Grammy Travesty Continues: John Santos

Well, it’s that time of year again – Grammy fever. CBS ramps it up with a constant barrage of mega-bucks commercials of all lengths and even specials leading up to the February 12th telecast that is expected to produce multi-gazillions of dollars. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) inundates the membership with nomination and voting materials, invitations to the big event and its surrounding activities including post and pre-parties [...]

A Tribute to Carlos Garnett at the Panama Jazz Festival 2012

For nine consecutive years the Danilo Perez Foundation has celebrated the Panama Jazz Festival with the best of the jazz world. Precisely this week people in Panama City are celebrating the ninth edition of this festival which pays tribute to the Panamanian self-taught saxophonist Carlos Garnett, born in 1938. Mr. Garnett played with the most talented jazz musicians in the United States during the 60’s and 70’s, recording albums with legends like Charles Mingus [...]

Mundo: The World of Jane Bunnett

There are many possible descriptions of Jane Bunnett: Composer/bandleader/multi-instrumentalist/educator/festival organizer. Order of Canada recipient, five-time Juno Award winner and multiple Grammy nominee. Internationally acclaimed artist with a recording career spanning 24 years. Our preferred phrase is: fearless musical explorer. In tandem with her long-time partner in music and life, trumpeter/composer/producer Larry Cramer [...]

Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra Turns 10!

The Afro Latin Jazz Alliance announces that it will celebrate the 10th Anniversary season of the GRAMMY® Award-winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO), directed by Arturo O’Farrill, with a special program at Symphony Space on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, on January 20 & 21. Entitled "The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra Turns 10," the program will showcase the ensemble performing a wide range of repertoire, spanning from their earliest Jazz at Lincoln Center [...]

Grammy Update – December 2011

On April 6, 2011 the Governing Board of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (The Grammys) announced the elimination of 31 categories. According to NARAS, the categories were eliminated to “tighten and create a parallel structure among the various fields.” It is worth noting that the Governing Board met behind closed doors and dues paying members of the Academy were not informed of the meetings, or asked for their opinion in the decision making process [...]

Chucho Valdes and the ACM at the NJPAC

Cuban jazz legend Chucho Valdés returns to NJPAC’s Prudential Hall for the first time since 2003 on Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 3pm with the Afro-Cuban Messengers, the band with which he recorded his latest Grammy-winning CD. Japanese jazz/pop pianist Hiromi and her Trio Project featuring Anthony Jackson and Simon Philips share the bill in an afternoon concert that spans genres and continents. The performance is part of NJPAC’s Wells Fargo Jazz Series [...]

SF Arts Commission passes resolution

On Monday, November 7th, 2011 at the San Francisco Executive Arts Commission Meeting the resolution, spearheaded by Commissioner John Calloway was proposed to the board commissioners asking them to issue a formal request to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to immediately reinstate the 31 categories of music genres that were dropped from GRAMMY consideration on April 6, 2011 [...]

Ninth Annual Panama Jazz Festival

One of Panama’s most significant cultural events, the Ninth Annual Panama Jazz Festival will be held on January 16-21, 2012. Already a reference in the global jazz calendar and attracting more than an estimated 100,000 people since its inception, this year’s festival is dedicated to tenor saxophonist Carlos Garnett, one of the most prolific Panamanian-Americans in jazz, known for working with artists such as Miles Davis, Charles Mingus and [...]

John Benitez at the Jazz Standard

Grammy Award-winning bassist John Benitez was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, and by age nineteen was the first-call bassist in San Juan’s thriving Jazz and Latin music scenes. Since moving to NYC in 1993, John has gigged and recorded with a plethora of jazz and Latin greats ranging from Wynton Marsalis and Ravi Coltrane to Ray Barreto and Mongo Santamaria. In 2001, John released his first album as a leader, “Descarga in New York” [...]

Poncho Sanchez, Terence Blanchard: Chano Y Dizzy!

For more than three decades as both a leader and a sideman, conguero Poncho Sanchez has stirred up a fiery stew of straightahead jazz, gritty soul music, and infectious melodies and rhythms from a variety of Latin American and South American sources. His influences are numerous, but among the more prominent figures that inform his music are two of the primary architects of Latin jazz – conga drummer and composer Chano Pozo and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie [...]