Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes

Is it something in the nearby salt water? Much more likely is the strength of the local music programs at the secondary level – and in the s...

If you look for jazz you can find it, sometimes even in most unexpected places and at unusual times. In this case, it was while honeymooning...

Assaf Kehati, Flowers and Other Stories , self-produced One of the great thing about today’s globalized jazz scene is that musicians from ot...

Could the Grammys exist without healthy doses of skepticism and controversy? I think not. Skepticism, mostly during the awards season, for a...

Brian Lynch, Unsung Heroes (Hollistic Music Works) Whether or not they realize it, jazz players owe a serious nod to the many musicians th...

Jazz Notes Central just found out that this little blog, now in its third year, has been listed by Accredited Online Colleges.com as one o...

George Wein is a huge fan of Esparanza Spalding. The singer-bassist (pictured) has been a Newport regular for the past few years - and wit...

We're a society of pack rats, of collectors. Or so it seems. Some of us collect a few things we find meaningful, others have made it int...

Nordic Connect, Spirals (artistShare) Canada’s mega-talented Jensen sisters, Christine on sax and Ingrid on trumpet, co-lea d this quintet,...

The high honors, perhaps long overdue, keep on rolling in for saxophonist Sonny Rollins. His historic 80th birthday concert in New York’s To...

Bizarre. That’s the only word that seems to fit this year’s primetime Sunday night glitz that was the 53rd annual Grammy Awards. If you saw ...

The Montreal International Jazz Festival’s innovative programming is one of the creative charms that keeps jazz fans coming back for more. ...

Bassist and singer Esparanza Spalding has taken the jazz world by storm with her talent and you thful enthusiasm. That’s not a bad thing. A ...

Last summer, founding producer George Wein said he wanted to find a way to keep his two legacy music festivals going well into perpetuity. T...

Lynne Arriale, Convergence (Motema) After more than a dozen years, deeply entrenched in the jazz piano trio format, Lynne Arriale has pr...

Cats make jazz and love jazz. In the case of loving jazz, so do mice. Well, at least one mouse in particular. Next month, a Walt Disney Reco...