Jason Lindner and Now Vs. Now - Hear the Studio Session

March 4, 2008. Posted by Joshua Jackson.

Add new comment | Filed under: Interviews, jason lindner, Jazz Alive, josh jackson, lagniappe, Live Music, new songs, now vs now, npr, Remix, studio session, Studio Sessions, Video, wbgo

FYI - The WBGO studio session with Jason Lindner's Now Vs. Now has been posted. Five completely new songs. And for a little lagniappe, you can download two of them, and dig the video from the session. Check it out now. Versus now...
-Josh
PS See the band live at The Jazz Gallery, Friday and Saturday, 3/14 and 3/15.

© 2008 WBGO

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When You Know - Rhonda Hamilton with Dianne Reeves

January 18, 2008. Posted by Joshua Jackson.

Add new comment | Filed under: bassist, dianne reeves, drummer, emotional depth, final touches, goodnight and good luck, grammys, greg hutchinson, guitarist, Interviews, josh jackson, love songs, minnie ripperton, pianist, rhonda, romero lubambo, s singer, sarah vaughan, spiritual connection, temptations just my imagination, veal

"It's what it is in that moment." That's singer Dianne Reeves' definition of jazz.
Dianne Reeves is on her way home to Colorado today. She has just finished the final touches of her new recording, When You Know.
It comes out April 15th - so pick up a copy when you drop off your taxes.
Dianne has won multiple Grammys - for her live recording, In the Moment. For her tribute to Newark's own Sarah Vaughan, The Calling (Dianne's favorite). For her soundtrack to the film Goodnight and Good Luck. And when it comes to matters of love, there are few singers in jazz with the emotional depth of Dianne Reeves. So it is not surprising that the new record is a cycle of love songs. When You Know ends with the title track, a song about Dianne's spiritual connection. It also includes jazz versions of The Temptations' "Just My Imagination" and Minnie Ripperton's "Loving You," innocent love songs that Dianne remembers as a child.
Can't wait until the record comes out? You're in luck. Dianne and her band (pianist Geoff Keezer, guitarist Romero Lubambo, bassist Reginald Veal, and drummer Greg Hutchinson) will debut the music live in concert - when else? - Valentine's Night at The Apollo.

Listen to Rhonda Hamilton's interview with Dianne Reeves.

- Josh Jackson

© 2008 WBGO

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Born Standing Up

January 18, 2008. Posted by Joshua Jackson.

Add new comment | Filed under: banjo picker, bestseller, Books, clarity, comedians, drivel, earl scruggs, ego, gesture, grabs, honesty, improvising jazz, jazz musician, josh jackson, last stand, memoir, persistent memory, scruggs style, standup comedy, steve martin, time a place

Steve Martin one of the funniest comedians of all time. He's also a talented banjo picker in the Earl Scruggs' style. Lately, however, Martin's writing consistently grabs my attention. I'm almost finished with his new memoir, Born Standing Up.

[disclosure - my wife works for the company that publishes this book. Then again, they also publish such intellectual drivel like the recent bestseller, The Secret.]

Martin walked away from standup comedy in 1981. While he was still on top. Born Standing Up offers his personal take on a time, a place, and a person (himself) that no longer exist. It's a fascinating real life story, expressed with astonishing honesty and clarity. When Steve Martin writes about standup comedy - being alone on a stage, in front of an audience that expects you to entertain - he refers to it as "the ego's last stand."

His description of the act is very much how I think an improvising jazz musician must feel at times:

"My most persistent memory of stand-up is of my mouth being in the present and my mind being in the future: the mouth speaking the line, the body delivering the gesture, while the mind looks back, observing, analyzing, judging, worrying, and then deciding when and what to say next."

Fortunately for musicians, silence is an option.
- Josh Jackson

© 2008 WBGO

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