Frank Wess is revered as a smoothly swinging tenor saxophone player in the Lester Young tradition, as an expert alto saxophonist, and as one of the most influential, instantly recognizable flutists in jazz history. In 2007, Wess received the prestigious NEA Jazz Masters Award. On October 10, in Manhattan, the [...]

In 2008, saxophonist Charles Lloyd released a highly regarded live album, Rabe de Nube, with pianist Jason Moran, bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Eric Harland. On September 14, the 73-year-old Lloyd and that same potent quartet will release their first studio effort, Mirror, on the ECM label. Mirror features beautiful, [...]

Blue Note Records announced this week that it will soon release … Featuring, a collection of singer Norah Jones’ musical collaboration from the past decade. Set to hit retail and online outlets on November 2, the disc’s 18 songs include duets with Ray Charles, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, OutKast, the [...]

A hundred years after his birth and 32 years after his death, the great popular-music star Louis Prima received a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Prima’s son and daughter, Louis Jr. and Lena, were on hand at the Montalbán Theatre during the dedication ceremony late last month. Afterward, Prima [...]

Having covered a wide swath of stylistic ground in their 11-year existence, the organ-driven soul-jazz trio Soulive turns its attention to the Beatles with the September 14th release of Rubber Soulive on the band’s own Royal Family Records imprint. “We’ve always been big Beatles fans,” says the group’s guitarist, Eric [...]

When guitarist Jeff Beck played the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival earlier this year, he was advised to catch Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews’ show later at Tipitina’s. Beck was duly impressed, enough so that when he and his group performed a birthday tribute to the late Les Paul in [...]