‘Ain’t But a Few of Us:’ Willard Jenkins on why Black jazz writers’ voices matter
The idea for Ain’t But a Few of Us, Willard Jenkins’ new volume exploring the experiences and work of...
Category: Interviews
‘The Nutcracker’ gets a new groove, thanks to Joe McCarthy and the Afro-Bop Alliance
The Afro-Bop Alliance is known for combining the swaying, dance floor-ready rhythms of Latin America – Cuba, in particular...
Matthew Shipp, an icon of creative music, says improvisation is everything
The avant-garde piano luminary Matthew Shipp is always fearless, often ambiguous and unendingly ambivalent about how his music is...
‘About the music, about the people:’ Clarence Ward III Talks Roy Hargrove, the sounds of Baltimore City and his new EP
Multi-instrumentalist and composer Clarence Ward III has recently established himself as a staple of Baltimore jazz. His weekly jam...
The Messthetics’ Brendan Canty is punk royalty, but jazz runs through his bloodstream
If you ask legendary D.C. post-punk drummer Brendan Canty to name the greatest band of all time, the answer...
‘Just sound:’ Guitarist John Lee on prog-rock, world tours and making his Blues Alley debut
Guitarist John Lee is everywhere on the D.C. jazz scene. Well, really anywhere there’s a gig up and down...
‘Cherishing this shared legacy:’ Vijay Iyer and Craig Taborn on being back together for the first time in years
The last time Vijay Iyer and Craig Taborn played together was at the Wigmore Hall in London, in September...
Wayne Shorter on what inspired ‘Iphigenia,’ his landmark opera with Esperanza Spalding
There’s a story Wayne Shorter often tells that encapsulates a lot of his artistic vision these days. “We played...
‘New Sounds, New Energies’: Transparent Productions kicks off its 25th season
“Sundays at Seven at the Caverns.” In recent years, that phrase had been a rallying cry and a sound...
With her new book, millennial D.C. historian Briana Thomas aims to tell the ‘full story’ of U Street
For much of the 20th century, U Street was known as “Black Broadway,” a mecca of Black cultural life...