Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes

Clarinetist Bud Leeds was in fine company - and good spirits - for the South County Jazz Club's first concert of the 2017-2018 season on...

Here is a rundown of noteworthy jazz events, principally in the Sarasota to Naples territory, from now through January.

Johnny Varro played with the elder statesmen of classic swing jazz  in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s, working with Eddie Condon, Bobby Hackett, R...

Taking a look at new CDs by The Black Butterflies, Miles Donahue, Chuck Owen & The Jazz Surge, and Matt Wilson….

Sometimes you know, sometimes you don't - until the last minute. That's been the case with International Jazz Day celebrations. But...

The Charlotte County Jazz Society opened its 2017-18 concert season on Monday, October 9 with a robust evening featuring two Sarasota-based ...

Henry Ford once told his car-makers back in the early 20th century that they could paint his Fords any color - as long as it was black. Just...

This edition considers several new CDs with distinctive orchestral jazz focuses. They are projects by composer Mica Bethea, pianist-compose...

The snowbirds will start trickling back this fall, which means it’s almost concert season again. Here is a rundown of noteworthy jazz event...

The Jazz Foundation of America's Musicians Emergency Fund stepped up big time to help New Orleans musicians after Hurricane Katrina and ...

Keven Aland There is something simultaneously exotic, passionate and downright swinging about gypsy jazz. That's the all-strings mus...

George Wein This was the 37th consecutive year that I've gone to Newport on assignments to cover the Jazz Festival and/or the Folk F...

There was a palpable shift in the musical air at this year's Newport Jazz Festival, the first year in which the new artistic director, C...

Allmark, Antell John Allmark’s Monday evenings at the Met Café in Pawtucket RI generally feature his very fine big band. This past Mo...

If you’ve ever experienced a musical epiphany, you know of what I write. It’s about those special encounters with music – not necessari...

Patricia Dean Simplicity can be a breath of fresh air in jazz. One such example occurred on Thursday, July 20 when drummer-singer Patric...

Suffice it to say, Geri Allen will be there in spirit. Geri Allen at Newport, August 2004 The pianist had been scheduled to perform ...

Giacomo Gates Hot House, New York City’s long-running monthly jazz guide, asked me to profile singer Giacomo Gates, as well as preview s...

The concert season in southern Florida pretty much mirrors the months when the area has the most visitors and seasonal residents.... say Oct...

When a musician gets in a life-altering jam, the music community tends to respond in a very big way. One of the latest instances in...

Taking a look at new CDs by Antonio Adolfo, Mike Longo, Yoko Miwa, Norbert Stachel, and John Stein and Dave Zinno.…

Bass player and educator Brandon Robertson practices what he teaches. Brandon Robertson Robertson earned undergraduate and master’s ...

Taking a look at new CDs by Lili Añel, Ron Boustead, Laura Dubin, Diego Figueiredo, Steve Khan, Joachim Kühn, Sarah Partridge, and The Three...

There was a time after the first phase of the Newport Jazz Festival (1954-1971), that jazz pretty much was a dirty word in Newport. The city...

You never know just what's in store when the Dan Miller Quartet performs on Tuesday nights at the  Roadhouse Cafe in Fort Myers FL. Ther...

April is Jazz Appreciation Month - and it is flying by. The Smithsonian Institution decreed the month's status 16 years ago as a way t...

In the right hands, Dixieland jazz is more of a feeling than a specific repertoire. It’s not what you play, so much as how you play it. Bob ...

Tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander fully embraced the rich and vibrant sound of bebop in his formative years as a jazz player - and continues ...

Diego Figueiredo's Brazilian guitar artistry will make your jaw drop. His nylon-stringed acoustic guitar is merely the vessel for astoni...

Trombonist Wycliffe Gordon is a modern-day ambassador for classic jazz dating back nearly a century. He digs the repertoire and style , putt...

Taking a look at new CDs by Joe Bourne, Andrea Claburn, Ingrid and Christine Jensen, Jeff Rupert & Richard Drexler, and Jimmy Scott….

Here is a rundown of noteworthy jazz events, principally in the Sarasota to Naples territory, from now through April when the 2016-2017 co...

Tenor saxophonist Jeff Rupert & Friends, featuring rising star singer Veronica Swift, wound up a 10-day Florida concert tour on Sunday, ...

Singer Lisa Kelly and trumpeter JB Scott had a few surprises up their sleeves for their return performance at the Charlotte County Jazz Soc...

The depth and breadth of pianist, arranger and composer Dick Hyman’s career seems astonishing by any musical standards. Most aspects of his...

Clarinetist Bud Leeds brought musicians together from near and far - in this case, mostly far - for his annual South County Jazz Club matine...

Jazz singer Jane Monheit's musical home is the Great American Songbook. She showed a Naples, Florida audience on Friday, February 24, th...

Chuchito Valdes Latin fire is in pianist Chuchito Vald é s' genes. He's the son of Chucho Vald és and grandson of the late Bebo...

To say it was long overdue is an understatement. Joshua Breakstone and Don Mopsick grew up in Linden. NJ. Their families knew each other and...

You may not know him by name, but changes are great you've heard this saxophonist's performances over the past five decades on count...