in the next installment of The Checkout: Live From 92Y Tribeca.

On Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 8 p.m. ET, The Checkout: Live series pairs the bands of Lage Lund and Warren Wolf in a double bill, in performance at 92Y Tribeca. The concert will be broadcast on air via WBGO and in an online video webcast at this page on NPR Music, with a live online chat. For more information about this series and the full concert archive, visit npr.org/checkoutlive.

See the full post here.

From NPR/music and WBGO: “Bill McHenry Quartet: Live At The Village Vanguard”

Watch Live Wednesday, Nov. 9 At 9 p.m. ET originated by WBGO, Jazz 88.3, Newark, NJ

by Patrick Jarenwattananon
November 2, 2011

“When he leads a band playing his own tunes, the New York-based tenor saxophonist Bill McHenry makes uncommon, beautiful music. Call it modern jazz if you must; it can get a bit abstract, a little loose. But “modern jazz” often connotes something hypertechnical, or noodly, or lost in advanced harmony, and this isn’t exactly that. It’s often slow, or at least deliberately spacious, and aspiring to something pretty and aching. And it’s finished by a player who gets a meaty, lustrous sound from the horn.

Later this month, Bill McHenry will release a new album’s worth of this music — his third with his current quartet — called Ghosts of the Sun. But before that, he’ll play a week at the Village Vanguard with a completely different lineup, including the great seasoned drummer Andrew Cyrille. NPR Music and WBGO will present a live video webcast and radio broadcast of the Bill McHenry Quartet from the club on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 9 p.m. ET. Visit this page for the live presentation, as well as a recording afterwards.”

From NPR/music and WBGO: “Fabian Almazan Trio + String Quartet: Live At The Village Vanguard”

Watch Live Wednesday, Oct. 12 At 9 p.m. ET

by Patrick Jarenwattananon

“The 27-year-old pianist Fabian Almazan is about to release his debut album, Personalities, and it is aptly titled. It features Almazan as composer, one who can write and arrange for films, for string quartet, for piano trio. It features Almazan the Cuban-American musician, demonstrating intuitive control over Latin jazz repertoire and feeling. And it features Almazan the modern jazzman, the musician who can play with that flexible, go-anywhere feeling so sought-after these days.

Fabian Almazan

He’ll celebrate the digital release of his multiple Personalities with a week as a bandleader at New York’s cramped subterranean jazz mecca, the Village Vanguard. And for one night and one performance only, he’ll bring along a string quartet. WBGO and NPR Music will record and feature a live radio broadcast and video webcast of the Fabian Almazan Trio with string quartet on Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 9 p.m. ET at this page.”

See the full article also at this page.

From NPR/music and WBGO: “Geri Allen Trio: Live At The Village Vanguard”

Patrick Jarenwattananon
August 31, 2011

“For some, jazz is a form of music defined by innovation. It’s a language of hybrid invention, about a relentless quest for a new style, a new movement, a new expression. Alternately, there’s a powerful argument for jazz as a tradition: a language of core values, worthy of a lifetime of respectful study, representative of a century of African-American cultural achievement. As the prevailing aesthetic outlook has it, both are equally valid; jazz is tradition and innovation, at once.

Geri Allen

Over the last 30 years, it’s hard to think of anyone who embodies this duality better than composer and pianist Geri Allen. As often as she’s been lionized for the freshness of her playing, she’s also been admired for the respect she’s shown for its living history. WBGO and NPR Music will proudly feature the Geri Allen Trio in the Live at the Village Vanguard series of live on-air radio/online video broadcasts on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at 9 p.m. ET.”

Visit the web page for information about the videocast and to read the rest of the article.

From NPR/music and WBGO: The Newport Jazz Festival

NPR/music says:

“We’re happy to announce that NPR Music is returning to the Newport Jazz Festival for a live webcast and recording Aug. 6-7, 2011.

Along with hosts, engineers and producers from WBGO (New Jersey/New York), WYPR (Baltimore) and WGBH (Boston), we’ll be presenting a live online stream of concerts from “the grandfather of jazz festivals.” You can visit npr.org/newportjazz for live coverage — including photos, blog and Twitter updates and the webcast — and revisit the site afterwards to explore a trove of festival recordings, including video highlights. Recordings from 2010 and 2009 are there now.
Visit NPR Music’s coverage of the 2011 Newport Jazz Festival at npr.org/newportjazz.
NPR

Once again, founder George Wein and his team have devised a diverse lineup for his signature jazz event. Iconic musicians like Eddie Palmieri, Wynton Marsalis, Randy Weston and Charles Lloyd are scheduled to perform, while exciting younger players like Esperanza Spalding, Hiromi and Trombone Shorty will play multiple sets. Also on the lineup are bands led by Steve Coleman, Joey DeFrancesco, Rudresh Mahanthappa and Bunky Green, Regina Carter, Avishai Cohen, Ambrose Akinmusire and many more. A schedule of our broadcast will appear close to the weekend of Aug. 6-7.

Esperanza Spalding

Rudresh Mahanthappa

What? No Casey Abrams? LOst opportunity.

For more information about the lineup, visit the official Newport Jazz Festival website. We hope you can join us at npr.org/newportjazz.

From NPR/music and WBGO, Jazz 88, Newark: “Strike Up The Bandoneon! Jazz For Squeezebox”

by Simon Rentner at A Blog Supreme
July 22, 2011

“If Argentine composer and performer Astor Piazzolla didn’t exist, the subgenre of “Nueva Tango” — a mix of tango, classical and jazz — wouldn’t, either, nor would this taster of accordion jazz. Piazzolla created a massive canon, influencing generations of bandoneon players after him, and he rejuvenated Argentina’s greatest musical tradition and export.

Astor Piazzolla

However, it was Piazzolla’s formative years in New York’s Greenwich Village — soaking in the swing of the 1930s — that often informs his style, a jazzier sound he leaned to during his later years.”

See the full article, complete with audio and video, here.

From NPR/music: “Live At The 2011 Newport Jazz Festival’

News From A Blog Supreme

“We’re happy to announce that NPR Music is returning to the Newport Jazz Festival for a live webcast and recording Aug. 6-7, 2011. Along with hosts, engineers and producers from WBGO (New Jersey/New York), WYPR (Baltimore) and WGBH (Boston), we’ll be presenting a live online stream of concerts from ‘the grandfather of jazz festivals.’”

See the full article here.

From NPR/music and WBGO: “The Heath Brothers: Live At The Village Vanguard”

Watch Live On Wednesday, July 6 At 9 p.m. ET

Jimmy (left) and Albert “Tootie” Heath.

Jimmy Heath, saxophones
Albert “Tootie” Heath, drums
Jeb Patton, piano
David Wong, bass

“Jimmy is an affable jazz statesman — he has a new autobiography, and was named an NEA Jazz Master for 2003 — and Albert (nicknamed “Tootie”) has freelanced with anyone who’s anyone. Despite the 2005 death of their elder brother Percy, The Heath Brothers still convene on occasion. At the Village Vanguard this week, Jimmy and Tootie will add bass and piano to form a quartet. NPR Music and WBGO will be on hand for a live radio broadcast and online video webcast of their performance this Wednesday, July 6 at 9 p.m. ET. Check this page for live video, audio, chat and a recording afterwards.“

WBGO and NPR/music at the Montreal Jazz Festival

by Alex W. Rodriguez

“Last month, my station, WBGO, celebrated its 32nd birthday. Strangely enough, another jazz titan turns the same age this Saturday: the Montreal International Jazz Festival. One of the largest music festivals of any kind in the world, it runs from June 25 through July 4.

The two of us have grown up together. WBGO’s Michael Bourne and Becca Pulliam first collaborated with the festival in the 1990s, and the station began live remote broadcasts from Montreal in 2004. This weekend, WBGO will be back in Montreal for another live broadcast.”

See the full article here.

Trombone Shorty

From NPR/music and WBGO: “Dan Tepfer And Friends: Live At 92Y Tribeca”

“The jazz pianist Dan Tepfer isn’t yet 30, but he’s quickly built a reputation for quality — versatility, too. Two years ago, he put out an album of improvised duets with iconic saxophonist Lee Konitz, who’s about 55 years his elder. Last year, Tepfer issued Five Pedals Deep, an elegant and modern trio album. (It’s his third trio record, actually.) Soon, he’ll also release his readings of and improvisations on J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations, originally written for solo harpsichord.

In the debut of The Checkout: Live at 92Y Tribeca concert series, Tepfer will show off these three sides of his musical personality. He’ll play selections from his Goldberg Variations solo. He’ll also call upon his friend and peer, tenor saxophonist Noah Preminger, for a series of duo tributes to Lee Konitz. (Konitz was originally scheduled to appear, but had to bow out for health reasons.) And he’ll play a set with his trio, with Joe Martin on bass and Ted Poor on drums.”

See the full article here.

Thanks to Josh Jackson, NPR/music and WBGO, Jazz 88, Newark, NJ