A year in review: Great 2010 CDs

Publication: The Louisiana Weekly
By: Geraldine Wyckoff
Date: December 20, 2010

New Orleans musical family dynasties put out and made out in the CD department in 2010. Most of the top albums this year, all of which make for excellent gift-giving opportunities, were released by members of the (in alphabetical order) Andrews, Harrison, Neville and Marsalis families. Other contenders for this year best releases come from the likes of Dr. John and Kermit Ruffins, who one could argue, are dynasties unto themselves. This makes a strong statement about the longevity and continuance that is at the heart of the New Orleans music tradition.

While new styles might dominate or often come and go in other locales, in this city they are more apt to be absorbed and become a new aspect of the heritage. For example, many local hip-hop artists do embrace some of the rhythms and nuances of the music that surrounded them in their childhoods. Read more »

Submitted by Bobby on December 21st, 2010 — 02:51pm

Jazz musician combines Beethoven with The Beatles

Jazz pianist Joey Calderazzo will play Dec. 5 at Murry's

 

Publication: MOVE Magazine
By: Angie Andera
Date: December 3, 2010

For jazz pianist Joey Calderazzo, music has always been a part of his life. The piano first struck a chord with the musician when his childhood friend took up the instrument.

“My next door neighbor played the piano and always had to practice, so instead of going home I’d stay and watch him practice,” Calderazzo said. “I thought it was something I could do too, so at about eight I asked to take piano lessons.”

At the age of 17, Calderazzo got his foot in the door of the music industry by sitting in with New York jazz musicians.

“I would go to jam sessions, or I would have a friend that played with somebody and let me sit in with them,” Calderazzo said. Read more »

Submitted by Bobby on December 16th, 2010 — 03:29pm

Marsalis pianist Calderazzo to make a welcome return

Publication: Kansas City Star
By: Joe Klopus
Date: December 1, 2010

 

One good turn deserves another. So, less than a month after he was in town with the Branford Marsalis Quartet, pianist Joey Calderazzo is back on Saturday at the helm of his own trio.

Calderazzo, appearing this time at the Blue Room, has spent 12 years in the Marsalis quartet and has been associated with the saxophonist for upward of 20 years. But, as he’ll prove Saturday, he’s no mere sideman.

A native New Yorker, he’s one of those “young lions” who emerged in the 1980s. A lot of people first heard him with tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker about 1987.

Read more »
Submitted by Bobby on December 16th, 2010 — 02:20pm

The Marsalis Family: Music Redeems

Publication:  PopMatters
By: Benjamin Aspray
Date: September 9, 2010

Affable humility radiates from Music Redeems, a live recording of the Marsalis family’s performance at the JFK Center in D.C. The whole prodigious clan was there: brothers Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo, and Jason on trumpet, sax, trombone, and drums respectively; patriarch Ellis on piano; and Ellis III doing spoken word. Harry Connick Jr., a long-time family friend, also made an appearance. 

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Submitted by Fan on December 15th, 2010 — 02:50pm

Hearing VS. Listening

Publication: MusicalFoster.com
Author: Randall Foster
Date: October 26, 2010

MARSALIS MUSIC NOTE: We wanted to share this interesting piece with you simply as “food for thought.” We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Today we are inundated with noise.  Noise of every kind. Conversation, traffic, dogs barking, music, commercials, noise.  We are constantly bombarded with this noise until we are desensitized to it.  After thinking quite a bit on this subject I turned to Google to see what others had said about this. It turns out that this is a hot-bed topic.  The majority of the results I found were scholarly and business-management types of articles but nonetheless I think I may have found what I was looking for.
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Submitted by Ben on October 26th, 2010 — 12:18pm