Blog -

Announcing...

Mary Halvorson Octet, Brandee Younger Trio and Odean Pope’s Saxophone Choir: the 7th annual DC Jazz Loft Series at the DC JazzFest

And … we’re back. CapitalBop is thrilled to be presenting three of the most exciting artists in jazz today at this year’s DC Jazz Loft Series, our seventh annual program of ear-bending shows at the DC Jazz Festival. This year, we’ve got arguably more star power than ever — from the innovative compositions and remarkable […]

May 16, 2017 0

Live reviews

Andrew White celebrates a long history of musical pursuit at Blues Alley

Andrew White Blues Alley Wednesday, April 26, 2017 The homemade flyers, softly illuminated by the faux votives on each table, say it all: “Andrew White, living legend of music historiography.” The flyers, much like their creator, are a little rough and rugged, but packed to the margins with a wealth of human and musical knowledge, […]

May 10, 2017 0

Announcing...

Michael Formanek’s renowned Ensemble Kolossus headlines our next Traveling Loft

True to its name, Michael Formanek’s 19-piece Ensemble Kolossus makes music of enormous scope. But it’s also intricate and textured. And just as important, it allows its improvisers a remarkable amount of space in which to express themselves. Partly that’s because Formanek — a renowned bassist and composer who’s based in Baltimore but tours around […]

April 7, 2017 1

Interviews

Donny McCaslin on working with David Bowie, and playing the saxophone with open ears

I heard Donny McCaslin live for the first time this December, at the taping of his Tiny Desk Concert for NPR Music. After a bouncy, propulsive version of “Shake Loose,” from his most recent LP Beyond Now, the tenor saxophonist and his group launched into an instrumental reimagining of “Lazarus” from David Bowie’s final album […]

March 3, 2017 0

Announcing...

At our next Traveling Loft, Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Ensemble presents the Afrofuturist suite ‘Mandorla Awakening’

We’re thrilled to continue our quarterly Traveling Loft series by presenting one of today’s most important and prolific musicians: flutist and composer Nicole Mitchell. She’ll appear with her eight-piece Black Earth Ensemble in a special concert on Feb. 11 at Capital Fringe. Also on the bill is one of D.C.’s finest musicians, the improvising cellist […]

February 2, 2017 0

Announcing...

3rd annual Jazz and Freedom Festival: D.C.’s jazz greats join together in a benefit for WPFW

Jazz and social justice go hand-in-hand. That much is made clear by the work of so many of D.C.’s jazz musicians. For instance: Just last month, MBowie and the Blast (the new project of bassist Michael Bowie) released the video for their incendiary cover of Stevie Wonder’s “You Haven’t Done Nothin’,” calling out the self-righteous […]

December 31, 2016 0

Album reviews

Christie Dashiell’s ‘Time All Mine’

Christie Dashiell’s Time All Mine is a smooth melding of the old and new. On her debut solo album, the vocalist gives a poised performance, her control reminiscent of the late Sarah Vaughn but with a contemporary pop twist. She covers songs like Lil Wayne’s How to Love with a glistening, sultry feel. One of […]

December 22, 2016 1

Album reviews

Mark G. Meadows’ ‘To the People’

On the title track of his third album, To the People, the pianist and vocalist Mark G. Meadows sings, “No time to lose / Let’s spread the news… / And bring love to the people / Joy to the people.” It’s a powerful rallying cry on an LP of charged, heralding anthems. It’s also an […]

December 22, 2016 1

Album reviews

David Schulman and Quiet Life Motel’s ‘Anhinga’

The role of the violin in contemporary music has always been challenging. Achieving virtuosity on it is one thing, but it can be difficult to relevantly apply an instrument with such historical and cultural baggage. Of course, in dedicated and creative hands, the violin can and does serve to enhance arrangements and even shine. Definitely […]

December 22, 2016 1

Album reviews

Dwayne Adell’s ‘The Periodic Table of Tonal Elements’

Simply put, Dwayne Adell is genius. A true and singular genius, unlike any other person alive. He is a modern-day Art Tatum on the piano, a musician who doesn’t necessarily “know” music — its theory and practices, in an academic sense (he doesn’t read music) — but who simply hears music clearly in his own […]

December 22, 2016 2