Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes

Valery Ponomarev Russian-born, New York-based trumpeter Valery Ponomarev and Florida saxophonist Valerie Gillespie teamed their talents ...

Pianist and singer Danny Sinoff is the resident jazz cat in the hat two nights a week at JD's Bistro & Grille in Port Charlotte, b...

Giacomo Gates Here’s a preview of some of the more interesting jazz events in the Sarasota to Naples territory from now through mid-June...

Jim Cullum The Jim Cullum Jazz Band drew nearly a full house at the Glenridge Performing Arts Center in Sarasota on Saturday night at a ...

Morgan, Lamb, Chrupcala The fine art of the jazz trio at its best was on full display this afternoon at the Venice (FL) Art Center. Exce...

  Lisa Kelly and JB Scott  Singer Lisa Kelly and trumpeter JB Scott's first appearance at the Charlotte County Jazz Society'...

George Wein George Wein remembers an evening back in the early 1940s when, as a high school student, he got a chance to hear Duke Elling...

Andre Roy Toronto-based guitarist Andre Roy, who winters in southwest Florida. closed out the Englewood Art Center portion of the South ...

The United Nations is truly putting the stamp on jazz, several dozen of them in fact, when the third annual International Jazz Day rolls a...

Alexis Cole and Eric Alexander New York-based singer Alexis Cole's quintet, featuring tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, performed Fr...

Mark Gould, Bob Switzer Mark Gould's intense tenor sax artistry and Bon Switzer's lyrical trumpet and flugelhorn work blended be...

Buster Williams, Newport 1988 The March issue of Hot House magazine is out. Its features include my profile of bassist Buster Williams,...

The cachet of jazz sometimes is stronger than the music itself. Madison Avenue continues to use bits and pieces for some of its commercial...

Taking a closer look at new CDs by Craig Handy, Herb Silverstein, Dave Stryker, Helen Sung and Volcán...

Klaus Bader The South County Jazz Club's matinee series took on an international flavor at the Venice Art Center in Venice FL with a...

Two very different approaches to small group jazz got strong workouts in Monday night's Charlotte County Jazz Society artist series conc...

Terry Myers Saxophonist Terry Myers was the featured guest soloist at Sunday's Jazz at First Church concert series in downtown Saras...

Kenny Drew Jr. Drummer Tom Carabasi brought his Samba Jazz Quartet to the Englewood (FL) Art Center Friday for a matinee concert sponsor...

Singer Freddy Cole was last night's special guest of the Naples Jazz Orchestra. The Cambier Park outdoor concert in Naples FL also featu...

Taking a closer look at new CDs by Cava Menzies and Nick Phillips, Anton Schwartz, and the Rossano Sportiello-Ed Metz-Nicki Parrott trio.....

Greg Nielsen and Tom Ellison Multi-instrumentalist Greg Nielsen and saxophonist Tom Ellison dug deeply into the Gerry Mulligan songbook ...

Here’s a preview of some of the more interesting jazz events in the Sarasota to Naples territory from now through March. There are also a...

Whether you like your jazz to be traditional mainstream, big band, edgy, avant garde, Latin- or gospel-tinged, funky or had-bopping, it look...

Harry Allen Drummer Eddie Metz Jr.'s international trio with bassist Nicki Parrott and pianist Rossano Sportiello brought tenor saxo...

The West Coast now has its a jazz edifice of its own with strong roots, International Jazz Day grew in scope during year two, jazz made its...

This week's mail brought a hot-from-the-production-plant copy of The Naples Jazz Orchestra's debut CD, On A Misty Night. It was reco...

Best wishes for a very Merry Christmas from the Jazz Notes staff. This year we have some vintage musical cheer to share from among our...

Toronto-based pianist Jim Clayton considers New Orleans his home away from home. He spends considerable vacation time and got married ther...

Taking a closer look at new CDs by Bob Devos, Jake Hertzog, Frank Macchia, Bill McBirnie and a vintage Miles Davis boxed set…

Eddie Metz Jr. The splendid jazz trio, featuring drummer Eddie Metz Jr., bassist Nicki Parrott and pianist Rossano Sportiello, has bee...

The saxophone ruled on the Sarasota jazz scene on Friday, December 13 with two separate, excellent concerts.

Lew Del Gatto and Judi Glover Tenor saxophonist Lew Del Gatto honored his tenor sax heroes Friday during a South County Jazz Club concer...

The Naples Philharmonic Jazz Orchestra brought Benny Golson to town last night for a concert that gave spirited and loving extended treatmen...

Th is the season for the outpouring of Top 10 lists, and their many variations, for jazz, world events, etc. The jazz lists always have a...

The record collectors among you who can’t resist going out on Black Friday should stop by your local independent record shops. They need the...

The area jazz scene is heating up for its winter-spring season when most of the snowbirds are back in Florida. Here’s a preview of some o...

New York-based Hot House magazine has published my profile of alto saxophonist Dave Glasser in its December issue. The b ebopper who is kee...

Paul Duffy brings new meaning to the category "multi-instrumentalist." For his South County Jazz Club quartet gig today, he played...

Pianist Tommy Goodman shared his insights today on jazz improvisation, or as some musicians quite correctly call it, spontaneous composition...

Jim Roberts Pianist Jim Roberts was based in New York when he first performed for the Charlotte County Jazz Society at the nonprofit...