by Rachel Cantrell on August 27, 2009
Now that our jazz band’s gotten settled in and the music’s been passed out (like Ellington’s In a Sentimental Mood and a Gordon Goodwin commission, Principal of the Thing), we’re left with a few more things to do, including: (a) rehearsing quite a bit, and (b) arranging a local trip to some awesome jazz concert [...]
by Rachel Cantrell on August 6, 2009
So I was hanging out in the library the other day and I picked up a copy of Icons in Jazz: A History in Photographs 1900-2000, which pretty much sums up the big names in jazz — everyone from Cannonball Adderley to Lester Young. It’s a pretty great read if you want to get a [...]
by Rachel Cantrell on July 20, 2009
I was first introduced to Sonny Rollins through the Community Arts Program (CAP) at CalArts (which I’m so incredibly lucky to have nearby). I was just learning my blues scales then; with a group of about 5 or 6 musicians, we learned the Rollins tune, “Tenor Madness.” It’s a pretty catchy piece in the Bb [...]