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Benjamin Herman: Soul, Funk and Blues Revisited … in Holland!
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."Benjamin is a brilliant talent and one of the more idiosyncratic figures of the European Jazz scene."- The editorial staff at...
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Johnny Mercer - Part 4
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Even songwriters who emerged in the lyrically expansive wake of Dylan and The Beatles point to Mercer as the master. When the late Harry...
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Ralph Bowen
“In a way, the entire act of music is mind put into sound. It has to go through some sort of physical medium in order to be heard. I chose the saxophone, but the whole issue is to have such control...
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Tony Williams - The Tony Scherman Interview
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.A LESSON FROM TONY WILLIAMS“When I was a kid, for about two years I played like Max Roach. Max is my favorite drummer. Art Blakey was my first...
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Horace Silver - The Len Lyons Interview
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“The piano is the most versatile and autonomous of all the musical instruments. No more perfect tool (and that, ultimately, is all an...
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"Mechanic" - by Whitney Balliett
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“THAT JAZZ should be written about critically is doubtful. It is an elusive, subjective form, whose delights are immediate and often fleeting....
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Johnny Mercer - Part 5
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“When people write about Johnny Mercer, they usually talk about his fabulous career, the sheer quantity of his output, the speed and ease with...
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Tim Armacost: A Stranger in Paradise
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Tim has a rather deliberate way with the beat, staying clear of relentless sixteenth notes and using his middleweight tone [think Hank...
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Dreaming Big with Brett Gold
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“How many young people's dreams, you wonder, have been short-circuited by adults advising them to study something of practical value—something...
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Blossom Dearie
Listening to Blossom Dearie sing is like following the flight of a dandelion seed. Her feather-soft voice warbles and reels while a warm, breezy piano line buoys her gentle melodies. Despite Dearie’s...
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Matt Dennis - "'Scuse Me While I Disappear" - by Gene Lees
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."Matt Dennis had an ability to write the most beautiful and sophisticated melodies, and yet they were never hard to sing. He was also a gentle,...
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Jeri Southern
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.The contributions that Orrin Keepnews and Gene Lees have made to Jazz over the past fifty years are immense and go well beyond anything...
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"Standards in Silhouettes" - the Kenton-Mathieu Alliance
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“... the sound of Kenton is the battle cry of a squadron of stratosphere-scraping trumpeters blowing with such fury that athletic cups must...
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Madeline Eastman - "The Dolphin Lady"
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“‘The definition of a jazz singer is a singer who sings jazz,’ said Mark Murphy with tongue-in-cheek, although, actually, he's a definitive...
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A "Voyage" with Stan Getz
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.With so much of the late, great tenor saxophonist Stan Getz’s recorded music available, it is understandable that his 1986 recording Voyage on...
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Sarah Vaughan - The Divine One by Gunther Schuller
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.This overwhelming tribute to Sarah Vaughan preceded a Vaughan concert at the Smithsonian Museum in 1980. Not surprisingly,Gunther Schuller —...
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Milestones - The Music and Times of Miles Davis by Jack Chambers
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.MILES DAVIS : Milestones, [Columbia C L 1193]“Side 1: Dr. Jekyl, while not especially melodic, gives the group an excellent opportunity to...
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The M-Squad and TV Jazz - 60 Years Ago!
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.I never knew that I had anything in common with the late movie, television and stage actor, Lee Marvin [1924–1987],that is until I undertook...
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Irene Kral: A Voice So Irresistible, Beguiling and Pure [From the Archives]
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Irene Kral was not just another jazz singer.“She had a delicate style, yet every note was placed with deliberate aim, and she always hit...
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