Rob Shepherd

Five Genre-Defying Selections from the Newport Jazz Festival’s 2021 Lineup

After a year canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic, the historic Newport Jazz Festival has announced it will be presenting the…

4 years ago

A History of the Newport Jazz Festival – Chapter XII: Expansion, 1995-2003

In the four decades since the Newport Jazz festival first took place in 1954, it became a global brand with…

4 years ago

Review: ‘Impulse! Records: Music, Message & The Moment’ and Sons of Kemet’s ‘Black to the Future’

In 1960, Creed Taylor founded Impulse! Records, which he dubbed "The New Wave in Jazz." While over time, Impulse! established…

4 years ago

A History of the Newport Jazz Festival – Chapter XI: Futures, 1990-1994

The 1990s was a period of change. The geopolitical order in place for nearly half a century ended with the…

4 years ago

Review: Tony Allen’s ‘There is No End’

An artist’s final recording is often an unusual gift to the world. In large part, this derives from the fact…

4 years ago

A History of the Newport Jazz Festival – Chapter X: Smooth Sailing?, 1984-1989

Created in 1927, The Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan, Limited - more commonly known as Japan Victor Company (JVC)…

4 years ago

A History of the Newport Jazz Festival – Chapter IX: Homecoming, 1981-1983

“We’re Back” announced the front page of The Providence Journal, complete with a photo of a smiling George Wein, upon…

4 years ago

Creative Necessity: A Conversation with Skerik

Since first picking up the horn in fifth grade, Skerik has charted a less traditional route for a saxophonist. While…

4 years ago

Review: Logan Richardson’s ‘Afrofuturism’

Memorial day weekend 1921 started just like any other day in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma. One of the…

4 years ago

Looking Within: A Conversation with Joe Dyson

Joe Dyson has established himself as one of the go to drummers for some of today's masters of the music,…

4 years ago