Oscar Peterson, 1925 - 2007

Oscar Peterson, whose dazzling piano playing made him one of the most popular jazz artists in history, died on Sunday night at his home in Mississauga, Ontario, outside Toronto. He was 82.

To read the entire New York Times obituary, click HERE

To read another article from the Chicago Tribune's Art critic, Howard Reich, which includes a discography of notable Peterson recordings, click HERE

NPR Music site launched

The halls of National Public Radio are abuzz after the launch of the new NPR Music site. Today, NPR and twelve (12) public radio partners launched the free, multi-genre Web site which presents the best of public radio music.

NPR Music aims to be as diverse as its audience's interests and curiosity. That's why Jazz Profiles lives alongside World Café and Classics in Concert, and why the site features everyone from Aaron Copland and Aaron Neville, to Dan Zanes and Joe Zawinul.

The site includes new artist pages, music blogs, and archived concerts. There is also a new media player which allows you to set up playlists of favorite NPR stories.

To read more about this new site, click HERE

Jazz Legend Joe Zawinul, 1932-2007

Jazz legend Joe Zawinul, who soared to fame as one of the creators of jazz fusion and performed and recorded with Miles Davis, died early Tuesday, a hospital official said. He was 75.

To read the entire article at All About Jazz, click HERE

Max Roach, a Founder of Modern Jazz, Dies at 83

Max Roach, a founder of modern jazz who rewrote the rules of drumming in the 1940’s and spent the rest of his career breaking musical barriers and defying listeners’ expectations, died Thursday, August 16th in Manhattan. He was 83.

As a young man, Mr. Roach, a percussion virtuoso capable of playing at the most brutal tempos with subtlety as well as power, was among a small circle of adventurous musicians who brought about wholesale changes in jazz. He remained adventurous to the end.

To read an article about Roach from Drummerworld, click HERE

To read the entire New York Times obituary, click HERE

Terence Blanchard: Rebuilding New Orleans in Song

New Orleans native son Terence Blanchard has created an impassioned song cycle, A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina), as his third album for Blue Note Records.

An important jumpstart for A Tale of God’s Will was director Spike Lee’s decision to document the aftermath of Katrina on film, in what turned out to be the four-hour award-winning HBO documentary, When the Levees Broke, which aired last year. Lee, who has enlisted Blanchard on numerous occasions to score his films, tapped him once again for his documentary.

Josh Jackson asked Blanchard to talk about his music for the Lee documentary. Jackson also asked him to play the piano.

To hear Blanchard's performance and an interview with Jackson on NPR from New Orleans click HERE

Bobby Sanabria's Latin Jazz Hybrid

Growing up in the South Bronx, Bobby Sanabria was exposed to a wide range of music: Latin, Afro-Cuban, blues, jazz, funk, rock. He became a fan of Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Rich, James Brown and Mario Bauzá, among others.

Later, Sanabria performed alongside many of those legendary musicians. Now his name is included in the short list of renowned drummers and percussionists, and he's determined to make sure that the musical mélange of his past continues in the future.

To read the article and listen to the NPR interview, click HERE

Marian McPartland to be inducted into National Radio Hall of Fame

Jazz Icon, Marian McPartland, will be one of five inductees into the National Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago in a ceremony to be held November 3rd of this year.

Host of Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz for more than 25 years, McPartland taught herself how to play piano at age three. Since 1978 the English born jazz musician has hosted one of the longest running weekly programs on NPR. McPartland is revered for her own talent and welcomes a wide range of guests to her program, including legendary jazz artists and fledgling jazz talents.

To read all about the National Radio Hall of Fame as well as to find out more about the Museum of Broadcast Communications, which is scheduled for opening in 2008 in downtown Chicago, click HERE

The jazz image : masters of jazz photography

No mean jazz photographer himself--see his Images of Jazz (1996)--Lee Tanner generously shares space with his peers in this album for which he wrote the historical preface, explaining why jazz photography is an after-1930 development.

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Benny Golson: From Jazz to Hollywood and back

Saxophone player Benny Golson played with jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie and Art Blakey, and wrote music for the TV shows M*A*S*H and Mission Impossible. On NPR's Morning Edition, he talks about his role in reshaping Blakey's band as well as the bit part in a Stephen Spielberg movie that helped revitalize his career.

To read the article and listen to the NPR interview, click HERE

Andrew Hill: 1931-2007

Andrew Hill, a pianist and composer of highly original and sometimes opaquely inner-dwelling jazz whose work only recently found a wide audience, died Friday, April 20th, at his home in Jersey City. He was 75.

To read the New York Times obituary, click HERE

Ornette Coleman wins Pulitzer

Alto saxophonist and free jazz visionary Ornette Coleman won the Pulitzer Prize for music for his 2006 album, Sound Grammar. His is the first jazz album in history to win this coveted prize.

Read the complete article from Jazz Times HERE

Jazz, Giants and Journeys: The Photography of Herman Leonard

With a camera as his backstage pass, Herman Leonard has photographed the giants of jazz in their golden age, movie stars on set and on their travels to exotic places, the fashion world of Paris in the 1960s, and the inner sanctums of his beloved New Orleans. His friendships with the jazz greats allowed him to vividly capture the magical moments of the Harlem and Paris jazz clubs in the 1940s and 50s, ...
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6th Annual Jazz Appreciation Month

What is Jazz Appreciation Month?
The concept is simple: designate one month for an annual public spotlight on jazz. Jazz Appreciation Month (or JAM) is intended to draw public attention to the glories of jazz as both an historical and a living treasure. The idea is to encourage musicians, concert halls, schools, colleges, museums, libraries, and public broadcasters to offer special programs on jazz every April.

Among other events and activities this year, the National Museum of American History is inaugurating a jazz discussion board. Come join the discussion!

To learn all about this, go to Smithsonian Jazz, a jazz portal for the Smithsonian Institute.