Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes

Terrence Brewer, Groovin Wes , (Strong Brew Music) The northern California (Bay area) guitarist pays tribute to modern jazz guitar icon Wes ...

Was there something in the water back in 1959 that made it such a very good year for jazz recordings? We’ve already seen tribute events cele...

Coryell Auger Sample Trio (Narrows Center for the Arts, Fall River MA) Musical chops – and genes – were quite evident during the first Eas...

Keyboard player Marco Benevento is on the cutting edge of blending modern and classic rock with the art of jazz improvisation, often in an o...

The music will be golden, no matter how its sounds, this month when Jazz at Lincoln Center presents the latest installment in its Hall of Fa...

Mike Clark , Blueprints Of Jazz Vol. 1 (Talking House) This stunning new CD by ex-Headhunters drummer Mik e Clark shows off his straight-ah...

A jazz-related gathering in Boston next weekend will be a hang of sorts for thousands, but not on the wide range of levels as the gone-but-n...

Move over Faneuil Hall, Old South Meeting House and other designated historic sites in Boston. You have company. Company with a jazz connect...

Anyone with even the most casual interest in the impact jazz has had on society at-large should seek out the comprehensive essay that Nat He...

Steven Santoro is a hopeless romantic, at least on his newest CD, and we are the better for it. On Whisper My Name (Red Lion Music), he sin...

Another glimmer of hope and positivity among turtle-slow efforts to bring New Orleans back from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina occurred in...

The easy answer is “not likely.” No two people hear things exactly the same. But what is it that draws we musicians and/or listeners to a pa...

The esteemed Blue Note jazz label loves milestone celebrations. And we are at the beginning of another. It was 25 years ago this month that ...

It’s no secret that with the economy in the toilet, and circulation and ad revenue at troubling lows, the newspaper industry has been reelin...

It was a time of jazz tumult, controversy and achievements. The demise of one of the world's premier jazz advocacy organizations topped ...

Will there be jazz and folk festivals in Newport next summer, and JVC Jazz Festivals elsewhere in the world? If so, who will be producing th...

When Something for You: Eliane Elias Sings & Plays Bill Evans came out early in 2008 on Blue Note, considerable attention was paid to t...

Here are one writer's choices for the top jazz recordings and reissues of 2008. Always keep in mind that top 10 listings of this sort re...