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Friends Old and New: Artistic Director Christian McBride Previews the 2023 Newport Jazz Festival

We conclude our series of 2023 Newport Jazz Festival pre-event interviews with a conversation with Christian McBride. Fittingly, our third interview with McBride covers his three roles at the Newport Jazz Festival: bass heavyweight, skilled educator, and curator.  McBride’s bona fides as an artist are beyond reproach. He’s worked with legends of jazz – Gary […]

Tide is My Witness: Cautious Clay Previews his 2023 Newport Jazz Festival Performance and New Blue Note Album

Jazz music has long had an interesting, albeit complicated, relationship with more popular musical forms. Swing bands were the pop music craze of the 1930s and 40s. With the emergence of bop, particularly during the postwar era, the lines between artful improvisation-based music and more commercial sentimentality became increasingly stark. But many artists – Ray […]

Magic is Real: Vijay Iyer Previews the ‘Love in Exile’ Trio’s 2023 Newport Jazz Festival Performance

Often the best music seemingly transports the listener – by the artist’s direction – to another time and place. The music envelopes the audience, disorienting them temporarily but ultimately giving them a path to follow. While recordings can capture this mystifying experience, it is truly the live performance in which this intangible aspect is at […]

Even the Sparrow: James Brandon Lewis Previews his 2023 Newport Jazz Festival Performance

Ingrained in jazz, hip hop, punk, gospel, and R&B, tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis has discovered a unique way to give equal footing to concepts many would categorically divide. His broad perspective is largely based on his concept of molecular systematic music (MSM). The current subject of Lewis’ doctoral studies, MSM recontextualizes artistic influences through […]

Laced With Creativity: A Conversation with Zeena Parkins

When one thinks of lace as a fabric, often their immediate thought is delicacy and fragility. But appearances can be deceiving. Intricate lace patterns also reflect strength in their repetitive, yet morphing, shapes and the intense determination of those who craft them. Zeena Parkins’ LACE (Chaikin, 2023), the culmination of a decade and a half of composing […]

Getting Them There: A Conversation with Newport Festivals Driver/Photographer Jack Casey

Anyone who frequents the Newport Jazz or Folk Facebook groups would likely recognize the name Jack Casey. For the last few years, Casey has regularly shared with these groups memories of artists he’s captured at Fort Adams over the past almost four decades. Given his output’s high-quality and sheer volume, one could reasonably believe Casey to be a full-time […]

Relationships Through Music: A Conversation with Zakir Hussain on Shakti at 50 (Part Two)

We continue our conversation with Maestro Hussain with a focus on how This Moment (Abstract Logix, 2023) differs from prior Shakti releases and, in the process, explores the band’s past, present, and future. PostGenre: One thing that stands out on This Moment is the particularly strong connection between you and Selvaganesh. It sounds like you […]

Relationships Through Music: A Conversation with Zakir Hussain on Shakti at 50 (Part One)

In the summer of 1970, a guitarist continually seeking new sounds visited the House of Musical Traditions, a musical instrument store in Greenwich Village with a significant collection from around the globe. He was particularly fascinated by Indian instruments. The twenty-eight-year-old John McLaughlin requested of the proprietor that if a great Indian musician ever entered […]

Peace Through Sound: A Conversation with Lonnie Liston Smith (Part Two)

In the second part of our Conversation with Lonnie Liston Smith (read part one here), we discuss his time with Miles Davis, his work with the Cosmic Echoes, and his discovery of a young Marcus Miller. PostGenre: After Pharaoh Sanders, you joined Miles [Davis]’ band. You were even part of the session for On the […]