David Schulman improvising in response to X Within X Orange by Robert Mangold.
The most interesting part of this weekend's jazz performances at the Phillips Collection isn't advertised in the Festival's schedules. All weekend, solo musicians are moving through the Phillips galleries with their instruments, stopping at pieces of art, and responding to those works by [...]

10:30 PM – MARSHALL KEYS QUINTET
Marshall Keys is one of the most skillful alto saxophonists in the DC area, and as one of the opening acts for the Festival he brought with him an equally skillful quintet: trombonist Greg Boyer (who also works with Prince and George Clinton), pianist Benjy Parecki, bassist James King, and [...]

Though it's programmed as a tribute to New Orleans, the sheer length of this year's Duke Ellington Jazz Festival — 11 days, June 5-15 — necessitates a heavy reliance on local jazz musicians. I say this as if it's a bad thing: DC has a very active and vibrant scene, and while you can certainly [...]

Duke Ellington Jazz Festival (DEJF) Executive producer Charlie Fishman and managing director Sunny Sumter have announced the 2009 lineup for the DEJF.
As previously announced, the theme for this year is "The Musical Heritage of New Orleans," and the headliner as such is trumpeter Terence Blanchard — who will be performing his 2007 piece A [...]

As promised, some stills and vids from Friday night:
La Timbistica:

Chopteeth:

Fertile Ground:

...and the Chopteeth videos...
"Struggle":

Nice horn bit:

Trouble viewing? Check out the YouTube versions here and here.

Winard Harper is the kind of drummer who can hold an audience rapt for five minutes with a two-stick high-hat solo. As you start applauding, or screaming, or whatever, you realize that this was just the intro, that the band is poised for a big entrance. Once the band is in, your [...]

Review below; videos and photos forthcoming.
"The future of la musica is assured," a beaming Jim Byers informed the 9:30 club on Friday night.
Byers, the host of WPFW's "Latin Flavor," spoke after a stellar performance by La Timbistica, a high-flying salsa outfit also known as the Berklee College of Music Latin Jazz All-Stars. The [...]

1:20 PM
Taj Mahal isn't a jazz man, of course, but a blues legend — and a powerful one. Put it this way: during "Annie Mae," four songs into his guitar-drenched set, one of the speakers at the lip of the stage began smoking. The roadie who disconnected and hauled it off actually got an ovation [...]

Allow me to qualify myself.
Back in March I wrote a post about The Duke Ellington Orchestra when they were beginning a stand at Blues Alley. I pointed out that while it was a continuation of Ellington's original organization, "nobody currently in the Duke Ellington Orchestra was there when it was Duke Ellington’s orchestra....Just something to [...]