Bruce Crowther
For many years he wrote books and 49 had been published by the end of 2022. More than half of these were crime fiction; the non-fiction books were mainly on cinema and jazz. Long ago there were a few television plays and a stage play. For a number of years he worked with Colin Larkin on his Encyclopedia of Popular Music and the BTOE, contributing 5-6000 entries to these projects. His first Jazz Journal article was in the mid-1970s, record reviews beginning a decade later. His jazz books include a biography of Gene Krupa and three books in collaboration with Mike Pinfold: The Jazz Singers, The Big Band Years and Singing Jazz. Other than jazz, he enjoyed the blues, opera, old country, gospel, R&B, and popular songs of the 1930s and 40s. Bruce Crowther died in August 2023 as reported here.
Lauren Henderson: Conjuring
NYC-based singer shows her Latin American roots in music inspired by magic and expressed through standards and originals
Champian Fulton: Meet Me At Birdland
Oklahoma-born singer, mentored by Clark Terry, plays a mellifluous set of standards skilfully accompanied by her own piano in trio format
Mira Choquette: In Reel Time
Montréalaise lawyer and jazz singer applies her distinctive voice to Jacques Brel, Cole Porter, Nat Adderley, Stevie Wonder and more
Vicki Burns: Lotus Blossom Days
US vocalist features a number of post-bop instrumentals to which lyrics have been added as well two originals and some standards
- Advertisement -
Libby York: Dream Land
Late-blooming Chicagoan singer shows the wait was worth it, interpreting familiar and less familiar songs mostly with just guitar and bass
Christine Tobin: Returning Weather
Returned to Ireland, the singer blends traditional local flavours with the contemporary to produce romantic music with some jazz touches
City Of A Million Dreams
The potent collision of African and European style in New Orleans led to jazz and informs the music of the city's famous funeral processions
Lonnie Liston Smith: Jazz Is Dead 17
The cosmic keyboard man teams up with Adrian Younge and Ali Shaeed Muhammad to give his take on the perennial question of what jazz is
- Advertisement -
Rhythm Man: Chick Webb And The Beat That Changed America
Thorough research informs this biography of the autodidact drummer who overcame bad health to reach prominence in the swing era
Cécile McLorin Salvant: Mélusine
Singer reflects her varied background in performances of old and new songs in various languages as she tells the tale of Mélusine
Paco De Lucía: The Montreux Years
Although hybrid shows with McLaughlin et al brought him international fame, the gaditano guitarist appears here solely with flamenco groups
Mary Foster Conklin: These Precious Days
New Jersey born singer teams up with John Di Martino, Sara Caswell and others to jazz material ranging from Kurt Weill to Leonard Cohen
- Advertisement -