Even if the Howard University ensemble hadn't made a point of saying so, Afro-Blue's performance last night of Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" was clearly the product of Sing-Off judge Ben Folds' critique two weeks ago. "Don't overthink the arrangement," he told them after an elaborate casting of "I Heard It Through the [...]
Friday, October 14
They don't call him "Snap-Crackle" 'cause he loves Rice Krispies. Roy Haynes got his nickname for his startlingly sharp attack on the drums, with a special zeal on the snare (snap) and ride cymbal (crackle). The distinctive sound has netted Roy one of the most eye-popping musical resumes you'll ever see. He had [...]
The consensus about Sonny Rollins is such that it's not even a matter of opinion anymore: The man is an Olympian in the world of jazz, its mightiest saxophone player who's on the very short list of the greatest improvisers in its history. At 81, he's slowed down his touring schedule considerably—although "slow" is not the word [...]
Friday, October 7
We all know easy-listening trumpeter Chris Botti, right? He wasn't always such light, soft fare. He moved to New York City in 1985, the story goes, to establish himself as the baddest young bebop trumpeter on the scene. But something happened there to scare him away from that goal, sending him running into [...]
The Sing-Off is, like all musical reality shows, steadfastly and proudly middle-of-the-road. But juxtapose its concept with performers whose forte is elswhere, and the middle of the road becomes a challenge in spite of itself—something D.C.'s own Afro Blue discovered on last night's installment of the show, in which the Howard University ensemble passed round [...]
Friday, Sep. 30
With certain musical innovations, we can look back and can see it was just a matter of time before someone thought of that; others are so outside-the-box that they still startle us and make us say, "Wow. Where the hell did that come from?" Gary Burton's decision to beef up his vibraphone playing [...]
Thursday, Sep. 22
It's the stealth jazz event of the year, the in-the-know concert that more often than not proves just how many people in this town are well-informed when it comes to jazz. Yes, every year the Congressional Black Caucus hosts its legislative conference in downtown Washington, bringing in leaders of the African-American community from [...]
Oh! Have we gone so long without mentioning that Afro Blue, Howard University's award-winning vocal jazz ensemble, is competing on season 3 of NBC's The Sing-Off? Why, yes we have. Perhaps it's because the show combines so many things that inspire deep skepticism: reality television; those damned a cappella ensembles that you can't walk four [...]
There are plenty of great options this week; unfortunately they seem to have been stacked up across the same three days. Your humble correspondent has had to make some difficult choices.
Friday, September 16
It was sometime in the mid-'90s when this writer, watching crappy mid-'90s Saturday Night Live, was suddenly intrigued by one of the Saturday [...]
One of the newest, fastest-rising jazz personalities in D.C. is Lydia Lewis, a young drummer and educator with a crisp sound and startling grasp of tricky rhythmic signatures. Her profile has risen significantly this year as she's worked with tenor saxophonist Elijah Balbed at Bayou, played through the Washington Women in Jazz Festival this spring, [...]
