When the reality set in that it was going to be impossible for the Northwest Jazz Festival in Lewiston, NY to happen this year, I knew it was going to make all of us sad. The ripple effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is being felt in many parts of the country in the worst manner […]
In the past decade, we have seen jazz guitarists shift their gaze to the music of the heartland. Long dominant as an east coast bebop jazz sound or a cool jazz west coast sound, prominent jazz guitarists are incorporating the sounds of the Midwest into their music. The likes of Bill Frisell, John Scofield, and […]
Writing about jazz and Bob Dylan in the same sentence may seem odd. However, there is nothing odd about Charlie Ballantine’s Life Is Brief: The Music of Bob Dylan. A project, for all intents and purposes, fraught with risks as is the case when tackling such a large presence in American popular music. Ballantine tackles […]
