Jack DeJohnette to Celebrate Landmark Year with Release of New Album "Sound Travels" on January 17 [Exclusive Tracks]

MUTIDIRECTIONAL ALBUM FEATURES:  

ESPERANZA SPALDING, BRUCE HORNSBY, BOBBY MCFERRIN, AMBROSE AKINMUSIRE, LIONEL LOUEKE, TIM RIES, LUISITO QUINTERO & JASON MORAN 

  

LISTEN TO EXCLUSIVE STREAMING
TRACKS FROM SOUND TRAVELS - 
"SALSA FOR LUISITO" & "NEW MUSE"

2012 promises to be a banner year for legend Jack DeJohnette, renowned as one of music's most adventurous artists and prolific drummers. Last evening (Jan 10, 2012), he was honored with a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Fellowship, the highest U.S. honor for jazz musicians. The Chicago-born, New York-based artist will also turn 70, boasting a top-drawer historical resume that ranges from his early days as a charter member of the Charles Lloyd Quartet and his seminal drumming in Miles Davis's pioneering fusion band in the late '60s and early '70s (including Bitches Brew) to his longstanding quarter-century-plus contributions to the Keith Jarrett Standards Trio as well as his own diverse solo career recording for such labels as ECM, MCA/Impluse!, EMI/Blue Note, and his own imprint Golden Beams.

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Donna M's Unlikely Journey to the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards

If someone would have told me five years ago that I would (1) love jazz music (2) be interviewed by NPR's A Blog Supreme, (3) create an increasingly popular jazz blog and (4) attend the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards show in Los Angeles in 2011, I would have laughed heartily in disbelief for at least five minutes. :P

Here I am, though, about to leave mid-week to attend four days of GRAMMY events in Los Angeles. It's all quite amazing to me.

I grew up with the classic Soul and R&B sounds of the 70s. I was exposed to a heavy dose of doo-wop and Motown by both my mother and maternal grandfather. The first album that was purchased for me (after I begged and pleaded for it) as a young child was "ABC" by the Jackson 5. The first 12 inch single that I bought for myself with saved lunch money was Parliament's "Flash Light".

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53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards ~ Jazz Artists Nominated in Other Categories

The following categories range from "Best New Artist" to "Best Gospel Song" to "Best Classical Crossover Album". You may be surprised to see some of your favorite jazz artists working in other genres.

Congratulations to all of the nominees! I look forward to seeing them all at some point during GRAMMY Week in February 2011!

Category 4

Best New Artist

For a new artist who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording which establishes the public identity of that artist.

1. JUSTIN BIEBER

2. DRAKE

3. FLORENCE & THE MACHINE

4. MUMFORD & SONS

5. ESPERANZA SPALDING

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JAM 2010: 156 Artists for a New Jazz Experience (Part I)

There are hundreds and hundreds of jazz musicians & singers around - creating, touring, enriching people's lives with their music.

My contribution to the celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month is this ongoing list. It was made during a couple of sessions of free association. I thought of one artist which made me think of someone else. 

It is my hope that everyone will be able to find an artist, a style, a video or a backstory that resonates with them.

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