Rob Shepherd

Rob Shepherd

A History of the Newport Jazz Festival – Chapter I: A New Tradition, 1954-1955A History of the Newport Jazz Festival – Chapter I: A New Tradition, 1954-1955

A History of the Newport Jazz Festival – Chapter I: A New Tradition, 1954-1955

By 9:18 PM on the evening of July 17, 1954, Eddie Condon’s tribute to Dixieland finally began its delayed performance.…

5 years ago
A History of the Newport Jazz Festival – Prologue: Born in Storyville, 1950-1954A History of the Newport Jazz Festival – Prologue: Born in Storyville, 1950-1954

A History of the Newport Jazz Festival – Prologue: Born in Storyville, 1950-1954

In September of 1950, twenty-four-year-old George Wein used his college savings to open a nightclub, Storyville, at Boston’s Copley Square…

5 years ago
Musical Mentors: Gary Bartz & Maisha’s ‘Night Dreamer’ and Archie Shepp, Raw Poetic & Damu the Fudgemunk’s ‘Ocean Bridges’Musical Mentors: Gary Bartz & Maisha’s ‘Night Dreamer’ and Archie Shepp, Raw Poetic & Damu the Fudgemunk’s ‘Ocean Bridges’

Musical Mentors: Gary Bartz & Maisha’s ‘Night Dreamer’ and Archie Shepp, Raw Poetic & Damu the Fudgemunk’s ‘Ocean Bridges’

The term “mentor” comes from a character in Homer’s Odyssey, an epic written in the 8th Century BCE. However, the…

5 years ago
Review: Roy Ayers, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad’s ‘Roy Ayers JID 002’Review: Roy Ayers, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad’s ‘Roy Ayers JID 002’

Review: Roy Ayers, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad’s ‘Roy Ayers JID 002’

Humanity has a longstanding fascination with incorporating the latest technological developments into music. This interest is perhaps most evident in…

5 years ago
Beating with Heart: Alexander Flood’s Percussive Exploration of Cultures and TechnologyBeating with Heart: Alexander Flood’s Percussive Exploration of Cultures and Technology

Beating with Heart: Alexander Flood’s Percussive Exploration of Cultures and Technology

In 2015, Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah created the Stretch Music imprint with Ropeadope Records to support jazz rooted genre blind…

5 years ago
Review: Norah Jones’ ‘Pick Me Up Off the Floor’Review: Norah Jones’ ‘Pick Me Up Off the Floor’

Review: Norah Jones’ ‘Pick Me Up Off the Floor’

When many think of Texas, the first musicians that may come to mind are Bob Wills, Stevie Ray Vaughn, or…

5 years ago
Review: Michael Olatuja’s ‘Lagos Pepper Soup’Review: Michael Olatuja’s ‘Lagos Pepper Soup’

Review: Michael Olatuja’s ‘Lagos Pepper Soup’

It can be incredibly difficult to be creative at the culinary arts. Insufficient attention to detail or excessive or inordinate…

5 years ago
Review: Ambrose Akinmusire’s ‘on the tender spot of every calloused moment’Review: Ambrose Akinmusire’s ‘on the tender spot of every calloused moment’

Review: Ambrose Akinmusire’s ‘on the tender spot of every calloused moment’

Tonic, minor third, fourth, minor fifth, fifth, minor seventh. While this describes the blues scale, such a summation misses the…

5 years ago
Review: Aaron Parks’ ‘Little Big II: Dreams of a Mechanical Man’Review: Aaron Parks’ ‘Little Big II: Dreams of a Mechanical Man’

Review: Aaron Parks’ ‘Little Big II: Dreams of a Mechanical Man’

In ancient Greek mythological lore, Hephaestus, the god of technology, created a giant bronze automaton named Talos who was powered…

5 years ago
Review: Shabaka and the Ancestors’ ‘We Are Sent Here By History’Review: Shabaka and the Ancestors’ ‘We Are Sent Here By History’

Review: Shabaka and the Ancestors’ ‘We Are Sent Here By History’

From the Thirteenth to the Seventeenth Centuries, the powerful Mali Empire ruled Western Africa. Encompassing modern Mauritania, Niger, Gambia, Guinea,…

5 years ago